• President: Richard A. Pollock, CSP
• President-Elect: Kathy A. Seabrook, CSP, CMIOSH
• Senior Vice President: Patricia M. Ennis, CSP, ARM
• Vice President, Finance: Stephanie A. Helgerman, CSP
• Vice President, Practices & Standards: Jeffery C. Camplin, M.S., CSP, CPEA
• Region II Vice President: Michael F. Lorenzo, M.S., CSP
• Region IV Vice President: Pamela P. Perrich, M.P.H., CSP
• Region VI Vice President: Vincent R. Miller Jr., CSP
• Region VIII Vice President: Eric M. Stager, CSP, CIH

ASSE will hold a special election for the offices of vice president, professional development (current Vice President Trish Ennis was elected senior vice president) and Region II, area director B (Mike Lorenzo was election Region II Vice President). In addition, Scott D. Cole, CSP, COSS, will serve out the remaining term of Region VII Vice President Stephanie Helgerman, who was elected vice president of finance. Learn more about him here.

The winning entry of last month’s contest was from John Lewis, a professional member of ASSE’s West Florida Chapter. Be sure to check out the Etc. page in the June 2012 issue of Professional Safety to read his winning caption.

In addition, the last chance to receive a registration discount for Safety 2012 ends May 11, 2012. Registrations must be postmarked by this date to receive a discounted rate. Any forms or calls received after this date will receive the on-site rate.

Registered attendees may want to take advantage of the new Safety 2012 app for mobile devices, as well. The free app is available for Android, iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Users can organize their conference schedule, browse relevant sessions by a filtered search, view speaker biographies and access maps to the convention center. The app also provides information on Safety 2012′s social events.

1) Post your career opportunity on site for the Nexsteps Career Center for free. Either send a posting to Geri Golonka or fax to (847) 296-3769 by June 1;  or bring one to Safety 2012 and it will be posted on site. All posting will be viewable to conference attendees from June 3-6.

2) Post your resume for potential employers to view. Don’t miss this valuable opportunity. To have your resume posted and/or critiqued, forward it to Geri Golonka by May 25 with the words “Post” or “Critique” in the subject line. Resumes will be returned after the conference.

For more information, contact Geri Golonka at (847) 768-3424.

Also, Lamar Advertising Co. has again given a boost to NAOSH Week by donating billboards in the hometowns of several Safety-on-the-Job kids’ poster contest winners. The billboards display the winners names and posters, and help promote the celebration of NAOSH Week.

During the month of May, ASSE will be offering special membership deals.

1. Current ASSE members, who are not already members of the Women In Safety Engineering (WISE) common interest group, can join WISE for $5.00.  WISE is open to all members who are interested in accessing the networking and mentoring opportunities provided and foster the advancement of women in the profession.
2. In honor of Building Safety Month (celebrated in May), ASSE members can access all relevant standards at a 50% discount.  Popular standards, such as the Fall Protection Code, are included in this offer.
3. For the entire month of May, ASSE members can get 20% off of gifts & flowers through Pro Flowers and affiliated online merchants such as Red Envelope. This is a special gift just for being an ASSE member and we hope it helps your various May celebrations (Mother’s Day, graduations, etc.)

The Hawaii Chapter is a strong supporter of the ASSE Foundation and wanted to do something special to raise money, so it sold Hawaii-themed polo shirts with the conference logo and donated all proceeds (more than $1,300) to the Foundation. In addition to providing funds to the Foundation, the event gave chapter members the opportunity to educate participants on what the Foundation is and how it can benefit them.

From left to right: Howard Hendricks, Craig Shoji, Mary Silva and Eddie Greer

From left: Fahad Al-Bani, Drilling Operational Excellence; Terrie Norris; Abdullah Al-Ghamdi; Mohammed Al-Zahrain, Executive Director Safety and Industrial Security, Saudi Aramco

When Abdullah Al-Ghamdi received a President’s Award from 2010-11 ASSE President Darryl C. Hill, Ph.D., CSP, he wasn’t able to attend the awards presentation during Safety 2011 in Chicago, so ASSE Fellow Jitendra Patel, CPEA, accepted the award on his behalf. Earlier this year, Al-Ghamdi himself was presented with the award, which noted his exceptional service to ASSE during Hill’s term as president. He was presented the award during a formal dinner meeting at The Gulf Hotel-Bahrain. 2011-12 ASSE President Terrie S. Norris, CSP, ARM, CPSI, attended the meeting to help recognize his accomplishments.

Al-Ghamdi, who is a lead safety advisor for Saudi Aramco, has made remarkable contributions to ASSE Middle East Chapter’ s (MEC) growth and membership development. His marketing and sales skills are second to none which were assets to the MEC as it has grown. He  was instrumental in building MEC’s training and development programs by offering SH&E workshops, which help raise the funds for the chapter and bring quality training to members and others in the region. On the international level, Al-Ghamdi has focused on building cooperation between and with international organizations such as ILO , HSE, IOSH and Middle Eastern universities and government organizations.

As a young child I vividly remember Sunday dinners where Grandpa lead the prayer. He did so by folding his hands, which were missing several fingers, and his hearing aid whistling away with feedback. I later learned that he lost his fingers and damaged his hearing while working at the family grain mill. This was the beginning of my interest in safety and preventing injuries. As a college student in the mid-70s, I was home for the weekend mowing my parents lawn wondering what career I should pursue and thinking about an article about Oregon State University forming a Safety Studies degree program. That was the beginning of my pursuit of a meaningful career in safety that has spanned 3 decades. In doing so, I broke the family tradition and became an electrical engineer.

Rick Zimmerman with his dad.

However, I soon realized that I was following in some of my dad’s footsteps as he was deeply involved in training and testing electrical inspectors and was also a member on an NFPA 70 National Electrical Code panel. Discussion about his code panel work helped me realize that some changes do not happen overnight. His saying “ You don’t have problems, just opportunities”  has helped me look for successes in all that has come my way. As a matter of fact, he celebrated his 90^th birthday recently and still thrives on the opportunities of life. He is planning on sailing up the Amazon in January.

“We very much appreciate the donation from DMS, which will be used to fund a scholarship for a student who is earning a degree in safety at Purdue University-Calumet,” says Chapter President Terry O’Grady, Pekron Consulting.

The conference was attended by more than 500 local SH&E professionals and business leaders, and featured educational sessions and networking opportunities.

•environmental and engineering management systems;
•information management systems;
•substance abuse prevention and workers’ compensation;
•the aging workforce;
•OSHA training requirements;
•OSHA Outreach Training Program;
•new approaches and updated regulatory requirements.