Greg Snider is the Senior Industrial Hygienist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tulsa District Safety Office. Greg grew up in Tecumsah, Okla., and graduated from Tecumsah High School. He is a graduate of East Central University, where he majored in Chemistry. He and his wife have been married for 26 years. The couple has a daughter who is a senior softball player at East Central University and a son who is a sophomore on the Coweta High School football team. The Sniders take an active interest in their kids’ athletic competitions and encourage them in their pursuits.
How did you end up in your current position?
I was working at Tinker Air Force Base as an environmental manager, and the Corps was down there drilling wells. The guy I worked for at Tinker accepted a job here at the Corps and brought me with him in 1991. I started out in the Geotech Branch when I came to the Corps and I moved into Safety in 2007. We did drilling, soil sampling, water sampling, drilling wells and foundation investigations for all the buildings to be built on the lakes. We did environmental drilling. We'd take water samples and soil samples to test for contamination.
What do you do in your current job and what does it entail?
We enforce and ensure compliance and help our workforce maintain compliance with the health and safety standards for our in-house workers and our contract jobs.
Do you go out to the sites and do spot inspections?
We do inspections and we’re team members on the major maintenance work. We’ll be the on-site safety officers. We go out to construction jobs at all the military bases and civil works. You learn something every day. You see things you never saw before. We do confined space entries, crane work, and we work on the river and navigation channels. We support all of the work on the powerhouses.
I’ve been to 38 states. I’ve been on jobs coast to coast. I’m proud of that. I’ve been all over the country working.
Do you track where you’ve been on a map?
I just keep a little list of every town I’ve visited.
Why did you want to work for the Corps?
When I saw the work the Corps was doing at Tinker, I thought ‘that’s what I want to do. I want to be part of the Corps of Engineers.’ Growing up I had gone to all of the Corps lakes and I knew what the Corps castle was. I was always interested in the Corps. They were very professional, and had a can-do attitude. The Corps is made up of good people who are hard workers. They have a lot of different missions and there is a lot of variety.
What is the greatest source of satisfaction that you receive from your work?
The people I get to work with, and the people I’ve worked with; all of my mentors and the professionalism of the organization is the most satisfying part of my job.
What aspects of the job do you enjoy most?
The work we get to do, the varied missions and the complexity of our work are enjoyable. It’s challenging, and I enjoy the challenge.
What goals do you have in Safety?
Our goal is obviously, no accidents. Zero accidents, zero injuries; those are the goals we strive for. We want everyone to go home safely to their family every day.