From Classroom to Plant Floor: NIU Students Bring Fresh Eyes to Safety
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Most manufacturers would not think to hand a clipboard to a college student and say, 'Tell us what you see.'
But the ones who do might be onto something.
There is a version of continuous improvement that happens from the inside. It is incremental, experienced, and informed by years of institutional knowledge. Then there is the kind that happens when someone walks into your facility for the first time and asks a question that changes the way you look at something you thought you already understood.
Investing in the next generation of professionals is often seen as an act of goodwill, but is also one of the most undervalued tools for continuous improvement a manufacturer has.
When manufacturers and emerging professionals work alongside each other, both leave with something they did not have before. Students gain real-world tactical experience, and manufacturers gain a unique outside perspective.
This belief drove Custom Aluminum Products (CAP) to open its own doors to a group of Northern Illinois University safety students.
The Program in Practice
The students, led by Dr. Ted Hogan, were a part of Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Management and Hazard Control courses.
The collaboration unfolded over a series of site visits to CAP’s Genoa, Illinois facility. The visits aimed to provide students with a field-level experience of safety and environmental policies and practices in manufacturing. Grace Tilley, Site Safety Coordinator at CAP, indicated that they are using collaborations like this to “give students a practical look into how a safety program works on multiple levels, both on the floor and management.”
The first visit introduced students to the company’s operations through a comprehensive tour of their facilities including extrusion, fabrication, finishing, and assembly areas. What followed was an in-depth discussion of how CAP develops and maintains Job Safety Analyses (JSAs)- a process for breaking jobs into specific steps to identify and control potential safety hazards.
The next visits moved from observation to application. Working alongside CAP’s safety team, students conducted several formal assessments including machine guarding, noise monitoring, and Lockout/Tagout (LOTO). These are the same assessments that safety professionals, including those at CAP, perform in manufacturing environments every day.
The program extended well beyond the plant floor. To round out their experience, students presented projects they had created based on reports and research completed over the course of their semester to CAP employees.
What the Students Found
Every manufacturing professional remembers their first time walking into a manufacturing facility. There’s a lot to take in- but for these students, CAP stood out in ways they didn’t expect.
For William Goreth, a student with a background in both manufacturing and military operation, it was CAP’s attention to detail that surprised him. “Seeing all those [JSAs] around for the employees is fantastic. It keeps them safe and keeps things efficient, too,” Goreth said. He also emphasized how it empowered him with his military background. “I have a drill weekend coming up and I want to do a JSA… [CAP] definitely provided a good tool and opportunity for me to enhance that skill.”
For other students, it wasn’t just the procedures that left an impression. Luana Gilini Pschera shared that she appreciated the mindset of safety as an ongoing commitment. “It’s not just a rush to get things ready for an audit… it’s a constant thing. It’s not something you’re scared of because it’s just part of [CAP’s] normal daily activities.”
As is the hope with any field experience, the students were able to extend their learning beyond the classroom. “We learned about different processes in class, but actually seeing the machines that make those things happen and how different companies interact with those machines is always an interesting part to me,” Sophia Didenko, a student from the class, reflected.
The Results
Students had the opportunity to present their final projects to CAP employees in an open-house environment. Each student chose a unique topic related to safety in the workplace and was able to draw on their applied experience in the CAP manufacturing facility.
William Goreth, whose final project was centered around job safety for electricians, used his experience at CAP in his findings. “When I did the practice JSAs [with CAP], it gave me a lot of insight and I carried around a paper copy of that when I did my JHA (Job Hazard Analysis) for the electricians, so it was incredibly helpful.”
Luana Gilini Pschera conducted research on the theory of developing and implementing safety culture, which was the practice that stood out to her the most at CAP. In her exploration of enabling factors- conditions, and resources that make it easier for teams to change their behavior- she found they make all the difference in fostering a positive safety experience for employees.
Luana emphasized that these enabling factors such as training, knowledge, and sense of control, “help in people adopting safety culture, not because they’re told, but because they believe in it.” “They’re not accepting something they don’t know- they know what’s happening and choose to accept those rules because that, for them, is also the correct way to do things,” she said.
Sophia Didenko studied the impact of language barriers in the manufacturing industry. She found that improving translations on safety materials can significantly decrease the risk that disproportionately affects foreign workers.
Sophia found it incredibly important to facilitate safety resource access for these employees. She also stressed human intervention in the translation of safety materials. “Using automated language is not going to get to people”. To make sure materials are fitting for the company, “it’s very important to have an educated person there who has experience in engineering, manufacturing, and safety who can audit all of that material”.
Benefits to the Manufacturer
These experiences are not just valuable to the students. Having engaged, curious observers in your facility has a way of prompting reflection that day-to-day operations don’t always allow.
For CAP’s Safety Coordinator, Frank Beltran, these were more than just factory tours. “Working with [the students] reminded me how valuable it is to step back and explain why we do what we do,” he reflected. Frank appreciated that, “Their fresh perspective reinforced the importance of clear communication, strong safety culture, and hands-on learning.”
Grace Tilley echoed the sentiments of a mutually beneficial relationship. “The students were able to learn from us by seeing processes and policies they had learned in class in action, and we were able to learn from them through the effort and time they put into their research and final presentations.”
Supporting the next generation of manufacturing professionals is how we ensure our industries continue to raise their standards. And their questions make us better in the process.
The Partnership Continues
The student’s final presentation marked the end of this semester’s collaboration, but not the partnership itself. CAP plans to continue working with Dr. Hogan and his students at NIU, building on the foundation through future rounds of the program as well as internship opportunities.
Opening your facility to outside opinions can feel like a risk, but it can also deliver something valuable: fresh, constructive perspectives from unbiased observers. Especially when those observers are students.
Bringing students into a manufacturing plant marries their textbook learning with real-world experience. But it goes further than that. It shows students what it looks like when a company genuinely commits to something.
The students learned that safety is not PPE, LOTOs, or JSAs. These are merely tools. And like any tool, their value depends entirely on how they are used.
This opportunity was a chance to show students how they can be applied constructively in a real manufacturing environment, and what it looks like when a team uses them not just to meet a standard, but to move safety forward. Safety is communication. Safety is a culture. Safety is a commitment.