CTEH Spotlight: Cole Ledbetter, B.S., CIH (Part I)
Cole Ledbetter, B.S., CIH, joined the CTEH team in 2006 as an environmental scientist. Since then, he’s steadily moved through the leadership ranks to his current role as central region industrial hygiene (IH) manager. To date, he’s coordinated and overseen more than 300 IH projects across the country. We recently had the opportunity to visit with Cole about his impressive career at CTEH:
What does a typical day at CTEH look like for you?
There’s no typical day at CTEH. However, my days often involve overseeing projects, fielding clients’ requests or questions, mentoring my colleagues, and participating in meetings. As an industrial hygiene manager, I’m also responsible for directly overseeing three CTEH industrial hygienists. If I’m out of the office, I’m likely working on a project or speaking at a national conference like the AIHce. The projects I work on can be “routine,” such as noise monitoring or chemical exposures, or they can be “complex” like electromagnetic frequency or radiation testing. I’m also regularly called out to help with indoor air quality concerns, especially as a licensed asbestos inspector.
You’ve worked as an IH project manager, industrial hygienist, and environmental scientist. How have these experiences benefitted you in your current role?
I’ve climbed the ladder at CTEH rung by rung. I worked as an environmental scientist on the TERP team for several years before moving to the industrial hygiene department. With each move, I’ve built on what I’ve learned in my previous positions. This steady expansion of my knowledge base and skill set has allowed me to get where I am today. I’m fortunate to have now worked on the ground level, in emergency response, and in management. My well-rounded experience has helped me understand what my colleagues are going through when working on a project. I can better answer their questions and find solutions that will work best for their respective situations.
During your career you’ve conducted assessments for many different industries. Tell us more about this work.
As an industrial hygienist, I often conduct “preventative” work. My team and I work directly with our clients to determine what they’re doing, how they’re doing it and where they’re doing it so we can look for ways to improve their processes and keep employees safe on the job. Throughout my career, I’ve also done a lot of indoor air quality (i.e., mold) and noise monitoring assessments and worked with many different industries, including rail, marine, transportation, manufacturers, oil and gas and more.
Want to find out more about Cole? Check back next week for Part II of his CTEH Spotlight.
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