SAFE-T-PROOF™

The SAFE-T-PROOF™ Way Of Life

SAFE-T-PROOF™ is committed to providing the most advanced earthquake preparation and fastening technologies available – ensuring the safety and well-being of our clients and friends. We realize the world is forever changing; natural disasters are continuing worldwide. If we, as a company and, more importantly, as human beings, can help in preparing people for a safer future, then we have done our job. It’s the SAFE-T-PROOF™ way of life.

A Leader In Safety Design & Innovation With Humble Beginnings…

SAFE-T-PROOF™ was founded in 1992 on the simple notion of protecting families from disaster-related injuries and fatalities. With two babies at home and his wife at work, our founder and California resident Michael Essrig became frightened by the thought of an Earthquake affecting his family. Michael Essrig was very young when the 1971 Sylmar quake struck and he remembers barely escaping serious injury when a huge bookcase fell in his path. He decided the time was right to prepare his home.

He secured every piece of furniture in his house – installed safety latches on every cabinet and added an automatic gas shut-off valve. When he finished, he had peace of mind and that the idea of doing this for other people seemed to be a worthy and much needed service. He did his homework and – with a little encouragement from his friends – the company was born.

Slowly but surely, the business expanded from preparing homes to servicing businesses, schools and hospitals. All this hard work was put to the test on January 17, 1994. At 4:31 a.m. the ground shook and everything he had said and done was on the line. By the time the phones were back up, he knew he was in the right business. His phone began ringing off the hook with calls from clients thanking him for the preparations he had made. Everything he had fastened held and the emergency kits were a life saver.

However, he wasn’t quite ready for what came next. The media picked up Michael’s story and the phone calls became overwhelming – 300 to 500 calls a day, seven days a week! People lined up around the block waiting to buy fasteners and emergency supplies from his garage! His house was converted into a showroom and business soared from there. These humble beginnings launched SAFE-T-PROOF™ into what it is today: The leading disaster preparedness company of its kind, with services and products used and sold worldwide.

Pioneering Unique Awareness Campaigns

One of the world’s first mobile earthquake simulators of its kind, known as the Quake Cottage, was created and manufactured by SAFE-T-PROOF™. The duration and intensity of shaking felt in the Quake Cottage is similar to what was felt by people in parts of Loma Prieta near San Francisco during the 1989 (6.9 magnitude) earthquake and in parts of Los Angeles during the 1994 (6.7 magnitude) earthquake. For the Quake Cottage to replicate a 9.5 magnitude earthquake, this degree of shaking would need to continue for more than 11 minutes. Due to fault line sizes, this cannot occur in California. The Quake Cottage has been featured on dozens of television programs and talk shows while educating the public on earthquakes, disaster preparedness, and fastening solutions for the home, office and hospital. Winning the Western State’s Seismic Policy Council’s “Product of the Year” award, the Quake Cottage line now extends to clients such as the State of Alaska, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Navy. Additionally, SAFE-T-PROOF™ now features multiple “First Ever” products, such as the first quake activated escape light (Quake Escape) and cabinet latch (SeismoLatch). No wonder our company was recently named “One of the most innovative companies in the world”!

Our Clients

Over the years, SAFE-T-PROOF™ has had the honor of serving hundreds of top-quality companies such as ARCO, AT&T, Boeing North America/Rocketdyne Division, USC, Caltech University, Hewlett-Packard, MGM Studios, 20th Century Fox Studios, Walt Disney Studios, MCI WorldCom, NTT and Toshiba in Japan.

Dozens of California hospitals now use SAFE-T-PROOF™, including City of Hope National Medical Center and Cedars Sinai. SAFE-T-PROOF™ has been chosen widely in the life-science sector, with clients like Amgen, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson using our fasteners. We have also developed good working relationships with state and federal regulatory agencies such as HCAI, OSHA, OSA, FEMA and OES.

Most striking is that the USGS and the American Red Cross have trusted SAFE-T-PROOF™ for the securing of the contents of their own buildings!

Not Only for California

Recent earthquakes and tragedies outside of California have motivated disaster preparedness education throughout the United States. Fasteners, escape lights and emergency kits are being purchased from Alaska to Florida, and from New York to Guam. As personal preparedness spreads to a new cultural awareness – even being taught in elementary schools, the word is out and many Americans are on a mission to create “Safer Spaces.”

About the Founder/CEO

Celebrating 27 years of industry leading disaster preparedness experience including seismic retrofitting, construction services and developing incident command systems and terrorism awareness training programs, Michael Essrig serves as President and CEO of SAFE-T-PROOF™. A first generation Californian, Essrig’s professional highlights have found him serving Southern California since the inception of his disaster preparedness career when he was working out of his very own garage. Nearly two decades after the famous Sylmar earthquake where he found himself barely escaping falling furniture, Essrig has birthed a safety revolution across the United States. A self-starter with an entrepreneur spirit, Essrig set out to “safe-t-proof” his own home. In turn, he launched a company that now serves as the leader in hospital, commercial, institutional and governmental disaster preparedness services.