ASSE Honors 16 Members for Safety Excellence
The American Society of Safety Engineers recently presented its annual Practice Specialty (PS) Safety Professional of the Year awards to 16 of its members for their contributions to the society’s various practice specialties. A committee of peers chose the candidates for each practice specialty in the following areas: academics, construction, consultants, engineering, environmental, fire protection, healthcare, industrial hygiene, international, management, manufacturing, mining, oil & gas, public sector, RM/I, and transportation.
Paul Specht, Ph.D., CSP, of Millersville, Pa., won for academics. A professor of occupational safety, health and the environment at Millersville University, Specht was a founding member of the Academic PS and has served for several years as an ASSE representative to the ABET Board.
David Korman, CSP of Manalapan, N.J. won for Construction. He has served as editor of “BluePrints,” the Construction PS newsletter, as well as assistant administrator and administrator of the Construction PS. He also serves as environmental, health, and safety director for Skanska USA Building Inc.
Brian Hitt, CSP, CHMM of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, won for the Consultants PS, for which he is the current membership chair, a position responsible for innovative recruitment techniques for the PS. He also is the owner of Hitt Consulting Inc.
R. Craig Schroll, CSP, CET, CHCM, CUSA, of East Earl, Pa., took home the Fire Protection PS SPY award. Schroll is an expert in safety concerns for confined space entry and has been a long-time member of the ANSI/ASSE 117.1 Confined Space standard, along with being a regular contributor to the Fire Protection PS newsletter, “Fire Line.” He also is the president of FIRECON.
Mary Prisby of Elmhurst, Ill., won for the Environmental PS, for which she is the assistant administrator. Prisby is an active member of ASSE’s Three Rivers Chapter and is an EHS manager for Grace Davison.
Aruna Vadgama, CSP, COHN, CPE of Carlsbad, Calif., a national expert on pandemic flu outbreaks who also serves as international surveyor for the Joint Commission, won for healthcare. She has served on the Healthcare PS as the “HealthBeat” newsletter editor, assistant administrator, and administrator.
David Brodie, CPE, of Hendersonville, N.C., won for industrial hygiene. He is the current vice-chair of the Ergonomics Branch of the Industrial Hygiene PS and serves as director of ergonomics services for Atlas Ergonomics.
Stuart Wood, MSC, CMIOSH, an independent consultant based in Alpharetta, Ga., won for the International PS. He has been active in the PS for 10 years, culminating in his term last year as administrator.
Donna Coyle of Dickinson, Texas, won the Management PS SPY award. A safety manager for Dow Chemical Company, she currently serves as the membership development committee chairperson for the Management PS.
David Evans, CSP of Saginaw, Minn., won for the Manufacturing PS SPY award for his work as Conference/Seminar chair for the PS. He also is an active member of the Iron Mining Association and serves as area manager safety & security for Cliffs Natural Resources.
Gayle Carson of Enterprise, Ala., won the Public Sector PS SPY award. She is a frequent contributor to the Public Sector PS newsletter, “Perspectives,” and has worked to develop a special edition of the newsletter containing best practices. She serves as safety technician for the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Safety Center.
James Newberry of Honolulu won the Risk Management/Insurance (RM/I) SPY award. He has served as editor to the “RM/Insights” newsletter and is the new assistant administrator for the PS. He also serves as assistant vice president and risk control manager for the Island Insurance Company Ltd.
Michael Semones, of Parrish, Fla., a regional safety manager for Brinks Inc., received the Transportation PS SPY award.
In addition there were three PS branch awards this year: Page Rost of Boise, Idaho, won for the Ergonomics Branch; she serves as the branch Web site chair. Maureen Johnson, CSP, of South Burlington, Vt., won for the Human Resources Branch, for which she serves as vice chair. Matthew Krell, CSP, ARM, of Littleton, Colo., won for the Service Branch, for which he is membership chair.