People who own or run factories and refineries love to complain about how onerous it is to comply with the rules and regulations laid out by OSHA – the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. On the other hand, these same businesses brag about their safety record to attract and retain good employees.

A local New Orleans company, American Safety, combines both of these elements in its day-to-day business: it consults on workplace safety, provides employee safety training, and it also finds and provides skilled, trained industrial employees.

Corey Rosales is President and CEO of American Safety.

Corey Rosales, President and CEO of American Safety, a company where industrial safety is just the jumping off point for a growing network of businesses spread across multiple states

On occasion, companies run afoul of OSHA. Usually it’s unintentional. Factories and refineries know they have to be OSHA compliant so for the most part they’re not setting out to cut corners or cheap-out on their employees’ safety. But things go wrong. Accidents happen.

When they do, companies have to answer to OSHA. To help them navigate through that process and to set them up for a compliant, safer future, companies typically turn to lawyers who specialize in labor and employment law.

One of our major sponsors at Out to Lunch is the law firm of Jones Walker. We’re taking advantage of that relationship today by inviting Jane Heidingsfelder to lunch.

Jane is a partner at Jones Walker and a specialist in labor and employment law. She started at the firm in 2004 and to date she’s written over 50 articles about various aspects of labor law. As a leading legal authority on OSHA, Jane has clients all over the country.

Jane Heidingsfelder specializes in labor and employment law as a partner at the law firm of Jones Walker and is as comfortable in a refinery in jeans and steel toe boots as behind a desk in the office

Most of us, when we hear the term “Workplace safety” might react like we do during the safety instructions on a plane before take-off: We know it’s important, but we tune it out because we’ve heard it all before, and we hope it’s never going to happen. But indifference, denial, and hoping are not strategies for creating a safe and healthy work environment. When an incident occurs that you’re not prepared for, it can plunge a great job – or a great company – into a healthcare, employment, financial, and legal nightmare.

Corey Rosales is dedicated to making sure that workday doesn’t come. Jane Heidingsfelder is also dedicated to heading off disasters before they happen, and to mitigating their after-effects when they do.

Corey Rosales, Jane Heidingsfelder, Peter Ricchiuti, Out to Lunch in the honeymoon suite at The Columns Hotel

Out to Lunch was recorded live over lunch at Columns in Uptown New Orleans. Photos by Jill Lafleur.