About Blue Collar Bros.
Safety and Training
Our Promise
At BLUE COLLAR BROS we organize, design and deliver fun, highly-interactive, and effective training events with a focus on interactive training techniques and gamification.
Our Difference
Training "that sticks"
Resources for continued learning or program development
A Safety and Training Culture focused community of "Brothers and Sisters in Arms" and "Shameless Partisans" for Safety and Training.
Mission:
To support the American Workforce with fun, engaging and effective safety-focused training.
Vision:
We envision a brotherhood of safety and training professionals with "Shameless Partisans" in every workplace.
Core Values
Be a PRO
Be a "Shameless Partisan" for a strong Safety & Training Culture
Question Everything
Welcome Struggle and Failure
Be Creative | Build | Experiment
Bullshit is Bullshit - No Bullshit!
Training is most effective when...
...students look forward to it
...it's fun
...it's challenging
...it's sticky
...students are not taught it...they discover it
...students become teachers
...students talk about the training event long after it's over
Resources Under Development
Flash Cards, Flash Cubes and Interactive Training Media
Blue Collar Bros is building a free library of safety and training resources including flash cards, flash cubes, puzzles and other innovative interactive training tools to drill on safety and training information.
Flash Cards are a proven method to improve recall. Unfortunately, sites like Quizlet are where "good intentions go to die" with partially completed sets, poorly written questions, and often incorrect information.
We'll be releasing these tools as they are developed so make sure to check back frequently. Also, please join our Facebook Group, follow our other social media accounts and join our mailing list to stay informed on the latest developments.
If you like what you see, then the best way to support this project is to buy and use our stuff. You can enroll in a course, get a cool hat or other swag, engage with our content (comment, like, share, subscribe, or play with it) and participate in our events.
Click to Flip Card
Register for an Upcoming Course
February OSHA 10/30 Workshop
Tree Industry Focus
March OSHA 10/30 Workshop
Tree Industry Focus
Our Lead Instructor Bob with his OSHA 10 Class at Arbor Expo 2024
Our Lead Instructor and Chief Instructional Designer designed and delivered the first Tree Industry Tailored OSHA 10 Safety Workshop at Arbor Expo 2024 in partnership with Academy Trained LLC., and Arbor Expo. The tradition of OSHA Outreach Training at Arbor Expo continues with North American Training Solutions (NATS) - A Massachusetts based leader in tree industry training - scheduled to deliver the OSHA 10 Workshop at the 2025 Expo in Springfield, MA.
A few students from this first cohort attended a Virtual OSHA 30 Upgrade course a few months later and received their OSHA 30 DOL Cards. This upgrade opportunity is a little known rule in the program standards that allows an instructor to upgrade students within 180 days from OSHA 10 to OSHA 30 with only 20 additional hours of training instead of having to take the full OSHA 30 and retake the OSHA 10 portion over.
Innovative Training Methods
A fun, engaging and memorable exercise with some AI generated Rube Goldberg Machines helps to reinforce key learning points for the Machine Guarding Module.
Can you identify safety hazards with these machines or work environments?
Are there any crushing hazards, rotating parts and pinch points?
What are the Power Transmission Apparatus?
Where is the Point of Operation?
What kinds of Guards and Devices would you use?
What kind of PPE would you use?
And...Just for fun...what would you name this machine?
Programmatic Focus for Safety Leaders
Our Tree Industry Tailored OSHA 30 is specifically designed to help your company's safety leaders build their safety program. Students are supplied with numerous OSHA and Custom Resources to demystify the process of creating a safety program. The curriculum includes modules on Health and Safety Resources, The IIPP, Fundamentals of Industrial Hygiene, Field Monitoring Programs, Field Safety Inspections, Recordkeeping, and developing a JHA Library as a foundation for company policies and other programmatic documents.
Bob Lehman
Lead Instructor and Chief Instructional Designer Robert A. Lehman (Bob) has nearly 3 decades of experience in high risk operations.
Bob is an ISPI Award Winning Instructional Designer, Former Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer, Deck and Operations Department Head, Boat Coxswain, Ice Rescue Trainer, Executive Petty Officer, and Master Training Specialist with 14 consecutive years of Coast Guard operational experience. He completed tours on a Polar Class Icebreaker (with deployment to Antarctica), an Ice Breaking Tug in NY Harbor, an Icebreaker on the Great Lakes, 2 Alaskan Patrol Boats and a New England based Seagoing Buoy Tender.
Education and Training:
Sonoma State University | B.S. Business Administration
Santa Rosa Junior College | A.S. Digital Media/Digital Audio Production
Coast Guard Master Training Specialist Program
Authorized OSHA Outreach Trainer for General Industry via Chabot Las Positas CC and Cal State Dominguez Hills.
Independent study and MOOCs: 2 Specialization Certificates and additional coursework in Leadership, Organizational Development and Project Management through Coursera and their partner universities and companies.
Tree Care Industry Experience:
Bob served as Director of Organizational Development for California-based Kingsborough Atlas Tree Surgery, Inc. and Academy Trained, LLC. With Academy Trained, he designed and delivered two courses for Pacific Gas and Electric's Vegetation Management Field Safety Observers and conducts safety-focused onboarding training for new Monster Tree franchise owners. Bob continues to consult to Academy Trained on matters of training, instructor development and instructional design.
'24 Arbor Expo - OSHA 10 Tree Care Safety Workshop:
In an effort to improve OSHA compliance and training in the tree care industry, Bob designed and delivered the first ever Tree Care Safety Workshop & OSHA 10 delivered at an industry tradeshow, for the 2024 Arbor Expo in Edison, NJ.
Arbor Times:
Bob is a frequent contributor to The Arbor Times and serves as a SME and Editorial Production Advisor
2TG Podcast:
Bob is a founding member of the Two Tree Guys Podcast and has served as the show's Podcast Engineer since the first episode. He travels with 2TG and Academy Trained to industry trade shows and has recorded over 150 podcast episodes.
