Riding Out the Turbulence
The global economy continues to struggle, but safety and health will fly high at this year's Congress and Expo in Orlando, Fla.
- By Marc Barrera
- Sep 01, 2009
Since its start in 1913 as the National Council
for Industrial Safety, the National Safety
Council has weathered its share of storms.
In 1941, it answered the call from President
Franklin D. Roosevelt to "mobilize its nationwide
resources in leading a concerted
and intensified campaign
against accidents,
and to call upon every
citizen, in public or private
capacity, to enlist
in this campaign and do
his part in preventing
wastage of human and
material resources of the
nation through accidents." In 1953, NSC
was rewarded for its efforts when President
Dwight D. Eisenhower approved an Act
of Congress that granted a Congressional
Charter to the council.
Facing another global financial crisis,
NSC President and CEO Janet Froetscher
acknowledges there are no small expenses in
today's economy and emphasizes the organization
has worked hard to ensure its 2009
Congress & Expo (Oct. 25-30 at the Orange
County Convention Center in Orlando) will
offer "an enhanced mix of technical sessions,
half-day workshops, technical tours and executive
sessions at a great value." This includes
a 120 percent increase in "advanced"
technical session offerings, a new "Executive
Edge Track" with half-day workshops, technical
tours, and off-the-job workshops--all
for the purpose of making this year's event
a "must attend."
Staying the Course
This year's Opening Session will feature a
keynote presentation appropriately named
in more ways than one: "Successful Strategies
Through Turbulence." It will be presented by
Howard P. Putnam, former CEO of Southwest
and Braniff Airlines and group VP of
Marketing for United Airlines. Scheduled
for Monday, Oct. 26, from 8-9:30 a.m., the
session promises to offer a look at Putman's
guidelines for leaders with a clear understanding
of their business and vision in order
to survive and thrive through challenges.
The executive forum, scheduled from
10-11:30 a.m., will discuss "The Role of the
EHS Executive in an Economic Downturn
-- How Do We Deal with the Conditions of
the Economy Strategically?" As part of NSC's
new Executive Edge Track, the forum will
address timely and relevant concerns as Greg
Hale, chief safety officer and vice president of
safety at Walt Disney Park & Resorts, moderates
a discussion with Col. James Grace, director
of safety for the United States Marine
Corps; Peter Knollmeyer, chief operating
officer and executive vice president at Fluor
Hanford; and Mike Murray, president and
CEO at FirstGroup America Inc.
The Executive Edge Track was newly
established this year within NSC's Technical
Sessions offerings because of the overwhelming
success of last year's Executive
Forum, which saw a 49 percent increase in
executive-level attendees from 2006 to 2007.
Its purpose is to provide a mechanism for
evidence-based practices and solutions to be
captured for those engaged in decision making,
strategic planning processes, resource
allocation, and the integration between EHS
and operations in their organizations.
NSC's new Off-The-Job Workshop,
"Bringing Safety Home:
Developing and Sustaining
Off-The-Job Safety
and Health Programs," is
scheduled for Tuesday, Oct.
27 from 1:30-4:30 p.m.
This hands-on workshop
will show attendees how to
make the case for off-thejob
safety and health programs, create work
plans for a successful program start-up, and
more.
Get Walking
As the attendees get their fill of the 120 Technical
Sessions and 24 in-depth Professional
Development Seminars, they'll be sure to
wander over to the expo floor, which will
feature more than 800 exhibitors displaying
their latest and greatest
innovations in safety. An
old and popular favorite
will return to booth
#3029 with the annual
presentation of "OSHA's
Top 10." Each year, the
NSC expo is the destination
for the unveiling of
the 10 most-cited OSHA
violations of the previous
year.
For more information
on this year's NSC Congress
and Expo, catch our continuing coverage
in the upcoming October issue.
This article originally appeared in the September 2009 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.