Riverstyle
INSIDE ... PAGE 3C
Sunday, March 24, 2013
S.T.A.R.T. OFFERS SAFETY TRAINING AT MINGO SITE
Navy SEAL putting skills
to work in private sector
Ohio Valley residents undergo hands-on safety training at S.T.A.R.T.’s remote complex in Mingo Junction. (Submitted photo)
A
By LINDA HARRIS
Special to The Review
MINGO JUNCTION —
retired Navy SEAL is putting his
skills to work now in the private
sector, teaching workers to follow
the same sort of safety protocols that kept
him safe during a 21-year military career
that often found him in dangerous situations behind enemy lines.
Frank Hoagland launched his business,
S.T.A.R.T. LLC — it stands for Special
Tactics and Rescue Training — in 2003.
Two years later he started getting some
government contracts, but it wasn’t until
2010, after his last deployment with the
CIA, that he was able to focus on growing
his business.
“From 2003 to 2011, I was averaging
over 200 days a year overseas,” he said,
“so it was awfully hard getting a business
off the ground.”
Now that he can devote his full attention
to it, however, that’s changing.
“What we want to do is to make sure we
get Ohioans to work,” he said. “It’s people
helping people. If we can help people get
jobs, that’s a big win for all of Ohio.”
S.T.A.R.T. is located at 797 Cool
Springs Road, Mingo Junction, a remote
location which affords Hoagland and his
staff ample room to carry out their training
and testing activities without inconve-
“What we want to do is to make sure we
get Ohioans to work. It’s people helping
people. If we can help people get jobs,
that’s a big win for all of Ohio.”
Frank Hoagland
Owner of S.T.A.R.T.
niencing neighbors.
“I had a program manager ask me what
I know about safety,” said Hoagland, who
spent 19 of his 21 years in the Navy as a
SEAL. “I told him I couldn’t jump out of
an airplane at 30,000 feet or launch from
a torpedo tube out of a submarine two
atmospheres below the water line without
knowing something about safety.”
He offers everything from avatar training to concealed weapons classes and also
does product research, development, testing and evaluation.
Hoagland and his safety instructor, Ed
Dudzik, conduct SafeLand and SafeGulf
training as well as the more all-encompassing OSHA 10 safety training. They’ve
taught roustabout classes in Eastern
Gateway Community College’s ShaleNET
program.
They also teach workers how to identify
hazardous items and teach safety in the
workplace, pre-job hazard analysis, communications, assessments and equipment
needs.
They also offer training in job safety
analysis; incident/accident prevention;
hand safety/hands free devices; personal
protection equipment; material handling
and use of powered industrial equipment,
including forklifts; confined space and
communications training; confined space
rescues; fall protection, and hazard communications; electrical safety; ingressegress, fire protection and prevention and
evacuation techniques; industrial hygiene
and toxicology, blood borne pathogens,
hearing protection, respirator protection,
environmental incident handling; hot work
permit; walking working surfaces; excavation equipment; safety attitudes; and
developing best practices.
Recently they evaluated the effectiveness of transparent armor, a bullet proof
glass intended to protect troops. They also
tested a paint replacement technology
that’s in development and they’ve flown
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles on many occasions.
“I actually used everything, except the
PRT, overseas,” he said.
They’re also doing business with a key
player in Eastern Ohio’s shale oil and gas
business.
“We’re doing safety orientation for
them,” he said. “We cover rules, signage,
emergency procedures ... all of the safety
rules (the industry insists its workers follow).”
Recently he and Dudzik pitched an idea
for another, hands-on oil training opportunity with life-saving potential to the
Kasich administration, and early indications are it was well received. For the time
being, though, he can’t say much about the
program except to say it’s different than
anything they’re doing now.
“I understand training, and how training
can save lives,” he added. “But you have to
get the right training.”
S.T.A.R.T. SPECIAL TACTICS AND RESCUE TRAINING
Offers everything from avatar training to concealed weapons classes as well as product research, development, testing and evaluation.