2011 SPOTY Application Period Opens April 1
The 10th Annual Safety Professional of the Year contest sponsored by KellerOnline® and Occupational Health & Safety magazine will be open until Oct. 31, 2011.
Applications for the 2011 Keller Online® Safety Professional of the Year award will be accepted beginning April 1. Sponsored by KOL and Occupational Health & Safety magazine, the contest held its latest awards ceremony March 8 at J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc.'s headquarters in Neenah, Wis., with Mike Strickland, Environmental, Health & Safety Manager for Collins Bus Corporation, named the 2010 SPOTY.
Strickland won the top honor in part for implementing safety programs that reduced the South Hutchinson, Kansas-based company's recordable injury rate by 47 percent and its DART rate by 73 percent within two years, even as production rates rose by more than 30 percent. During the presentation ceremony, Strickland credited the entire Collins Bus team for the award. "Safety professionals are making a difference in people's lives every day," he said. "We do our best to educate people and mitigate potential hazards as we go throughout our day, all the while knowing that we will probably never know if we prevented a death or serious injury. Oftentimes, the only way that we know we are doing our jobs well is if nothing is happening, that is, no one is getting hurt. It’s an honor to be recognized by KellerOnline and OH&S magazine as the Safety Professional of the Year –- two leaders in the safety industry -– for doing what I am most passionate about."
Strickland received a $2,500 cash award, a plaque and certificate, one year's use of KellerOnline for himself and others in his organization, and $1,200 in online training.
Dan Allen, corporate safety director for California Drywall in San Jose, Calif., was awarded second place, with a $500 cash award, a plaque, certificate, and a one-year subscription to KellerOnline. Frank McDaniel, director of Safety for Helix Electric Inc. in San Diego, Calif., was awarded third place, with a $50 cash award, plaque, certificate, and one-year subscription.
Applications for the 2011 -- 10th Annual -- SPOTY contest will be accepted until Oct. 31, 2011. Visit this site to apply.