The Team

The Brooks School Safety Group currently oversees and directly services over sixty school divisions participating in the Virginia School Boards Association Insurance Services. The firm also provides safety and health consulting for several large school systems, county governments, and industrial/manufacturing clients in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Louisiana. BSSG conducts site specific training for over 20,000 employees per year for their clients. BSSG has also developed a unique online “Teacher Safety Training” that has been specifically designed to reduce teacher injuries, the major loss driver for school divisions in the US.

BSSG clients have seen significant reduction in workers’ compensation and property/casualty losses and a return on their investment for the loss control services. School Divisions participating in the VSBA Insurance Services have seen an increase in over $4MM in reserves since BSG came on board in 2003. Tennessee School Boards Association – Risk Management Trust experienced over $15MM increase in reserves during its tenure as Safety Director of their programs.

Brooks School Safety Group’s approach to loss control services is non-traditional. Services are non-inspection based and are designed around the best interest of the clients’ most valuable asset, employees. BSSG’s approach is collaborative and targeted to control those loss sources that drive client workers’ compensation and property/casualty losses. BSSG partners with each client to design an action plan by analyzing loss trends in great detail, which then allows them to target services that drive down those loss causes. The firm provides management training, forms safety teams, provides strong safety training, and assists with the implementation of behavioral based safety programs that create good safety culture.

David W. Brooks

Principal
Brooks School Safety Group, LLC

David Brooks, Principal, has over 14 years of experience in Public Entity, Industrial, and Construction Safety & Loss Prevention. He has directed loss control programs for over 250 school systems, county governments, and industrial clients in Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Prior to forming the Brooks Safety Group, David managed and coordinated Loss Control services for the Tennessee School Boards Association, the Virginia School Boards Association, and national accounts for insurance companies around the country.

He earned a safety engineering degree in Occupational Safety and Health from Murray State University in 1998.

David has served in the following positions:

  • Lead Safety Engineer, Construction of Walt Disney World – Animal Kingdom – Orlando, FL
  • Loss Control Consultant, Arthur J. Gallagher Co. – Chicago, IL
  • Lead Safety Consultant, Tennessee School Boards Association, Nashville, TN
  • Lead Safety Consultant, Virginia School Boards Association, Charlottesville, VA
  • Vice President, Safety Engineering Consultants – Hendersonville, TN

Christopher A. Ballard

Safety Engineer, Brooks Safety Consulting Group

Christopher earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Safety and Health from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. His education and training give him a solid foundation to advance his career as a lead safety engineer with Brooks School Safety Group. Christopher assists with the development and implementation of our proprietary safety training programs and works to develop a culture of safety within our school systems across the nation.

During his three year tenure in the Environmental Safety & Health Office at Murray State University, Chris focused on a wide range of safety and health issues. Chris performed fire safety inspections, completed fire safety evaluations, and updated fire prevention maintenance logs for each building on Murray State’s campus. As he compiled monthly records of hazardous materials on site, he conducted routine instructional and hands on fire extinguisher training. He also assisted with First Responder training. He worked with on-site engineers to review, update, and implement Emergency Evacuation Procedures for multiple buildings on campus.

Chris has been trained, certified, and accredited in the following:

  • GSP | Graduate Safety Practitioner | Board of Certified Safety Professionals
  • ASSE Member | American Society of Safety Engineers
  • ABET Accredited | Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
  • ASAC Accredited | Applied Science Accreditation Commission
  • OSHA 30 Hour Construction | General Industry
  • 24-Hour Chemical Spill Response Technician | Incident Command