ASSE Safety Suitcase

Carol Schmeidler , John Monson and Al Stutz from the Niagara Frontier ASSE Chapter presenting "Safety Suitcase, Work Place Safety" to Lancaster High School Students in Lancaster NY

Students from the Markesan Elementary School in Markesan, WI are pictured here with ASSE Professional Member Angela D. Banerjee from ASSE’s Badgerland Chapter. Angela taught them how PPE is used. She also showed them photos of unsafe conditions and “unsafe acts” such as someone standing on the top of two-hinged doors.

ASSE Professional Member Chuck Swanderski (ASSE Central Pennsylvania Chapter) is pictured here with the students from the St. Joan of Arc School in Hershey, Pennsylvania wearing PPE from the safety suitcase. Chuck said the kids were fascinated to learn about the PPE that safety professionals wear and asked him a lot of questions about it.

Donald Krehely (2009-2010 ASSE Pensacola Chapter President) and Pam Perrich (ASSE Region IV Area Director) presented the Safety Suitcase to Julie Krehely's 3rd grade class at Cordova Park Elementary School in Florida on May 21, 2009. Perrich noted, "The kids just loved the whole program, and even the shyest of the kids was willing to offer an answer for the promise of a Starburst. You can see Julie, Donald's wife, is safe from most any hazard in the PEE from the suitcase. The kids were delighted that she was willing to dress up in all the PPE."

The American Society of Safety Engineers' new Safety Suitcase is an informational tool or tools that can be used when visiting schools to talk about the occupational safety, health and environmental profession. The public relations team in working with the Public Relations Committee at ASSE has developed this interactive tool for ASSE members, student members and their friends to take to classrooms, schools, science fairs and other organizations.

The suitcase is a tool designed to educate 4th – 6th grade students about safety -- safety at work and the safety, health and environmental profession. The intention is to reach out to young kids that are just forming their ideas about life, careers and their futures. As kids know about police, firemen and doctors, this kit will help introduce to them what we do everyday to keep people safe at work and how we help their families and friends.

Inside the kit you will find an icebreaker script, a career role-playing game, a PowerPoint presentation, personal protective equipment (PPE) donated by Northern Safety Co. and Safeware®, Inc. to us for this effort and a few more things to help you teach kids, teens and their teachers about the importance of being safe at work.

The sequence of the presentation, which lasts about one hour, should go as follows:

The Icebreaker and PPE discussion (about 15 minutes);
The PowerPoint presentation immediately followed by a question and answer period (about 15 minutes);
The Career Role Playing Game (20 – 30 minutes); and
Pass out the Certificates and Pencils to the students.

There are also evaluation forms included in the kit for both teachers and presenters.

From ASSE, the check-in and checkout procedure is simple. Contact Public Relations Assistant Pam Glinka at 847-768-3462, pglinka@asse.org or fill in the electronic request form with your name, chapter, contact information and date of request.

You can download the Safety Suitcase Guide, PowerPoint presentation and return policy online, but the complete suitcase is only available, on loan, from the ASSE Public Relations' office in Des Plaines, IL. Before checking it out you will also need to sign and e-mail the return policy back to ASSE. We will ship it to you, but you will need to return it within 10 days after your presentation.

By reaching more people with this information, you can help increase awareness of workplace safety and health and of the safety, health and environmental profession. We thank you for your ongoing commitment to protecting people, property and the environment and for helping children learn the importance of safety.


ASSE Professional Member Kristin Herman (2008-2009 ASSE New Jersey Chapter President) also presented the Safety Suitcase to students at Tinc Road School in New Jersey. Here the class is also pictured wearing PPE.	ASSE Professional Member Kristin Herman (2008-2009 ASSE New Jersey Chapter President) presented the Safety Suitcase to the Mountain View School in Mt. Olive, NJ. Students pictured wearing PPE from the Safety Suitcase.


ASSE Professional Members Frank Gesualdo (2009-2010 ASSE New Jersey Chapter President) and Julie Park (ASSE NJ Chapter Member) are pictured here with the students wearing PPE from the Safety Suitcase. Gesualdo and Park presented the Safety Suitcase to students at Old York and Whitten Schools in New Jersey	ASSE NOVA Member Shawn Lewis presented the ASSE Safety Suitcase to students recently at the Hampton Oaks Elementary Career Fair in Virginia. Here Lewis is shown with the many students who asked questions about the SH&E profession, about being safe at work and learned first-hand about PPE use. Lewis noted, “The students asked several questions about our profession. I told them the best thing I like about my job is educating people on how to work safely and use PPE properly so they can leave work injury and illness free and return to their families at the end of each workday .”