Teresa Cole is a certified safety professional and a certified safety and health manager with over 34 years’ experience in the transportation safety field. She serves as the vice president of safety and security for Keolis Transit America. Teresa worked for First Group and Laidlaw as a safety professional in the school transportation and hazardous waste industry for a combined total of 30 years with the same company. Teresa’s primary duties include guiding, coaching and supporting the transit team on regulatory compliance with OSHA, FMSCA, DOT, FTA, and state-specific regulations, including site and/or legal support as needed.
Teresa has served as past president, vice president and treasurer of the American Society of Safety Professionals in Tennessee and Pennsylvania, on the Pennsylvania School Bus Association Board of Directors and its safety committee, and is a current delegate for the National Safety Council. She also served as the chairman of the NSC Transportation Safety Division and is a current member of the NSC School/Transit Section of the Division. She is involved with NSC Safe Communities and Alive at 25 programs. In 2013, she received the NSC Distinguished Service to Safety Award, and in 2019, the NSC Volunteer of the Year award. Teresa has been a speaker at the NSC Safety Congress & Expo, Pennsylvania School Bus Association Conference and is a past appointed member of the Mayor’s Safety Council in Nashville.
She serves on the Safety Advisory Committee for West Virginia University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She has been involved with the school bus safety competition on a local, state and international level for the past 18 years. She also is a certified car seat safety technician.
Teresa received her undergraduate degree in speech pathology and audiology from West Virginia University and her master’s degree in safety management from West Virginia University.
