ATSSA Signal Nov/Dec 2018

The Signal | Nov/Dec 2018 37 Instructor Profile “Training is something I do to help people” ATSSA master instructor uses firsthand experience to train, cites standardization as national issue Based in Arizona, ATSSA Master In- structor Dan O’Connor first started his career in roadway safety when he was only 16 years old. As a teenager, he be- gan working for a construction company, working his way into a traffic control position. After years of working in the field, O’Con- nor took on a role as a corporate trainer for Roadsafe Traffic Systems, Inc., which provides temporary traffic control ser- vices, pavement marking application, and sign installation to transportation agencies in the public and private sectors. After instructing corporate training cours- es, O’Connor began instructing for ATSSA in 2006. Currently he teaches a majority of the ATSSA Temporary Traffic Control and Traffic Control Supervisor courses in Arizona. To expand his training and instruct more courses in states includ- ing Colorado, California, Texas, and Flor- ida, he started his own company tomake help that a reality. “I’ve always enjoyed the safety training aspect of the roadway safety infrastruc- ture industry and I thoroughly enjoy in- structing traffic courses,” O’Connor said. “It’s something I feel I can do to help peo- ple, and with my background of starting in a field and working my way up, I share that background with a lot of the people that are out there working in the field. When I’m doing the training, I can relate to the people taking the course.” According to O’Connor, there are some challenges when it comes to training and the roadway safety infrastructure in- dustry, one issue being the lack of stan- dardization in traffic control. “The more that the different states start making up their own specifications, the more difficult instructing training cours- es become,” O’Connor said, adding that in a recent course he was teaching, two people were from Colorado, a state that follows the national standard, versus Ar- izona, which has its own specifications. Luckily, the differences between the na- tional set of guidelines and Arizona’s guidelines are minor. But if people from California, for example, took a course in Arizona, their certifications wouldn’t be valid because of the different require- ments, according to O’Connor. “In some of these states the specifica- tions are so different from state to state that you can get a certification in one state where it’s valid, but if you don’t live in that state then it’s not doing you any good because it’s not valid in your own state,” O’Connor said. ATSSA is proud to offer high-quality training for roadway workers across the United States. For more information about ATSSA training, visit www. atssa.com/Training. Dan O’Connor has been an ATSSA instructor since 2006, and currently serves as an ATSSA Master Instructor for Temporary Traffic Control and Traffic Control Supervisor courses. “I’ve always enjoyed the safety training aspect of the roadway safety infrastructure industry and I thoroughly enjoy instructing traffic courses,” O’Connor said. “It’s something I feel I can do to help people, and with my background of starting in a field and working my way up, I share that background with a lot of the people who are out there working in the field.”