Gerald D. Williams is the Safety Officer/Manager of the Industrial Safety Unit. Having 33 years of experience in the safety career field. He attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale College of Engineering (SIU), where he received his undergraduate degree in Industrial Technology. Gerald has been an adjunct professor for SIU since 2000 and a former General Industry Instructor for the Transportation Safety Institute. Recently, he has completed his Ph. D in Safety Science Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He completed his master's degree in Business Administration. Gerald is a license and Certified Safety Professional with the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. He holds a World Safety Organization Certified Safety and Security Director, Certified OSHA Instructor in General/Construction Industry, Certified First Aid, CPR Instructor, and a Professional Member of The American Society of Safety Professional.
Gerald's love of safety began as a safety specialist for the United States Air Force at Travis AFB, CA. He attended the Air Force Safety Technical school at Lowry Air Force Base Denver Co. Upon graduation, he began his assignment to the 60th Air Base Wing Travis AFB. There he was responsible for assisting the Operations Safety Manager with the implementation of Federal & Air Force Occupational Safety and Health Programs, which included Air Force System Safety Plans and Incident Command First Responder. Gerald's day-to-day responsibility would consist of mishap investigations, analyzing mishap causes, and trends analysis eliminate unsafe conditions. He was instrumental in the facility safety inspections and safety educational programs, which included developing training plans to ensure worker best practices.
Gerald was promoted and reassigned as the Operations Safety Manager position at the 432 Tactical Fighter Wing Misawa Air Base-Japan, where he supervised and managed both local, national safety professionals and military safety professionals. While assigned at Misawa, he was responsible for the safety program of some 100,000 active-duty military members, dependent family members, and department of defense civilian employees.
Gerald's last military assignment was Superintendent of Safety Operation 15 Air Force. He assisted the Commander of 15 Air Force Safety of managing the safety program for over 400,000 active duty military, dependent family members, federal and DOD personal, and over 500 billion in equipment. Planned and organize safety activities for some 51 safety professionals all west of the Mississippi River to include the Pacific Rim (Korea, Japan, Alaska, Thailand, Singapore, and Hawaii), developed policies and procedures for operations and evaluations of safety programs.
He completed his military service with honors. Gerald's first job after the end of his military commitment was the Safety Officer of the John Paul Getty Trust in Santa Monica, CA. As the Safety Officer Gerald was responsible for the implementation of the Injury Illness Prevention Program, Workers Compensation Program, and Hazardous Waste Program for some 400 employees and sites that included the construction of the 900-million-dollar construction site Getty Museum off the 405 freeway and the antiquities location in Santa Monica.
Gerald then accepted a position with Federal Express as a Senior Safety Manager of the Golden State District spanned over three States (800 miles). He was responsible for the implementation of loss control strategies and safe work methods for some 5,000 employees, 15,000 vehicles, and over 100 facilities. Incorporating Fleet safety Programs, Injury Illness Prevention Programs, and establishing a safety culture second to none.
Gerald then accepted a position with Cal-OSHA as a Safety Compliance Enforcement Engineer, assigned to the State's third-largest county (Alameda). He enforced programs under the Title 8 California Code Regulations to all employers following the California Department of Industrial Relations. Gerald, establishing himself as a capable safety professional well diverse in recognizing hazards and performing accident investigations in construction, industrial, and non-industrial work environments.
Gerald enjoys serving the employees of the SFMTA and the citizens of the City of San Francisco, with one goal in mind making today safer than the day before.