FROM MAINE TO OREGON, SAFETY PROFESSIONALS MAKE A DIFFERENCEDES PLAINES (June 23, 2005) — Ten American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) members from across the country received the first-ever NAOSH Champion Award recently for their efforts in promoting the importance of workplace safety and its contribution to sustaining a positive quality of life. From personal protection equipment safety fashion shows to staff /CEO seminars on safety, ASSE members held events in hundreds of cities and companies nationwide to promote ‘being safe at work’ during North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week May 1-7, 2005. And millions listened. As a result, ASSE members from Oregon, Maine, Texas, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and Washington, D.C., received the NAOSH Champion Award at the ASSE annual conference last week in New Orleans. The award winners are ASSE Greater Boston Chapter member Robert W. Daisy, Boston, MA; Maine Chapter President Raymond D. Johnson, Hampden, ME; former ASSE President James “Skipper” Kendrick, CSP, Hurst, TX; former Gulf Coast Chapter President Cynthia L. Lewis, Santa Fe, TX; Oklahoma City Chapter President Michael Messner, CSP, Oklahoma City, OK; Gulf Coast Chapter President Michael Narvaez, CSP, Houston, TX; former Columbia-Willamette Chapter President David Parsons, Keizer, OR; Central Texas Chapter Vice President Robert Rogers, CSP, Austin, TX; former Gulf Coast Chapter President Gregory L. Smith, CSP, Austin, TX; and National Capital Chapter member Tony Ashdown, CSP, Washington, D.C. During NAOSH Week, Texas members focused on several key safety issues and programs. Lewis spearheaded the development of an alliance between the Houston Independent School District (HISD), the ASSE Gulf Coast Chapter and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) whereby OSHA and ASSE volunteers provide occupational safety and health education to students and teachers in the 26 HISD high schools. Lewis was also a key member of the YouthRules Rally and Safety Job Fair committee in Houston where more than 8,000 students and parents attended. Smith worked with OSHA and the Mexican Consulate in providing key construction safety information to workers as well as to parents and youth workers at construction sites and schools. Rogers rallied state legislators to support NAOSH Week through a proclamation and resolution featured at a State House signing ceremony. In Houston Narvaez, manager of industrial & construction safety assurance for the Metropolitan Transit Authority, worked with OSHA and the Department of Transportation on programs focused on reducing roadway work zone accidents, a major cause of on-the-job fatalities in Texas. Kendrick, along with co-workers Dawn Rice and Jansing Hurst from Bell Helicopter, arranged for CEO safety lunches/breakfasts with employees at plants throughout the Southwest. Johnson, of GE Security, planned and led a week of safety activities at the Pittsfield, Maine, plant where he is the occupational safety, health and environmental manager. The daily programs on workplace safety included holding a safety perception survey, reviewing with an occupational nurse proper stretching and daily workouts, safety shoes, the employee right-to-know program, a class on chemicals and hazardous waste safety and an emergency evacuation program. Company management deemed the week so successful that they will be doing the same throughout the year. Messner, in working with other organizations, planned and held a NAOSH safety week at the Oklahoma State Capitol with a focus on work zone safety featuring the national Work Zone Safety Memorial – a listing of names of workers lost in roadway work zone tragedies. As a new ASSE volunteer, Daisy coordinated ASSE’s efforts in securing Governor and Senate resolutions supporting NAOSH Week and signed during a State House ceremony with government leaders, the Boston OSHA office, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Division of Occupational Safety, the New England Chapter of the Academy of Certified Hazardous Materials Managers and several other organizations. Every year Parsons visits and provides schools, businesses and legislative leaders with ASSE NAOSH posters featuring “Safety-on-the-Job” poster contest winners, ASSE Roadway/Youth Workplace/ and Hazmat Safety brochures along with holding emergency and evacuation drills and occupational safety, health and environmental seminars. Ashdown of Washington, D.C. enabled the chapter to garner support and proclamations from Maryland county and state leaders in addition to assisting with the NAOSH kick-off held May 2 at the U.S. Department of Labor in D.C. NAOSH 2006 will be held from April 30 – May 6. Founded in 1911, the Des Plaines, IL-based ASSE is the largest and oldest professional safety society with more than 30,000 occupational safety, health and environmental professional members committed to protecting people, property and the environment. For more information check ASSE’s web site at www.asse.org/naosh. 1800 East Oakton St. · Des Plaines, Illinois 60018 · 847-699-2929 · www.asse.orgClick here to go back |