01
Field credibility over keywords
We screen candidates for what they can actually do on a jobsite, not for what's printed on a resume. Certifications are table stakes. Real safety leadership is the bar.
About
Built by safety pros.
Built by safety pros.
For safety hiring.
Lean Safety Group exists because safety hiring decisions deserve to be made by people who've actually held the accountability themselves. Both founders are career EHS professionals. Every search runs through the people who built the firm.
The Story
A recruiting firm started by people
A recruiting firm started by people
who got tired of watching it done badly.
Lean Safety Group was founded by two career EHS professionals who came up through the same world we now recruit for. Years on jobsites. Years in safety leadership. Years watching strong safety pros get overlooked by recruiters who couldn't tell field experience from resume keywords, and watching organizations make safety hires that put projects, people, and contracts at real risk.
We didn't start this firm because there weren't enough recruiters in the EHS space. There are plenty. We started it because almost none of them came from the work itself. The hiring decisions for safety leadership were getting made by people who'd never held the accountability, never managed crews on a hot work permit, never had to call a stop-work when an owner was pushing schedule.
So we built the firm we wished existed when we were on the hiring side. Career safety professionals running every search. Candidates screened for field credibility, not just certifications. A methodology built around the questions that actually matter on a jobsite. The result: 97.7% retention at one year, 100% client return rate, and 105+ placements across major capital projects nationwide.
The story, two minutes.
A quick introduction to Lean Safety Group from Lukas, including the two kinds of calls we have and which one fits which audience.
Career safety professionals.
Not career recruiters.
Lean Safety Group was started by two safety pros who came up through the same world we now recruit for. Years on jobsites. Years in safety leadership. Years watching strong safety professionals get overlooked by recruiters who couldn't tell field experience from resume keywords. We started this firm because the hiring decisions for safety leadership deserved to be made by people who'd actually held the accountability.
Co-Founder
Lukas Gutiérrez, MS
Connect with Lukas on LinkedInLukas is a career EHS professional with years in the field and in safety leadership across major capital projects. He has been responsible for safety on active jobsites, accountable for people, not just positions. He's run safety on multi-trade projects, managed safety programs across multiple sites, and held the line on stop-work decisions when owners were pushing schedule. That experience shapes every search he runs.
Co-Founder
Beau Velarde, CSP
Connect with Beau on LinkedInBeau brings a background in semiconductor industry safety to Lean Safety Group. The depth of experience in one of the most demanding sectors of industrial construction shapes how the firm approaches client engagements where owner safety expectations go well beyond OSHA baselines.
The principles
we run on.
02
Honesty about fit
If a search is outside our lane, we say so. If a candidate isn't right for the role, we say so. If the timeline you're hoping for isn't realistic in this market, we say so. Speed without honesty is just noise.
03
Founder-led, not founder-fronted
We don't sell with founders and deliver with juniors. The two people on this page run the firm and run the searches. That's the whole staffing structure, and it's deliberate.
04
Long-term retention, not short-term placement
Our 97.7% one-year retention rate isn't an accident. We measure success at the start date plus a year, not on the day the offer letter gets signed. That's a different kind of recruiting partner.
Want to work with us?
Tell us what's open.
Tell us what's open.
We'll talk through it together.
A Talent Needs Call is the fastest way to figure out whether Lean Safety Group is the right fit for your search. No pressure, no pitch deck. A real conversation about what you're hiring for and whether we can help.