According to William Gonzales, vice president of health, safety and environment for The Brock Group, nothing is more satisfying than finding a new way to make a person's work safer and easier. BIC Magazine recently visited with Gonzales to learn more about his role and what he's doing to help ensure all 18,000 Brock employees go home safely every day.
Q: What led to your position at The Brock Group?
A: Right after graduating high school, I began as an electrical helper for a friend's dad in a plant off Highway 225 in Pasadena, Texas. Still a little unsure of my path, I joined the U.S. Army, where I served as Military Police, deploying to South Korea, Bosnia and Iraq. After the service, I returned and finished school at the University of Houston. Then I began working at the Houston Area Safety Council (HASC). I eventually supervised all the training at HASC and held roles of progressive responsibility in the fields of HSSE and quality. This led me to my current position of supporting our leaders at The Brock Group.
Q: What is the biggest news at Brock right now?
A: Bsafe is Brock's personal embodiment of an overall commitment to safety excellence. Bbest is the company's overall pursuit of operational excellence. Bsafe and Bbest have served as key platforms that Brock has been actively engaged in for the past two years. Brock always prides itself on delivering best-in-class service while holding safety as an ultimate value; however, over the past few years, these values have turned into an obsession. Taking safety to heart and getting better every day is what each employee at Brock is focused on. It's extremely satisfying to be on a team with a passion for shared values like Bsafe and Bbest.
Q: What is the most important part of your position?
A: In my role, innovating new ways to improve people, processes and assets to do our jobs safely is critical. We have to work extremely hard every day to ensure everyone goes home safely. I assist three cross-functional teams that are constantly driving improvement in our people, processes and assets. Our people team is always looking for ways to double down on providing better training, mentoring and initiatives to build on the Bsafe and Bbest culture. Our process team reviews our processes for improvement opportunities, and our assets team regularly meets with our suppliers to help drive innovation, making our work safer and more productive. These activities are the most important aspect of my job and the most rewarding.
Q: What are your goals for your position?
A: Helping Everyone Reach zer0 (HER0) is how we represent our journey to zero injuries, illnesses, environmental impacts and quality defects. This is my one goal I am focused on every day. Of course it comes with a lot of underlying goals and objectives, but as Stephen Covey said, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." To do this we will continue to integrate and mature our Bsafe and Bbest culture, so we understand the importance of intervention , that only together can we achieve zero, and that every day we can be someone's HER0 .
Q: How do you maintain a good work/home life balance?
A: I really enjoy spending time with my family, and spending time with them helps me keep things in perspective. Whenever things start to feel out of balance, it's usually because I've been spending too much time away from home. I have to prioritize a day doing something fun with my wife and kids.
For more information, visit www.brockgroup.com or call (281) 807-8200.
