Previewing the Best Sessions at NSC
It's not too early to be filling out your schedule if you are planning to attend the big conference this month.
The National Safety Council's big annual conference is an excellent educational opportunity for safety and health professionals, and this year's program looks as good as ever. Speakers are covering ergonomics, behavior-based safety, business continuity, GHS, VPP, industrial hygiene, slips and falls, health care, fall protection, chemical management, and a host of other topics, some of them addresed in more than one session.
The preliminary program for the 2012 National Safety Congress & Expo lists the educational sessions on pages 15-27. The following sessions seem timely and probably are worth considering.
Monday, Oct. 22
Session 13 at 2 p.m., "Near-Miss Reporting -- The Missing Link of the Safety Culture Revolution," by Mike Williamsen, senior safety consultant for Caterpillar Safety Services
Session 24 at 2 p.m., "VPP -- Ensuring Effective Safety Incentive Programs," by five speakers including Jeremy Butcher, safety manager for PPL Montana
Session 47, 4 p.m., "What You Need to Know About Engineered Nanomaterials," by Charles Geraci and two colleagues from NIOSH
Tuesday, Oct. 23
Session 65 at 2 p.m., "Safe Patient Lifting," by Donald Kirsch, administrator at Good Shepherd Nursing Home, and four other presenters
Session 74 at 4 p.m., "90 Minutes to Safety Culture Excellence," by Shawn Galloway and Terry Mathis of ProAct Safety
Session 86 at 4 p.m., "Making Safety Personal: A Case Study of Global Predictive Analytics," by Chuck Pettinger of Predictive Solutions and Adam Tucker, HSE director for Cummins, Inc.
Wednesday, Oct. 24
Session 109 at 9:15 a.m., "Fall Protection Regulations and Standards: A Changing Landscape," by Thomas Kramer, PE, CSP, principal of LJB, Inc.
Session 110 at 9:15 a.m., "Hexavalent Chromium: Practical Strategies for Applying the OSHA Standard," by Chad Letendre, principal, safety, health and environment, with BAE Systems.
Session 111 at 9:15 a.m., "Implementing NFPA 70E for Arc Flash Safety," by Daryn Lewellyn, president/founder of Lewellyn Technology and Twana McFann, safety professional with the City of Columbus Public Utilities.
Session 130 at 1 p.m., "Most Interesting OSHA Cases," with Kathy Webb, a DOL area director, and three colleagues presenting.
Session 136 at 1 p.m., "Supervisors -- Are They All They Can Be?" by Eddie Greer, CSP, OHST, director of business development for the Board of Certified Safety Professionals and a former president of the American Society of Safety Engineers.
Other highlights of the conference include the presentation on Oct. 22 of the Flame of Life Award to former Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole and a forum the same day discussing how to improve a company's managements strategies. The speakers include Dan Cockerell, vice president of Operations for Disney's Hollywood Studios and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts; Jeff Ruebesam, vice president of Global Health, Safety, and Environmental for Fluor Corporation; and Frank Sherman, president of AkzoNobel. A Q&A session will be follow their presentations.
On Tuesday from 12:30 until 2 p.m., OSHA Administrator Dr. David Michaels and NIOSH Director Dr. John Howard are scheduled to speak at a keynote session titled New Frontiers in Workplace Safety.