Human Factors

Mr. Ontra is qualified to consult on matters involving natural and engineered stone fabrication, countertop installation, slab handling incidents, fabricator workplace safety (including silica exposure and OSHA compliance), shop management standards, and stone industry education or training obligations. His 43 years of hands-on and leadership experience span commercial and residential stone work.

Yes — he served on the Natural Stone Institute Board of Directors from 2016 to 2024, including a term as President in 2022, and was named NSI Person of the Year that same year. He is also an NSI Residential Fabricator Accreditation holder and an ISO 45001:2018 Lead Auditor.

Mr. Ontra is an NSI Silica and Slab Handling Safety Certificate Instructor who has trained over 230 certificate recipients, and he holds OSHA 10 certification along with multiple ConnOSHA Voluntary Inspection recognitions. He is well-positioned to evaluate whether a fabrication operation's safety practices met applicable OSHA and industry standards.

Mr. Ontra's career spans commercial stone installation in Houston, TX and Bridgeport, CT, fabrication and installation management in Connecticut, and 19 years as owner-operator of a high-end residential countertop shop. He has also spoken at international industry events in China, Brazil, and Italy.

Yes — Mr. Ontra is available in both consulting and testifying expert capacities through his practice, Bostone, based in Bridgeport, CT.

As a former NSI President, ISO 45001 Lead Auditor, and active CEU educator with more than fifty trade show presentations and over fifty CEU sessions delivered, Mr. Ontra has been a primary shaper of the standards he is called upon to evaluate. His perspective is grounded in decades of direct fabrication and installation work, not purely academic study.