August 2025

Years as an ASSP member – 1
Years in the safety industry – 5

Meet Matt Thompson, Project Safety Manager at Brady. Matt grew up in a Tualatin, Oregon. He later attended Oregon State majoring in Earth Science and the University of Idaho majoring in Technology Management.

3 key responsibilities of your job – 

  • Site safety visits, where I look for unsafe conditions and unsafe behavior
  • Training and validation of competency on safety topics
  • Employee resource for improving the safety of project sites

What or Who inspires you – My wife, Courtney, pushes me everyday to grow beyond my comfort zone, both personally and professionally.

Most meaningful professional achievement – I had the opportunity to work on the Life Safety team for a major factory construction project in North Carolina. I was able to write a maintenance plan for our life safety equipment, guide installation, commissioning, validation, and debugging of equipment for the site. I was fortunate to learn and grow with some really talented people.

Future career goal or aspiration – I am hoping to go for my CSP before the end of the year.

Go-to comfort food – Anything spicy. I love tacos and jalapeno poppers.

Hobbies/Enjoy doing outside of work – I love to travel. I’ve been to India, Mexico, Costa Rica twice, Germany, England twice (3x if you count being born there). We are hoping to do Italy or Greece next, although there is always the risk we will be distracted by a cheap flight to Costa Rica, which is my happy place.

I have been described as a foodie and a beer nerd. I’ve already taught my daughter how to make a basic bechamel sauce. I think Shrimp and Grits is probably the next recipe I will try to perfect in my kitchen. I share that same level of nerdiness about beer, and if you ever want to discuss the pros and cons of a triple decoction brewing technique, come find me.

I also enjoy being outdoors. I like to fish and enjoy camping. In a past life I was a passionate skier, but unfortunately I was not a good one. While I no longer spend my Saturdays in lift lines, I do still set off metal detectors at the airport.

Recommended TV series to watch or book to read – Breaking Bad