Member Spotlight: Focus! Safety Training
"In this line of work, accidents are a very real possibility and with these classes, it can make the risk that much lower," said Rob Driscoll, Production Manager for SERVPRO King of Prussia and Abington/Jenkintown.
Building relationships is important to Mike McGrory.
From active shooter situations to industrial safety awareness, McGrory, who owns FOCUS! Safety Training in Perkasie, said there's no substitute for knowledge and he has plenty to share.
A partner owner/operator of SERVPRO of Upper Bucks, also in Perkasie, McGrory set out about two years ago to found FOCUS! Safety Training to handle increasing response and awareness needs in the community.
"I wanted to be able to offer this service and be engaged with the community," McGrory said.
He is a Firearms Instructor, OSHA Construction and General Industry Instructor and is also an American Red Cross First Aid\CPR|AED Instructor.
Rob Driscoll, Production Manager for SERVPRO of King of Prussia and Abington/Jenkintown, said an employee's medical problem was the impetus for bringing FOCUS! Safety Training – and McGrory – to his Montgomery County facility for OSHA 10-hour General Industry and Red Cross training.
"There is no better way to be ready for the possibility of an emergency than to be prepared. The training that I've been given by these courses has prepared me for the future," Driscoll said.
FOCUS! is a natural follow-up to SERVPRO services, which include post fire and water damage, mold remediation, storm damage and commercial building cleaning and restoration services and post construction clean up.
"We will come to employer's locations to provide classes and certifications," McGrory said, which saves time and ensures deadlines may be met efficiently by employers and managers.
McGrory wants FOCUS! to meet the safety training needs in the community by providing a variety of situational awareness programs, from ALICE Active Shooter training to Red Cross pool staff training.
"[I was] pleasantly surprised that he was certified to teach CPR and First Aid since this is a requirement for all employees working in our child care centers," said Karen Coutts. Coutts is senior childcare director for Indian Valley Family YMCA in Harleysville. Indian Valley is a branch of the North Penn YMCA.
Coutts said her entire staff was nearing the end of their current certification expirations in late 2017. That's when she brought McGrory in for staff training and re-certifications.
"Michael was incredibly helpful in setting up a time that worked best for me and my staff. He was so easy to talk to and very accommodating," Coutts said.
FOCUS! Safety Training also provides course training for the construction trades. "We do fall protection classes because that's the number one cause of death in the construction industry," McGrory said.
And with more school violence peppering media headlines, McGrory doesn't want Upper Bucks to become another gruesome story. He plans to offer active shooter response training and certifications to area school districts and employers.
ALICE Training Institute was founded by Greg Crane in the wake of the Columbine High School Massacre, as it's come to be known, in 1999 in Colorado.
Since that time, active shooter tragedies across the unites states from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, have heightened the need for active shooter response and emergency training.
"We [strive] to create situational awareness," McGrory said of his approach to this specialized type of response training.
McGrory said there are no minimums to arrange any of his onsite training and his goal is to build community and relationships. McGrory said all onsite training is available now.