Thank you for visiting the East Tennessee Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers Web Page. The East Tennessee Chapter was originally chartered on September 23, 1946 in Knoxville, Tennessee in the heart of the Tennessee Valley. Our membership consists of a 180 Safety Professions from 15 counties in the federal, public and private sectors.
The mission of the East Tennessee ASSE Chapter is to advance the status of and promote the development of all safety professionals and the safety profession by: enhancing the technical, scientific and managerial skills that are germane to the safety profession and to advance the societal and economic status of all safety professionals.
The vision of the East Tennessee ASSE chapter is to be the premier local organization and resource for those committed to the practice of protecting people, property and the environment. We will be the model for all professional organizations that seek to promote professional development in the areas of technical, scientific and managerial skills.
Greetings Fellow East Tennessee Safety Professionals:
Here’s to summer and all that goes with it: vacations, weekend cookouts and more daylight to enjoy being outside. It seems like there is no shortage of items to distract a person from continuing their development as a Safety Professional. Those of us who have been in the Safety Profession for any amount of time know that you have to be a “life- long learner” to stay proficient in this business. That is why your local ASSE chapter is committed to providing learning opportunities to all Safety Professions in the East Tennessee area by offering at least eight meetings a year with a technical subject session and this newsletter.
We will continue our monthly meeting schedule with a June meeting at Mama Blues on Kingston Pike in West Knoxville (see the East Tennessee Chapter webpage for directions). The meeting starts with dinner at 6:00 p.m.; you do not have to be an ASSE member or eat dinner to attend the meeting.
Recent studies suggest that the majority of fatalities and serious accidents in the construction industry are caused by decisions made before the first shovel of dirt is turned. This month’s topic address this fact with a presentation by Mr. Gary Hagan of the B&W Y-12 Project titled Designing in Safety during Construction. Mr. Hagan’s discussion will focus on the six principles that have been applied to the design phase of the Highly Enriched Uranium Chemical Processing Facility project. He will also share with us points from the Harvard School of Public Health's' Design for Construction Course.
Mr. Hagan has over 25 year of engineering experience specializing in safety, design and operation of nuclear and hazardous chemical manufacturing facilities and is currently assigned as the Environmental, Safety and Health Manager responsible for integrating safety into the $3.5B nuclear and chemical complex. He has a diverse background that includes Project Management, Nuclear Facility Safety Manager, Plant Operating Review Committee Chairman, Manager of Lithium Operations, Field Process Engineer in Y-12’s Highly Enriched Uranium Chemical Processing Facility, Carpenter and Steelworker.
I want to take a moment to recognize a truly outstanding member of the East Tennessee Chapter of ASSE, Ms. Kim Enouch, former ASSE East Tennessee Chapter President and director of Safety and Loss Control for the Associated General Contractors in Knoxville. Kim’s efforts brought attention and focus to the many deaths from falls in construction. Her efforts received recognition from the Knoxville News Sentinel with a large article that may be viewed at http://knoxnews.com/news/2009/jun/02/stand-down-teaches-safety/.
Kim was the principal organizer and coordinator of the Safety Stand Down where approximately 120 companies and 1,900 workers across Tennessee paused at the same time to receive fall protection training. Thank you, Kim for your commitment and dedication to the Safety Profession.
Probably like most Safety Professionals I tend to wear my opinion on my shirt sleeve; having said that I have to say I am disappointed with the attendance at the May meeting. Our guest speaker, Ron Shelato did an excellent job with his presentation on Trenching and Excavations. Unfortunately, he delivered it to a sparse (and that is being generous to say that) audience. Folks, a great deal of effort goes into to selecting a topic and recruiting technical speakers for our monthly meetings. These are Subject Matter Experts who are willing to spend their time preparing for presentation to us and it is embarrassing to have such a poor turnout.
I do realize it was a holiday weekend and will take partial responsibility for not getting the newsletter out in a timely manner to remind everyone of the May monthly meeting; however, these are monthly meetings at the same place and time every month. I fear the word may get out that being a presenter at the East Tennessee ASSE meetings is not worth the effort. You don’t have to eat dinner and there is no cost to attend. If there is an issue such as location, time, date or topics let me know and I present the problem to the Executive Board for resolution.
I hope to see you this Thursday, June 18th. Until then-take care.
Chris Jones
The Executive Board of the East Tennessee Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers has selected Mr. Brandon Viars as its Safety Professional of the Year. Brandon has been an outstanding leader and donated a tremendous amount of his time to our local chapter obtaining and coordinating speakers for technical presentations at our monthly meetings. He is a Professional Services Manager at ES&H here in Knoxville and serves as the Presentation Chair for the East Tennessee Chapter of ASSE. Brandon has the difficult job of finding speakers and developing topics for our monthly meetings and has done an outstanding job.