From left, COM Vice President for Institutional Advancement Mary Ann Amelang, Program Assistant for the Center for Risk Management Sealice Hemphill, Director of Gulf Coast Safety Institute Cindy Lewis, COM Vice President for Instruction Dr. James Templer, Texas Mutual Vice President of Safety Services Woody Hill and Texas Rep. Wayne Faircloth.

Commemorating 18 years of partnership with the Gulf Coast Safety Institute and College of the Mainland, Texas Mutual Insurance donated $100,000 to continue funding free safety workshops to professionals in all industries.

“Safety is no accident. You can’t be too safe, and you need training and preparation,” said state Rep. Wayne Faircloth, who attended the check presentation. “I’m happy to see this business partner making an investment in the lives of our people.”

The Gulf Coast Safety Institute offered 23 courses last year that served more than 800 professionals.

“We support 10 campuses. The jewel in our program is COM. COM has been instrumental in helping our other partners come on board,” said Woody Hill, Texas Mutual vice president of safety services.

Constantly updating training to keep paces with changes in industry, the institute recently hosted classes explaining new OSHA regulations.

“In early 2013 I discovered COM’s gem of a safety program. Since then I’ve taken dozens of free courses. I learned more in one day on radiation safety at COM than in an entire week of 14 hour days getting my certification,” said student Mark Ritter.

The Gulf Coast Safety Institute was established in 2007 to provide safety and health training and education to workers and employers. Additionally, the Gulf Coast Safety Institute is an OSHA Challenge Program Administrator mentoring over 50 companies in improving their Safety and Health Management System to potentially achieve OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program STAR status.

For more information on the institute, contact Lewis at 409-933-8495 or clewis1@com.edu or view upcoming classes at www.com.edu/gcsi.