ASSE Names Lt. Col. James Jennings Safety Professional of the Year
In recognition of his continued efforts in enhancing workplace safety and health, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) named, Lt. Col. James Jennings, CSP, of Fort Campbell, Ky., as the recipient of the Edgar Monsanto Queeny Safety Professional of the Year (SPY) award. Jennings received the award on the morning June 30, during ASSE's Safety 2009, in San Antonio.
The annual Safety Professional of the Year award is given to the most outstanding ASSE member for accomplishments and contributions in the occupational safety, health and environmental field. Sponsored by the Monsanto Corp., the award was created in honor of its third president and son of the founder, Edgar Monsanto Queeny for his personal commitment to protect workers from industrial accidents and health hazards.
Jennings currently serves as safety officer for the 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division in the U.S. Army. Recently he was deployed to Bagram, Afghanistan as a safety officer for a 1,200-man brigade providing logistics support for 30,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines deployed to combat in Afghanistan.
In addition, he received the Join Service Achievement Medal (JSAM) for his production of the first Dari (Afghan language) safety video in the history of Afghanistan. He was also deployed to Qayyarah, Iraq in 2005-2006, serving as a safety officer with the 101st Sustainment Brigade for a 5,500-man brigade conducting logistics support operations in Northern Iraq. In previous years, he also served as a tactical safety manager at Fort Campbell, Ky., and a deputy director for the U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) Safety Division at Fort McPherson, Ga.
"During our deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, Jennings willingness to take on the most difficult and hazardous assignments make him an invaluable resource to the soldiers, leaders, and commanders with whom he works," said Rodney D. Lowell, safety director, Combined/Joint Task Force-101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army, who nominated Jennings for the award. "Few of the other nominees could say that they braved hostile enemy fire to ensure their organizational safety programs were effectively minimizing accidental losses. Jay endured rocket attacks, improvised explosive device (IED) blasts, and mortar fire as he gained a first-hand perspective of the work environment during 36 convoys through Northern Iraq."
An ASSE professional member since 2003, he has been a member of both the ASSE Middle Tennessee Chapter and the ASSE Georgia Chapter. He has given numerous presentations at the Department of Defense as well as at ASSE chapter and society-level professional development conferences on topics from safety in combat to U.S. Army risk management in Iraq. He also published an article titled "Human Factors Analysis: Applications in Combat Operations," in ASSE's Professional Safety journal. Jennings is also a current member of the ASSE Risk Management/Insurance (RM/I) Practice Specialty and the ASSE RM/I Training and Communications Branch.