James (Jim) Boudreau, a motorized product manager and training specialist for BrandSafway, earned the 2018 Unsung Hero Award from the Scaffold and Access Industry Association (SAIA), the premier professional organization for the scaffolding industry. Boudreau received the award on July 12 during the 2018 SAIA Annual Convention and Exposition in Chicago.
“Jim’s impact on safety at BrandSafway and beyond is truly laudable,” said Paul Amedee, global environmental health and safety vice president at BrandSafway. “With his passion for teaching others, commitment to making BrandSafway job sites a safer place to work and years of involvement in SAIA, I couldn’t think of a more deserving person for the Unsung Hero award.”
Boudreau received the SAIA Unsung Hero Award for his active involvement in advancing SAIA safety training materials. Founded in 1972, the SAIA is a non-profit membership association for the scaffold and access industry that provides safety education to thousands of contractors through its seminars and training courses.
Boudreau joined the SAIA in 1989 and has been actively involved ever since. He helped develop the Suspended Swing Stages Competent Person Training course, served as co-chair of the Suspended Council, has written several articles for the SAIA magazine, worked on the Code of Safe Practices for Suspended Stages and helped develop the Suspended Platform training video, as well as the Safway Rigging and Platform training videos.
“I like to help whenever I can at SAIA so our younger workers can get the training and development they need,” Boudreau said. “Passing on my experience and mentoring others has been one of the most rewarding parts of my job.”
Boudreau has assisted with BrandSafway projects for more than 26 years, serving in a variety of roles including product engineer, field engineer, training specialist and national account manager. He has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Northeastern University and an associate degree in aviation from Wentworth Institute of Technology. Boudreau is also an FAA-licensed airframe and power plant technician and has multiple industry certificates and certifications.
“I am honored to receive the 2018 SAIA Unsung Hero Award for doing what I love—helping others understand that getting the job done safely is the key to a successful project,” Boudreau said.
