ONTARIO, Calif. - Luis Aragon knows his way around a farm -- and in his business, that knowledge is vital. For more than 30 years, Aragon has worked as an independent safety consultant and trainer for a variety of agricultural employers. Now, he brings that extensive experience to his new position as a Safety and Loss Control Consultant at Loss Prevention Specialists, LLC -- a safety training firm that serves self-insured workers comp groups such as California Contractors Network SIG, California Agricultural Network SIG and the California Farm Management SIG.
Joining Loss Prevention Specialists' growing resource staff, Aragon will be based in Fresno and will provide on-site safety training for self insured group members in that area. He's worked in the Fresno area for many years and as an independent safety professional has already worked with many of the major agricultural and construction employers in the area.
In addition to working with the Fresno area's growers and farm labor contractors through the California Agricultural Network SIG and the California Farm Management SIG, the bilingual Aragon will also provide English- and Spanish-language job-site safety training for Fresno area building contractors who are members of California Contractors Network SIG.
In operation since June of 2003, CCN-SIG has saved California contractors millions of dollars a year in workers comp costs. "A major reason for our success in saving our fifty-plus members millions of dollars has been our commitment to loss prevention," Loss Prevention Specialist's Manager Joe Wheeler said. "We accomplish this through hands-on, on-the-job-site safety training. Luis Aragon brings the perfect set of skills we need to help member contractors in Fresno and the surrounding area keep their on-the-job injury losses to a minimum."
Because young Hispanic males have the highest injury and fatality rate of all construction workers, Loss Prevention Specialists puts a premium on providing comprehensive safety training in both English and Spanish. "Bilingual safety professionals like Luis Aragon are a key element in our excellent track record of on-the-job accident prevention," Wheeler explained. "Luis understands the workers -- their culture, as well as their orientation toward safety. He's got a reputation in that community of being a straight shooter, as well as someone who really cares about the workers he trains -- and that reputation gives him the credibility he needs to effectively train workers to make safety their job-one."
Aragon agrees that when it comes to on-the-job safety training, experience counts. "I've worked extensively with insurance companies, as well as with agencies performing loss control reviews and writing evaluations," Aragon said. "I believe I've worked with most of the larger businesses in Fresno and am very familiar with their needs. I look forward to working with the workers comp groups' members to help keep their workers safe."
Starting the first of December, Aragon has become the latest addition to Loss Prevention Specialists ongoing efforts to enhance their member's safety programs.
"To succeed, a self insured group must have an aggressive program of training workers to recognize and avoid hazards," Wheeler explained. "To this, they must add the aggressive investigation of all on-the-job injuries, as well as building an effective culture of safety within each member's operations. Luis Aragon will help us do exactly that -- and frankly, we're thrilled to have him join our team."
