While her title and day-to-day responsibilities have changed a few times over her near decade-long tenure with Dot Foods, Katie Berens’ efforts have always been focused on one thing and one thing only:
“Our goal is to keep employees safe,” she said. “We want employees to know that we will do whatever we can to improve the environment from a safety perspective.”
As assistant warehouse safety manager and liaison between the warehouse and safety department, Katie and the safety team are responsible for the planning, developing, and implementing of safety-focused operations and improvements throughout the warehouse.
Katie joined dot in 2013 as an athletic trainer where she worked to promote safe warehouse practices and help anyone injured with their recovery. Prior, she had never much considered a career in industrial athletic training, but she found the right fit with Dot.
“I originally went into athletic training to cover athletics, but I didn’t want to travel or work crazy hours. I applied at Dot, fell in love with the job and the environment, and have been here ever since,” she said.
After five years, Katie made the switch to occupational health trainer manager and eventually made the switch to her current role on the safety team in 2022. This switch shifted her focus from reactionary actions (i.e. treating injured employees) to proactive actions (i.e. preventing injuries before they occur).
“When I looked at the safety side, it was about the true prevention of injuries. If we can get a handle on the environment and ergonomic approach to the work itself, our employees be better off,” she said. “Since I had already worked with so many people in the warehouse, it has been really fun working with them in a preventative approach.”
Katie holds both Masters and Doctoral degrees in athletic training as well as a number of distinct certifications and licenses relating to the field. She also serves (pun unavoidable) as the head volleyball coach for Brown County High School and as the vice president for the Brown County Animal Rescue.
“Yeah, I stay really busy outside of work,” she said.
Katie and her husband have been married six years and are the proud parents of three young children. A family of animal lovers, they also share their Mt. Sterling home with four dogs, three cats, and three parakeets.