College of Agriculture & Natural Resources

Travis Halsted is the Occupational Safety Compliance Officer for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR).

Prior to his arrival to MSU in August of 2024, Halsted served as a Loss Control Consultant for a workers’ compensation insurance company for the last 11 years, and as a health and safety director at a manufacturing facility for the 4 years prior to that. As a Loss Control Consultant Travis was able to assist over 400 policyholders in 7 states strive to improve the health and safety culture and management commitment of their facilities, reduce injuries/illnesses through risk management and hazard identification, and develop a workplace that nurtures employee involvement through a sound psychological safety program. 

In his role as CANR’s Occupational Safety Officer, Travis is responsible for the oversight of the occupational health and safety college wide. He will be completing Tier 1 inspections, assisting with the development, implementation and auditing of the ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management system, and developing new procedures for health and safety items. Travis is also responsible for analyzing injury/illness data to identify trends and develop long-term remedies for any troublesome trends. Another aspect of his position is to investigate near-misses, health and safety concerns, and actual injury/illness events to identify the root causes and corrective actions to prevent the future likelihood of those events. Travis works closely with the Office of Environmental, Health and Safety as a point of contact for the college’s health and safety items.

Travis comes to MSU with a master’s degree in Safety, Security and Emergency Management with a focus in Occupational Health and Safety from Eastern Kentucky University. Along with his master’s degree Travis has obtained the Certified Safety Specialist (CSP) certificate, the Certified Occupational Safety Specialist (COSS) certificate and the Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designation. He also holds the MIOSHA level I and II General Industry Certificates and the Occupational Health Certificate.

In addition, Travis has been a firefighter and medical first responder since 2015. He is the chair of a park development committee, the president of a 501(c)(3) that awards scholarships for graduating students entering skilled trades, and the vice president of his community’s Downtown Development Authority. In his free time Travis enjoys traveling (he really loves Disney) with his wife and three daughters.