OSHA's Michael Connors Receives Philip Arnow Award
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has presented the Department of Labor's prestigious Philip Arnow Award to agency veteran and Region 5 Administrator Michael Connors, recognizing "the exceptional leadership he has shown during his more than 30-year career with OSHA."
Connors began working for the agency's Cincinnati Area Office as an industrial hygienist in 1975, when OSHA was only four years old and still in its infancy. In bestowing the award, agency leaders said Connors' commitment and initiative have played an important role in seeing the agency into adulthood.
"Mike's long years of distinguished service are a credit to the Department of Labor," said Acting Assistant Secretary for OSHA Jordan Barab. "This award is a well-deserved tribute to a career spent ensuring that workers make it home from their jobs safe and healthy every day."
In 1988, Connors rose to his current position as a regional administrator for Occupational Safety and Health, overseeing the activities of the country's largest OSHA Region, which includes Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Under his leadership, this region has routinely surpassed its goals for both the number of safety and health inspections conducted and major violations uncovered.
Connors showed ingenuity in his efforts to reform industries with serious injury and illness records and increasing fatality numbers. Suspecting that some construction employers were letting their safety practices lapse when they thought OSHA inspectors were off duty, Connors worked with the National Council of Field Labor Locals and OSHA Area Office staff to conduct a Weekend Construction Site Inspection project. During a five-month period in 2005, inspectors visited approximately 600 sites, issuing citations for the significant number of violations they found.
"I am proud to be part of OSHA's efforts to ensure that employers are providing their workers with the safe and healthful working conditions they not only deserve, but are guaranteed by law," Connors said.