ASSE’s NORTHERN VA CHAPTER WINS NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Des Plaines, IL (May 27, 2009) — The American Society of Safety Engineers’ (ASSE) Northern Virginia Chapter (NoVa), formerly a section of the National Capital Chapter (NCC) in Washington, D.C., was recently awarded the new ASSE chapter recognition “Rookie of the Year Award”. This award goes to a chapter three years old or less and one that has gone above and beyond in serving its ASSE chapter members and the community.
NoVa President Laura Jargo-Fowler and former Chapter President Ted Devens led the chapter as they continued to develop and implement programs of interest to chapter members such as a May meeting featuring a representative of the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health (VOSH) Department, a June symposium on the federal environment featuring the new Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley and a tour of the new U.S. Green Building Council Headquarters Building, the LEED-Silver Certified Nationals Baseball Stadium and the National Building Museum.
In addition, the chapter has sponsored several educational trips such as a recent visit to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Vehicle Research Center where cars from around the world are tested for their crash worthiness and safety.
The NoVa chapter and their members have consistently supported North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week especially through their on-site volunteer efforts at the national kick-off events in D.C. in early May. Their efforts include working with other members, greeting corporate sponsors and officials and ASSE kids’ ‘safety-on-the-job’ poster contest winners and their families at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and at the U.S. Capitol. This year NoVa President Laura Jargo-Fowler’s employer Turner Construction donated two buses to transport the visitors in D.C. along with providing the lunch at the NAOSH/ASSE poster contest awards ceremony.
“All of our members work together to provide the best services for our members,” Jargo-Fowler said. “For instance, we consistently communicate with each other through our web site, our newsletter and at our meetings and mentor SH&E students. Our free job listings are second to none and we really enjoy sharing our expertise and experience in the SH&E industry with other ASSE members.”
“The NOVA Chapter is a ‘spin-off’ of the National Capital Chapter (NCC). The new millennium saw a growing Washington D.C metropolitan area including increased traffic congestion. The NCC became “geographically challenged” as members found it harder and harder to travel to meetings and events,” former NCC Chapter President Mike McCullion said. “In an effort to better serve the ASSE members of the Washington metropolitan area, NCC formed the NoVa Section in 2005. This was a great sacrifice to NCC, but keeping the members’ needs in the forefront, NCC split off the Northern Virginia area and the Section became the NoVa Chapter in 2006. The NoVa Chapter has thrived since that time and continues to be a significant part of ASSE Region VI.”
Other ASSE chapters considered for the national award included Western Australia, Nigeria, Papua, Hudson River Valley, Star Valley and Big Sky. As a result, the NoVa chapter receives a financial award of $500, up to $500 in travel expenses to receive the award and $200 for the award itself for a total of $1,200.
Founded in 1911, the Des Plaines, IL-based ASSE is the largest and oldest professional safety society and is committed to protecting people, property and the environment. Its more than 32,000 occupational safety, health and environmental professional members lead, manage, supervise, research and consult on safety, health, transportation and environmental issues in all industries, government, labor, health care and education. For more information please go to www.asse.org.