ASSE Presents SPY, Safety Innovation Awards
Dustin G. Richartz is the 2015 Monsanto Queeny Safety Professional of the Year, honoring him for his work in developing safety and health programs throughout his career. The 2015 Award for Innovation in Occupational Safety Management went to Jack Reiter, president and CEO of Machine Safety Management.
The American Society of Safety Engineers on June 9 announced Dustin G. Richartz is the 2015 Monsanto Queeny Safety Professional of the Year, honoring him for his work in developing safety and health programs throughout his career. Richartz is a senior loss control consultant with Denver-based Lockton Companies and an active ASSE member who has volunteered his time to the Professional Development Conference Planning Committee. The award is sponsored by Monsanto Company and named for Edgar Monsanto Queeny, who was president of Monsanto on April 16, 1947, when the explosion of a French freighter destroyed Monsanto's Texas City, Texas, plant, killing 512 people, including 145 Monsanto employees. Queeny placed even more emphasis on safety in the company's operations afterward, according to ASSE.
Another award the society presented at its Safety 2015 conference in Dallas is the 2015 Award for Innovation in Occupational Safety Management, given to Jack Reiter, president and CEO of Machine Safety Management, for creating Machine Safety Management Software, which helps businesses and schools conduct, store, and manage machine safety audits, risk assessments, and machine information. Sponsored by Cintas Corporation, the award was presented along with a $3,000 cash prize and a plaque.
"Injuries related to machinery are all too common but can be prevented," said ASSE President Trish Ennis, CSP, ARM. "By helping streamline safety processes, this new technology can be applied within a wide variety of industries to improve the safety and lives of many workers."
"Machine safety is an ongoing issue for many workplaces, so we're seeing a lot of interest in MSM Software," Reiter said. "It's currently helping customers from schools to Fortune 500 companies improve machine safety, limit accidents, and reduce citations and fines."
Honorable mentions for the award were:
- Randy Brown, president of KemKey LLC (Edgewood, N.M.), for KemKey Safety Couplings, which use different shapes, colors, and markings to reduce the opportunity for chemical cross-contamination during transfers.
- Grant C. Chustz, crane operator supervisor for Jacobs (Torbert, La.), for Barricade Buddy, which protects craftsman working near cranes, riggers working directly with cranes, and crane operators.
- Cory M. Davis, CEO of Capital Construction Solutions, LLC (Chicago), for a mobile safety application that is used by contractors, owners, construction managers, and others to review a list of best practice safety questions, depending on the work being performed.
- Sally L. Koch, former EHS manager for Leatherman Tool Group, Independent Safety Management (Portland, Ore.), for 5 Star Safety at Leatherman Tool, "Letting Your Inner Superhero Out." It is a safety management and improvement program that sets expectations and challenges all employees to become world-class safety performers.
- Anthony M. Krake, environmental, safety & quality manager, Alpine Painting & Sandblasting Contractors (Paterson, N.J.), for its Digital Management System for Small Business, which uses iPads, a software application, and a cloud-based storage system to store data files, allowing instantaneous collaboration between offices and field crews.
"While the five honorable mentions also presented outstanding ideas that are making a difference for workplace safety, the judging panel was especially intrigued by MSM Software because of its potential to reduce injuries," Ennis said.