August is here and that means the Governor’s Safety and Health Conference
is just around the corner. Attendance may be closed by this letter as there
were few vacancies left by late June. The conference will be Monday August
26 through Wednesday August 28, 2024. Mr. James Spann, the Weather
Authority, for Birmingham’s television station ABC 33/40 is the Monday
morning opening session speaker. Mr. Bruce S. Wilkinson will close out the
conference with a motivational presentation. There will be two pre-conference
classes. Friday August 23 class is OSHA 7005 Public Warehousing and
Storage, a full day class. Saturday August 24 will be a half day class, OSHA
7845 Recordkeeping Rule Seminar. There are plenty of interesting breakout
sessions from late Monday morning through Tuesday afternoon. For more
information see the University of Alabama Conference Registration
website at https://calendar.ua.edu/department/college_of_continuing_studies.
The Alabama Chapter will meet on Friday August 16, 2024 at our usual AGC
location in Irondale, AL, look for more information on this meeting in our
monthly newsletter. Dr. Chris Schemel, Safe State Director, from the
University of Alabama College of Engineering will do a presentation on
Fire Hazards. He has spent time investigating and evaluating the Hawaii fire
that caused so much destruction in that State. This should be an interesting
presentation. Our September 20, 2024 presentation will be on Rigging and
presented by Brasfield & Gori’s Mr. Steve Sawyer and Mr. Jordan Casey.
This will cover issues such as inspections and proper use which is important
for both Construction and General Industry. A recent fatality in Alabama
resulted from a failed lift.

We will be partnering with ABC and AGC over the next year to conduct
professional development conferences for both the General Industry and
Construction practices. The first PDC we have will be October 4, 2024 with
ABC with the location to follow. Equipment designed for reducing silica dust
will be on demonstration at this PDC. There may be some vendors on hand
as well. More information on this event will follow on our website. Possible
other PDCs that are being planned for later in the 2024-25 year include
recordkeeping and an electrical event. Information on each will be
forthcoming. These events will be great opportunities to obtain CEU’s for
recertification.

Our July meeting was a combined Alabama Chapter and NE Section ASSP
Meeting. This was the first meeting for the newly restarted NE Section. Mr.
Charley Bishop volunteered to be the Section Chairman and setup their
first meeting which was Friday July 19, 2024 at the Honda Manufacturing
Plant No. 1 in Lincoln, AL. This meeting included a tour of plant No. 1
where they assemble two of the Honda Vehicles. Honda also provided lunch
and this meeting was a great success. Thank you Charley for setting up this
great meeting and tour. Look for an article and photos of the event on our
website soon.

We are also looking for members who want to get more involved in the
Chapter by volunteering as a Program or Governmental Affairs Chair. We
would appreciate any member who would like to serve one of these Chairs.
As Program Chair you will assist us with finding informative presentations for
not only the Chapter but Section meetings. With Zoom and Team technology
we can get knowledgeable presenters from all over the country to present to
our members. While at conference that you attend talk to the presenters to
see if they would be willing to do a 30 to 45 minute presentation for us.
Speaking of service by our members. Randy Easterling is our new
Alabama/Mississippi Region IV Area Director. He takes over for Wayne
Jackson who has held the position the past few years. Let’s welcome Randy
as our new Area Director and the Chapter looks forward to working with him
to improve the Alabama Chapter and Sections.

The ASSP Safety 2024 conference will be held in Denver, Colorado from
August 7-9, 2024. There as both pre- and post-conference courses to attain
continuing education credits for your re-certification(s). Next year the
conference is scheduled to be in Orlando, Florida in July.
Be careful and safe out there in your daily travels, work activities, and
summer vacation.

Thomas Ten Eyck, CSP
ASSP Alabama Chapter President

Summer is here and it has been a hot late June and looks like it will continue through early July if not the entire summer. It will be important to stay hydrated and take breaks until you get acclimated to what is turning out to be a very hot summer.

The Alabama Chapter will not be conducting a regular meeting in July. Instead, we are combining our meeting with the restarted Alabama Northeast Section of ASSP. Mr. Charley Bishop has volunteered as the Section Chairman and setup their first meeting for Friday July 19, 2024. The meeting will be at the Honda Manufacturing facility in Lincoln, Alabama. Honda will be hosting a tour of their facility along with providing lunch for the Section. I hope our Chapter members will support this Section event by attending this meeting and enjoying the tour of the facility. Registration will be through the Chapter so look for the meeting invite and below in this newsletter. An additional reminder will also be sent out prior to the meeting but time will be needed to plan so register by Friday the 12th. Meeting information will be provided in the invite.

The 2023-2024 COMT was completed and sent into ASSP National. We achieved our Gold Status as a Chapter again. Thanks to all the Executive Committee and Section Leaders for making this possible through Chapter and Section meetings, the heat stress PDC event, and our recognition luncheon. Thanks for all your hard work as leaders for our Chapter and Sections.

We look forward to providing additional professional development and recognition events in 2024-2025. We look to continue to participate in combined meetings with the Jacksonville State University Student Section as well as setting up a meeting with the Auburn University Student Section this next year.

We are also looking for members who want to get more involved in the Chapter by volunteering as a Program or Governmental Affairs Chair. We would appreciate all those who would like to serve one of these Chairs. As Program Chair you will assist us with finding informative presentations for not only the Chapter but Section meetings. With Zoom and Team technology we can get knowledgeable presenters from all over the country to present to our members. While at a conference that you attend talk to the presenters to see if they would be willing to do a 30 to 45 minute presentation for us.

The 2024 Governor’s Safety and Health Conference is fast approaching. Registration is limited to 400 attendees and there were only a few spaces left for attending. If you are thinking about attending don’t wait too long as attending closed on July 28 last year and appears to be closing probably by early July of this year. The conference will be held from Monday August 26 through Wednesday August 28, 2024. Mr. James Spann, the Weather Authority, for Birmingham’s television station ABC 33/40 is the Monday morning opening session speaker. Mr. Bruce S. Wilkinson will close out the conference with a motivational presentation. There will be two pre-conference classes. Friday August 23 class is OSHA 7005 Public Warehousing and Storage, a full day class. Saturday August 24 will be a half day class, OSHA 7845 Recordkeeping Rule Seminar. For more information see the University of Alabama Conference Registration website at https://calendar.ua.edu/department/college_of_continuing_studies.

The ASSP Safety 2024 conference will be held in Denver, Colorado from August 7-9, 2024. There as both pre- and post-conference courses to attain continuing education credits for your re-certification(s). Next year the conference is scheduled to be in Orlando, Florida probably in the usual month of June.

Alabama Chapter of ASSP, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), and UA Safety State will have a half day seminar/PDC on Silica. We hope to cover the OSHA regulations, engineering controls with equipment demonstrations, and health effects during this seminar. Continuing education credit will be issued for this event. The final location and seminar/PDC schedule is still TBD. Checkout our monthly newsletter for updates as we finalize this event.

Be careful and safe out there in your daily travels, work activities, and summer vacation. Thomas Ten Eyck, CSP
Chapter President

Our June 21, 2024 meeting will be at AGC facility 5000 Grantswood Road Irondale, AL. Mr. Danny Smith will be our presenter and his topic will be It’s Not Rocket Surgery, It’s Brain Science: Understanding the Complexities of Safety. The meeting will start at the usual 11:30 am time. If you want any information on this meeting email me at tteneyck@ua.edu or our Secretary Mr. Vincent Scott at vincent.scott@kratosdefense.com.

We will not have a July 2024 meeting at AGC. We will combine our meeting with the Northeast Section for their July meeting. Mr. Charley Bishop is the NE Section Chairman. We will help Charley with his first meeting by attending as a chapter. So please try to attend his first meeting which will be at the Honda Facility in Lincoln, AL. There will be a Honda tour after them meeting which should be interesting. More information on this July meeting will be forth coming.

The 2024 Governor’s Safety and Health Conference is fast approaching. Registration is open and many have already registered. The cutoff in the past was 400 attendees and last year registration closed on July 28, 2024. The conference will be held at the Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach, AL from Monday August 26 through Wednesday August 28, 2024. One of the guest speakers will be Mr. James Spann, the Weather Authority, for Birmingham’s television station ABC 33/40. He does a really great presentation on weather including some tornadic events he has covered over the years. Bruce S. Wilkinson is the other key note speaker. Mr. Wilkinson is a leadership, communication and culture implementation strategist as well as a professional motivational keynote speaker and trainer. He is the chief executive officer and chief culture officer of Workplace Consultants, Inc. and Wilkinson Seminars and Presentations. There will be two pre-conference classes. Friday August 23 the class is OSHA 7005 Public Warehousing and Storage, a full day class. Saturday August 24 will be a half day class, OSHA 7845 Recordkeeping Rule Seminar. For more information see the University of Alabama Conference Registration website at https://calendar.ua.edu/department/college_of_continuing_studies.

This fall Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), UA Safety State and Alabama Chapter ASSP will have a half day seminar/PDC on Silica. We hope to cover the OSHA regulations, engineering controls with equipment demonstrations, health effects during this seminar. Continuing education credit will be issued for this event. The final location is TBD. Checkout our monthly newsletter for updates on this seminar/PDC as we finalize this event.

Be careful and safe out there in your daily travels and work activities.

Thomas Ten Eyck, CSP
Chapter President

Warm weather is also fast approaching which means that heat stress illnesses could become an issue. OSHA has made it a priory to make heat stress part of their warm weather inspections. If you would like to participate in Heat Stress Trainer then the Alabama Chapter of ASSP along with the University of Alabama and Safe State will be conducting a half day Professional Development Conference for a Heat Stress Trainer Class through a Harwood Grant. This will be a free PDC event and will occur at the AGC facility 5000 Grantswood Road Irondale, AL. The class will start at 8 AM and end by noon on May 17, 2024. Breakfast will be provided. This class will take the place of our normal monthly meeting and will be limited to the first 40 who sign up. Signup information will be provided in announcements shortly. If you want any information on this PDC event email me at tteneyck@ua.edu or our Secretary Mr. Vincent Scott at secretary@alambama.assp.org.

The 2024 ASSP Region IV conference will be held at the Wyndham Hotel Lake Buena Vista, Florida on May 1 and 2. Registration for this event was still open and the early bird registration fee was still in available. For registration details visit www.RegionFourPdc.com. This conference offers CEUs for attending. The website also has the hotel registration information for this event.

The Region IV ROC meeting will be the day before this conference. I will be attending and will share any valuable information I get from this meeting. Other Chapter Presidents will be in attendance so a chance to discuss issues or ideas that can be brought back to our Chapter.

The 2024 Governor’s Safety and Health Conference is fast approaching. Registration is now open and many have already registered. The cutoff in the past was 400 attendees and last year registration closed on July 28, 2024. When they say 400 attendees, they mean it and I think the close date when 400 is reached this year will be earlier and may be as early as late June. If you are thinking of attending this event do not wait until the last minute. The conference will be held from Monday August 26 through Wednesday August 28, 2024. One of the guest speakers will be Mr. James Spann, the Weather Authority, for Birmingham’s television station ABC 33/40. He does a really great presentation on weather including some tornadic events he has covered over the years. Bruce S. Wilkinson is the other key note speaker. Mr. Wilkinson is a leadership, communication and culture implementation strategist as well as a professional motivational keynote speaker and trainer. He is the chief executive officer and chief culture officer of Workplace Consultants, Inc. and Wilkinson Seminars and Presentations. For more information see the University of Alabama Conference Registration website at https://calendar.ua.edu/department/college_of_continuing_studies.

BCSP is now requiring Ethics credits when you recertify your CSP. ASP holders may also have an Ethics requirement. If the Alabama Chapter conducts a half day fall PDC on Ethics is there interest from our CSP and ASP holders in attending this PDC? Send an email that you are interested to either MR. Vincent Scott at vincent.scott@kratosdefence.com or myself at tteneyck@ua.edu and we will see what we can setup for an Ethics PDC. There may be a cost associated with this training but we will try to keep it at a minimum cost.

Be careful and safe out there in your daily travels and work activities.

Thomas Ten Eyck, CSP
Chapter President

Spring is here and so far the severe weather has been limited across the state. April and May tend to be two months with the most severe spring weather events. Evaluate your facility emergency action plan’s severe weather procedures to be prepared for any severe weather which may impact your area. It will also be a good time to make sure you are prepared at home as well.

Warm weather is also fast approaching which means that heat stress illnesses could become an issue. OSHA has made it a priory to make heat stress part of their warm weather inspections. Evaluate your facility heat stress procedures and practices to get ready for the hot summer.

If you need some valuable training on heat stress the Alabama Chapter of ASSP along with the University of Alabama and Safe State will be conducting a half day Professional Development Conference for a Heat Stress Trainer Class through a Harwood Grant. This will be a free PDC event and will occur at the AGC facility 5000 Grantswood Road Irondale, AL. The class will start at 8 AM and end by noon on May 17, 2024. This class will take the place of our normal monthly meeting and will be limited to the first 40 who sign up. Signup information will be provided in announcements shortly. If you want any information on this PDC event email me at tteneyck@ua.edu or our Secretary Mr. Vincent Scott at vincent.scott@kratosdefense.com.

The April 19, 2024 Alabama Chapter Recognition Luncheon is fast approaching. This is the first recognition luncheon event held since 2021. All Sections are invited to this meeting as one of their annual meetings so try to attend this event. We will thank our long-standing members at this luncheon and well as recognize the Alabama Chapter Safety Professional of the Year, Mr. Vincent Scott. Please try to attend this special event. You will need to register to attend this event by Monday April 15, 2024 and registration information will be in this newsletter as well as other mailings sent out this month.

The 2024 ASSP Region IV Conference will be held at the Wyndham Hotel Lake Buena Vista, Florida on May 1 and 2. Registration for this event is open but limited to 200 attendees due to the size of the Hotel Conference area. The early bird registration with a lower cost ended on March 29, 2024. For registration details visit www.RegionFourPdc.com. This conference offers CEUs for attending. The website also has the hotel registration information for this event.

The 2024 Governor’s Safety and Health Conference is fast approaching. Registration is now open and many have already registered. The cutoff in the past was 400 attendees and last year registration closed on July 28, 2024. When they say 400 attendees, they mean it and I think the close date when 400 is reached this year will be earlier and may be as early as late June. So if you are thinking of attending this event do not wait until the last minute. The conference will be held from Monday August 26 through Wednesday August 28, 2024. One of the guest speakers will be Mr. James Spann, the Weather Authority, for Birmingham’s television station ABC 33/40. He does a really great presentation on weather including some tornadic events he has covered over the years. More information is provided on the University of Alabama Conference Registration website.

Be careful and safe out there in your daily travels and work activities.

Thomas Ten Eyck, CSP
Chapter President

Spring is almost here which means our severe weather potential ramps up for the southeast. Be weather aware for these events which unfortunately will occur several times in March, April, and May. It might be a good time to evaluate your facility emergency action plan severe weather procedures to be prepared for any severe weather which may impact your area. It will also be a good time to make sure you are prepared at home as well.

Our March 15, 2024 Chapter meeting will feature Ms. Maveline Perez, Civil Engineer and Assistant Area Director for the Birmingham OSHA Area Office. This meeting will be held at our usual location, the AGC facility at 5000 Grantswood Road in Irondale, AL. Ms. Perez will discuss what they will be doing over the coming year as well as her experiences working for OSHA. She will be available to answer your questions so please bring them to the meeting.

The 2024 Central Alabama Construction Conference is almost here and will be well attended. It will be held at the Hyundai Training Center in Montgomery, Alabama on Thursday March 14, 2024 from 7:30 to 3:00 pm. This event is free with registration through Deep South Center for Occupational Safety and Health at UAB. Registration is open at their website, uab.edu. The registration is under the Continuing Education listing, scroll down to the Alabama Construction Conference to register. This is a free conference with a great opportunity to get around 0.7 CEU’s. Although it says construction conference it has plenty of general industry breakout sessions.

The April 19, 2024 meeting will be our recognition luncheon. This is the first time the event has been held since 2019. All Sections are invited to this meeting as one of their annual meetings so try to attend this event. We will thank our long-standing members at this luncheon and well as recognize the Alabama Chapter Safety Professional of the Year, Mr. Vincent Scott. Please try to attend this special event.

I would like to again congratulate Mr. Vincent Scott, Secretary for the Alabama Chapter, as the 2023-2024 Safety Professional of the Year recipient. Join me in thanking Vincent for all his hard work he does for the Alabama Chapter.

The 2024 ASSP Region IV conference will be held at the Wyndham Hotel Lake Buena Vista, Florida on May 1 and 2. Registration for this event is open but limited to 200 attendees due to the size of the Hotel Conference area. For details visit www.RegionFourPdc.com. There is an early bird registration with a reduced conference registration fee. This conference offers CEUs for attending. The website also has the hotel registration information for this event.

The 2024 Governor’s Safety and Health Conference is fast approaching. The conference will be held from Monday August 26 through Wednesday August 28, 2024. One of the guest speakers will be Mr. James Spann, the Weather Authority, for Birmingham’s television station ABC 33/40. He does a really great presentation on weather including some tornadic events he has covered over the years. More information will be provided as registration opens.

Be careful and safe out there in your daily travels and work activities.

Thomas Ten Eyck, CSP
Chapter President

Our February Chapter meeting will be held on the campus of Jacksonville State University with the Student Section of ASSP. This meeting will be on Friday February 16, 2024. We will meet at the Merrill Hall, 700 Pelham Road, North Jacksonville, AL 36265. Parking will be at the hall and across the street near the traffic light. Meeting starts at 11:30 am with a presentation by Dr. Chris Schemel, University of Alabama Safe State Director. He will present on Fire Safety including some investigations he has done on the fires and explosions around the country.

Our March 15, 2024, the Chapter meeting will feature Mr. Joel Batiz, Birmingham OSHA Area Director. This meeting will be held at our usual location, the AGC facility at 5000 Grantswood Road in Irondale, AL. Mr. Batiz has worked for the Fort Worth, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia offices prior to becoming the Birmingham, AL Area Director. He will discuss what they will be doing over the coming year as well as issues he has investigated during his career with OSHA. He will be available to answer your questions so please bring them to the meeting.

The 2024 Central Alabama Construction Conference will be at the Hyundai Training Center in Montgomery, Alabama on March 14, 2024 from 7:30 to 3:00 pm. This event is free with registration through Deep South Center for Occupational Safety and Health at UAB. Registration is now open at their website, uab.edu. The registration is under the Continuing Education listing, scroll down to the Alabama Construction Conference to register. This is a free conference with a great opportunity to get around 0.7 CEU’s. Although it says construction conference it has plenty of general industry breakout sessions.

The April 19, 2024 meeting will be our recognition luncheon. All Sections are invited to this meeting as one of their annual meetings so try to attend this event. We will thank our long-standing members at this luncheon and well as recognize the Alabama Chapter Safety Professional of the Year. This will be our first recognition dinner in a while so plan on attending this great event.

I would like to congratulate Mr. Vincent Scott, Secretary for the Alabama Chapter, as the 2023-2024 Safety Professional of the Year recipient. Join me in thanking Vincent for all his hard work he does for the Alabama Chapter.

The 2024 ASSP Region IV conference will be held at the Wyndham Hotel Lake Buena Vista, Florida on May 1 and 2. Registration for this event is open but limited to 200 attendees due to the size of the Hotel Conference area. For details visit www.RegionFourPdc.com. There is an early bird registration with a reduced conference registration fee. This conference offers CEUs for attending.

Be careful and safe out there in your daily travels and work activities.

Thomas Ten Eyck, CSP
Chapter President

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas and New Years holiday season. The new year is upon us and the next Alabama Chapter ASSP meeting will be Friday January 19, 2024. The meeting will be at the AGC facility 5000 Grantswood Road Irondale, AL 35210. The meeting will start at approximately 11:30 am with the presentation followed by the Chapter meeting and ending with an Executive Committee meeting.

We have some upcoming meetings and special events so mark your calendars. Our February Chapter meeting will be held in conjunction with the Jacksonville State University Student Section of ASSP on Friday February 16, 2024. We will meet on their campus at the Merrill Hall, 700 Pelham Road, North Jacksonville, AL 36265. Parking will be at the hall and across the street near the traffic light. Meeting time will be 11:30 am with a presentation by Dr. Chris Schemel, University of Alabama Safe State Director. He will present on an interesting topic of Fire Safety which will include some of his investigations on the fires and explosions that have happened across this country.

Our March 15, 2024 meeting will feature Mr. Joel Batiz, Birmingham OSHA Area Director. He will provide insight into OSHA and what they will be doing over the coming year as well as issues he has investigated during his career with OSHA. He will be available to answer your questions so please bring them to the meeting.

The April 19, 2024 meeting will be our recognition luncheon. We will thank our long-standing members at this luncheon as well as recognize the Alabama Chapter Safety Professional of the Year. This will be our first recognition dinner in a while so plan on attending this great event.

The 2024 Central Alabama Construction Conference will be at the Hyundai Training Center in Montgomery, Alabama on March 15, 2024 from 7:30 to 3:00 pm. This is a free event with registration through the Deep South Center for Occupational Safety and Health at UAB. Registration is now open so check their website for more information and sign up. This is a free conference with CEUs for attending so a great opportunity to get valuable points for free. Although it says construction in the title there will be general industry break out sessions at the conference.

The 2024 ASSP Region IV conference will be held at the Wyndham Hotel Lake Buena Vista, Florida on May 1 and 2. Registration for this event is open but limited to 200 attendees due to the size of the Hotel Conference area. For details visit www.RegionFourPdc.com. There is an early bird registration with a reduced conference registration fee. This conference is closer than the National Safety 2024 conference in Denver Colorado in August and offers similar CEUs for attending.

Be careful and safe out there in your daily travels and work activities and Happy New Year.

Thomas Ten Eyck, CSP
Chapter President

The next Alabama Chapter of ASSP will be Friday December 15, 2023 at the AGC Facility on Grantswood Road in Irondale, AL. Meeting starts at 11:30 so come and enjoy the presentation and lunch. The November presentation is TBD.

The next Tuscaloosa/West Alabama Section meeting in Tuscaloosa, AL will be the second Friday in December, the 8th. It will be at the Tuscaloosa Gateway Center on University Blvd. in Tuscaloosa, AL. The meeting will start at 11:30.

The 2024 ASSP Region IV conference will be held at the Wyndham Hotel Lake Buena Vista, Florida on May 1 and 2. Registration for this event opened this week. It is limited to 200 attendees due to the size of the Hotel Conference area. For details visit www.RegionFourPdc.com.

The 2024 Central Alabama Construction Conference will be at the Hyundai Training Center in Montgomery, Alabama on March 15, 2024 from 7:30 to 3:00 pm. This is a free event with registration through the Deep South Center for Occupational Safety and Health at UAB. Registration should open this month so check their website for more information. This is a free conference with CEUs for attending so a great opportunity to get valuable points for free. Although it says construction in the title there will be general industry break out session at the conference.

With Christmas fast approaching it means putting up the tree and outside lights. Some interesting information I received from several Alabama insurance companies was that power strips have caused a significant number of fires in Alabama this year. One of the larger insurance companies stated they had over $5 Million in losses as of May 2023 due to power strips overheating. If you use power strips for your tree lights or other holiday displays around the house you may want to consider plugging the cords into directly into outlets or limit the number or lights per power strips. Power strips are UL approved for low voltage and computers and tend to overheat if overloaded. At the very least occasionally check to see if overheating and do not leave the power on if not in your home or at night.

Be careful and safe out there in your daily travels and work activities and have a happy Christmas and New Years.

Thomas Ten Eyck, CSP
Chapter President

The next Alabama Chapter of ASSP will be Friday November 17, 2023 at the AGC Facility on Grantswood Road in Irondale, AL. Meeting starts at 11:30 so come and enjoy the presentation and lunch. The November presentation will be by Mr. Jordan Casey of Brasfield & Gorrie Equipment services and on Raising the Bar – Crane Operations. His presentation will cover interesting crane issues that resulted in some not so pleasant accidents.

The next Tuscaloosa/West Alabama Section meeting in Tuscaloosa, AL will be the second Friday in December, the 8th. It will be at the Tuscaloosa Gateway Center on University Blvd. in Tuscaloosa, AL. The meeting will start at 11:30. Additional information on this meeting will be forthcoming once more information is available. If you have never made it to a Tuscaloosa meeting the Gateway Center is a nice little facility to come visit.

For those who have certifications and need continuing education points for the recertification process take note of a Free conference coming up early next year. The Central Alabama Construction Safety Conference and Expo is returning on March 14, 2024. It will be from 7:30 to 3:00 at the Hyundai Training Center in Montgomery, AL. Although it says construction there will be general industry topics and OSHA will be there with an update. There are usually 5 tracks with some very good presentations well worth attending for the CEUs issued. ASSP will post signup information when it becomes available, or you can check the Deep South Center for Occupational Safety and Health at UAB for sign up information. Right now, it looks like signup should start in December.

The 2024 ASSP Region IV conference will be held at the Wyndham Hotel Lake Buena Vista, Florida on May 1 and 2. The call for conference presentations was still open at the end of October and they were looking for more presenters. If you would like to present on a topic at the conference submit your proposal presentation to RegionFourPdc.com.

With the holidays fast approaching it will mean traveling to meet family wherever that takes you. Enjoy the Thanksgiving meal and time with your family and friends. And if you enjoy the Christmas shopping madness have fun getting those great deals early in the morning or late Thanksgiving night. I enjoy watching the shopping circus while drinking a cup of hot chocolate at the outlet or malls.

Be careful and safe out there in your daily travels and work activities.

Thomas Ten Eyck, CSP
Chapter President

October 2023 President Letter

The next Alabama Chapter of ASSP will be Friday October 20, 2023 at the AGC Facility on Grantswood Road in Irondale, AL. Meeting starts at 11:30 so come and enjoy the presentation and lunch. There will be an executive committee meeting after our regular meeting. Anyone who is interested in volunteering for one of our committees is welcome to attend this meeting. We have committee chair and event chairs available for those who want to be more involved with the Alabama Chapter.

The 2024 ASSP Region IV conference will be held at the Wyndham Hotel Lake Buena Vista, Florida on May 1 and 2. The call for conference Presentations has been emailed to members. The closing date is October 5, 2023 but according to the committee it will be extended several weeks. If you would like to present on a topic at the conference submit your proposes presentation to RegionFourPdc.com.

With late summer and fall upon us remember to obey the school bus unloading rules where you live. While returning from the Region IV Operating Committee Meeting in Atlanta, I stopped for school bus on a two lane road with its red lights blinking and waited for several students groups of students to cross the road. Unfortunately, a driver behind me decided to pass me on the right (grass side of the road) and cut between two groups of students walking across the road. Luckily no students were hit but it could have been much worse as any student who would have been hit would have been severely injured or killed.

Be careful and safe out there in your daily travels.

Thomas Ten Eyck, CSP
Chapter President

The next Alabama Chapter of ASSP will be Friday September 15, 2023 at the AGC Facility on Grantswood Road in Irondale, AL. Meeting starts at 11:30 so come and enjoy the presentation and lunch. If you can’t make it in person, then zoom in to the meeting.

The Governor’s Safety and Health Conference has come and passed and was well attended by approximately 400 attendees. The vendor area was full with 80 vendors with safety products and information. There were very good presentations at the conference as well as very good opening and closing presentations. Again, this year there were a significant number of first-time attendees who got to partake in this Alabama conference for the very first time. The biggest complaint was some of the safety professionals who wanted to attend could not as the conference window to attend closed on August 1, 2023. If you plan to attend this conference next year, please get your conference attendance information in as early as possible to prevent being cut off from attending.

As the summer is closing it can still be hot out in the work environment and hydration is still important until the temperatures become cooler. You can assume that the OSHA initiative on Heat Stress will also be in effect next year as well so start planning for next year to prevent heat related illnesses in the workplace as this emphasis program will probably be on going for some time.

The JSU Student Section is now in full swing and the Alabama Chapter Executive Committee would like to congratulate its members and thank the students who stepped forward as executive officers of this section, Makenzie Johnson (Planning and Fundraising), Jordan Wise (Treasurer), Javian Harris (Vice President), Justin Sims (President), Houston Payne (Secretary), and Jayde Garretson (Social Media).

We are requesting that our members become more involved with our chapter by participating on one of our committees such as membership, and programs/presentations among others. Anyone interested in volunteering to Chair one of these committees please let an executive committee member know. We would also welcome anyone who wants to assist with the development of our April 2024 recognition banquet for all our members as well as a committee for a possible fall half day seminar.

If anyone plans to set for the ASP or CSP exams this fall or next spring let the executive committee members know. We would be interested helping you study for the exam which could include setting up a study group to help you prepare for these exams. If we have enough response, we will setup routine study sessions and discuss topics that are covered on the exams.

Be safe going to late summer/fall football games and hope to see you at the next Alabama Chapter meeting on September 15, 2023.

Thomas Ten Eyck, CSP
Chapter President

Summer is in full swing here with the hot temperatures and humidity outside. The month of August seems to be the hottest and driest month of the summer. Staying hydrated each day will help to get through this hot month. Make sure your employees understand the importance of staying hydrated both at work and on the weekend when doing work around the house.

The next Alabama Chapter of ASSP meeting will be Friday August 18, 2023 at the AGC Facility on Grantswood Road in Irondale, AL. Meeting starts at 11:30 so come and enjoy the presentation and lunch. If you can’t make it in person then zoom in to the meeting.

The Governor’s Safety and Health Conference will be here at the end of the month at the Perdido Resort in Orange Beach, AL. The attendance window has closed. The vendor area is full with over 80 vendors at the show. If you have never been to this conference, consider it for next year as it is a very good S&H conference here in the State of Alabama and well liked by the attendees who come from all over the country.

We are requesting that our members become more involved with our chapter by participating on one of our committees including Membership, Government Affairs, and Programs. Anyone interested in volunteering to Chair one of these committees please let an executive committee member know. We would also welcome anyone who wants to assist with the development of our April 2024 recognition banquet for all our members as well as a committee for a possible fall half day seminar.

If anyone plans to sit for the ASP or CSP exams this fall or next spring let the executive committee members know. We would be interested in setting up a study group to help you prepare for these exams. If we have enough response, we will setup routine study sessions and discuss topics that are covered on the exams.

Be safe this summer and hope to see you at the next Alabama Chapter meeting on August 18, 2023 as well as the Governor’s Safety & Health Conference.

Thomas Ten Eyck, CSP
Chapter President

   I would like to thank the membership for the opportunity to allow me to act as your President of the Alabama Chapter of the American Society of Safety Professionals for the next two years. I would like to thank our outgoing President Paul Thurber, now Past President, for his service the past 2 years and a special thank you to Ms. Allyn Holladay Wyman (Treasurer), Mr. Justin Shepherd (Vice President), and Vincent Scott (Secretary) for their continued leadership for the two years.

   The Chapter will offer a professional development conference (half or full day) hopefully this fall. One possible conference format would be to think out of the box and do a conference on company/personal identity theft issues. We would need to find one or several presenters who can offer an interesting perspective on this important issue facing employers and employees. If you know of anyone who could possibly conduct these presentations let the leadership know. The cost for this conference would be minimal and we would market vendors to help pay for breakfast/lunch for this conference. Continuing education points for your certifications would be provided.

   The Alabama Chapter would also like to recognize our long-standing and new members by holding an appreciation banquet, Plan on attending this event during our April 2024 meeting.

   Finally, I would like to bring back scholarships to the Universities that offer Safety and Health Programs in Alabama, Auburn University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Jacksonville State. We used to offer scholarships to a student in one of the programs at each university and think it would be important to start this tradition again. Hopefully we will be able to offer scholarships by the end of spring 2024.

   Have a great and safe June and hope to see you at the June 16, 2023 Alabama Chapter meeting.

Thomas Ten Eyck, CSP
President Elect

Greetings Friends!

   I hope and trust this letter finds you well. It’s been a rollercoaster lately with various illnesses in the news. I’ve been hearing of greater flu counts, more Covid, and a whole lot of sinus related issues throughout my travels of late. So, stay on-guard in an attempt to protect yourselves, your family, and your co-workers.

   I had the pleasure of seeing several of our Chapter members at the Region IV PDC in Tuscaloosa. As I understand, it was a huge success and I’ve heard quite a few bits of positive feedback already. Thanks to everyone that participated.

   For the construction members among us, we’ve been asked to help. Please click on the links below to help Lee with his dissertation.

Afternoon, Paul

I am a member of the Alabama Chapter of the ASSP.  Needing some advice and or help.  I am currently enrolled at Capital Technology University in the Ph.D. OHS.  For my dissertation, I have a simple three-question questionnaire focused on construction.  What would be the best way to get the survey to ASSP members in construction?

Thank you, Lee

For reference:

By clicking on the link below this will take you to the survey:
State-Legalized Marijuana the Effects on Construction Safety Survey

Or copy-paste the link below into your browser:
https://forms.office.com/r/5DB6GwUGg6

   It’s election time as well. By now, you should have received a ballot. Please complete it accordingly. I have thoroughly enjoyed serving as your President; however, I’m also looking forward to attending as a member-at-large once my service is complete. We’ve built our attendance back up post-pandemic, so let’s continue to attend in person as our schedules permit.

   As for my safety minute/challenge this morning, please remember to guard against illness including heat. Our position in safety should include health as well. Let’s make it a point to teach about hydration and its importance in making our bodies operate correctly. Remember, our muscles, minds, and movement require water. (hydration)

  I will be traveling to my daughter’s graduation from Army basic training at Fort Jackson, SC on the 19^th, so I will unfortunately miss seeing you all then. Until our next, let’s all be safe on purpose!

– Paul

Paul Thurber
President – ASSP Alabama Chapter
paul@everguard.ai
334-247-5170

Greetings to All!  

    It’s hard to believe that we’re nearing the end of the 2023 first quarter already. Vincent has put together a very full newsletter this month, so please take a few minutes to review all the upcoming happenings and/or opportunities to get involved.

   Our meeting this month is on Friday the 17^th. Please plan to attend if your schedules permit. Remember, we still offer an online attendance, but we’d much rather have you in person. Please register and I’ll plan to see you there.

   Has everyone signed up for the upcoming Regional PDC to be held in Tuscaloosa at the Bryant Conference Center? Vincent has more information on this available in the body of the newsletter. In addition, you’ll see the proposed upcoming slate of officers, speakers, and opportunities for the Chapter.

  As for my safety minute/challenge this morning, please remember to say something when we see something. More often than not, we fix things without saying something. Go ahead and fix the hazard or hazardous conditions; however, also remember to report the event so everyone can be on the lookout for similar occurrences. In some safety cultures, the recognized hazard might be considered a near miss and we all know our programs improve when near misses are reported and acted upon as if an injury occurred.

   I hope to see you on the 17^th. Until then, let’s all be safe on purpose!

– Paul

Paul Thurber
President – ASSP Alabama Chapter
paul@everguard.ai
334-247-5170

Happy New Year Everyone!  

    Hopefully everyone had a safe and successful conclusion to 2022 and are already plugged-in with resolutions for an even better 2023. We’ll have great times ahead and I’m looking forward to getting together on the 20^th (more on that later). Please try to make plans to join us if your schedules allow. The challenge/opportunity for each of us this year is to get more involved in everything we do. Our “in-person” numbers have declined a bit; however, we all believe the new year will bring new life to the Chapter and we need everyone to make this belief a reality. By the way, thanks for everyone’s involvement last year with the ASSP. We rebounded post-covid nicely and have even enjoyed watching our Auburn Section and the WISE ladies really come to life over there to our West. Special thanks to both Tina and Allison for all you continue to do. Kudos to Tom and team down in Tuscaloosa at the Tuscaloosa/West Alabama Section as well, that section continues to be a strong hold for the Chapter, and we appreciate everyone’s associated efforts. Just to sum up this first paragraph, I’d like to leave us with one word – GRATITUDE. Rest assured, I’m thankful for each of you.

   We’ve had some great times in the past couple months with after hours events, training meetings, mini-expos, and more. If you didn’t get a chance to participate, you’ll have more opportunities approaching in the not-so-distant future. In fact, we’ll have our first chance on the 20^th for a lunch meeting at the AGC building in Birmingham at 11:30.  Again, please try to attend in person if your schedule allows it.

   We are also finalizing the details of the upcoming Regional PDC to be held in Tuscaloosa this year at the Bryant Conference Center. We’ll be discussing and posting links in the very near future for signing up. You actually may have seen something already. This will be a great opportunity to network on a more regional front.

   As always, let’s all remember to make an effort to improve ourselves as well as in assisting others to grow.     Thanks again for everything you do in relation to safety.

See you soon…

– Paul

Paul Thurber
President – ASSP Alabama Chapter
paul@everguard.ai
334-247-5170

Hi everybody,

Paul sends his appolgies. Not able to get a letter out to you right now but wants us to be informed of upcoming events. You may hear from him later as we close out the year.

There will be no Chapter Meeting this month. There are still many opportunities to network and support the Sections and the WISE Chapter activities. If this is the first you are hearing about them, you may want to ask to be placed on their mailing lists using their contact information.

We’ve got lots in this newsletter. There is a link to a recording of our latest meeting. Let me know if you have anything that we should include in upcoming newsletters.

Your Secretary,

Vincent

Happy October!  

    This Thursday Evening is the event for good food, networking, and an opportunity to introduce our significant others if their schedules permit. I know I’ll be bringing my wife Heather along and look forward to seeing everyone there.

   We all work hard and it will be nice to come together for a few hours to relax and just get to know everyone outside of the business relationships we’ve already developed. Please plan to attend if you’re able.

   In the meantime, remember to begin winterizing our work locations as well as our homes. It’s getting cold out there and quick.

   I’ll send a little more thorough letter in two weeks to highlight our upcoming year-end meetings and event. Until then, remain diligent in making a difference in the lives of others. After all, that’s what we’ve all been called to do.

   I hope to see you Thursday night.

– Paul

Paul Thurber
President – ASSP Alabama Chapter
paul@everguard.ai
334-247-5170

Colleagues & Friends,

    I’m updating this letter today due to just having found out that I will not be in attendance on Friday. I am working in Minneapolis this week and unfortunately have a carry over into Friday that will prevent my return on Thursday evening as previously planned. Please accept my humble regrets and have a great meeting in my absence. We are blessed to have Vincent as our “go to guy” for all things ASSP and he’ll be there to lead us in my absence.

   I really enjoyed seeing a lot of you at the Governor’s Conference and will hate to miss any conversations that may take place in my absence concerning the event. We’re in the process of scheduling a planning committee meeting to review the previous conference as well as to begin setting the planning team for next year. If you have an interest in serving on the planning committee please shoot me an email, call, or text to briefly discuss.

     This is our September meeting this week. We will be hearing from our good friend and fellow member Frank Wampol of BL Harbert International. He will be introducing us to a new and recently proven program called P.A.U.S.E. If you attended the Alabama Governor’s Conference, you’ll remember Frank was the rockstar that closed us out on Wednesday morning.

   I know it’s easier and somewhat more convenient to dial in, but the ASSP is about networking in addition to education. Please RSVP if you haven’t already. I’ll make every effort to dial in on Friday if my schedule allows.

         Until our next – call, text, or email me if I can ever be of assistance. Take care and please stay well.

– Paul

Paul Thurber
President – ASSP Alabama Chapter
paul@everguard.ai
334-247-5170

Greetings from Washington DC.

I just never know where this journey called “LIFE” is taking me these days. This week I find myself working in our Nation’s Capital City and next week I’ll be in Canada – who knows where is next. Exciting times for sure.

Before I forget, I hope to see everyone at the upcoming Alabama Governor’s Safety and Health Conference in Orange Beach. Reach out to me to let me know if you’re attending, I’d love to grab a beverage and/or a bite together. It’s not too late to sign up if you’re interested.

Also in August (next week) is OSHA’s Safe and Sound Week and we’ve all received an invite from our friends at UA SafeState to participate in two free webinars. Details and registration links are below.

   First Webinar: How Soon We Forget

   Date: August 17, 2022 Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. CST

   Description: How many important things have you forgotten? That’s a great set-up to the punch-line, “I don’t know – I forgot!” But what if it’s a critical new skill set that mitigates specific risks like those experienced during a pandemic? How do we avoid Complacency Drift’s trap and develop skills which become habitual?

   Presenter: Danny Smith, SMS, CIT

   Second Webinar: Safe and Sound Week: Work Zone Management

   Date: August 19, 2022 Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. CST

   Description: Join Melissa Bonds-Wilkins and Katie Aune as they discuss the management of work zones and the current trends in reflective materials.

   Presenters: Melissa Bonds-Wilkins and Katie Aune

Our August meeting is next week and it’s the same speaker and topic that was held in our Auburn Section last month. It’s focused on Medical Marijuana and the whole employment issues it has brought and will continue to bring in the coming months/years. We will be meeting on Friday the 19th at our normal time and location. (AGC Building at 5000 Grantswood Road, Irondale) Our speaker will be Melisa Zwilling with Carr, Allison. This session is a must for all Safety, HR, and Operations leadership personnel.

Let’s come together if our schedules permit. I know it’s easier and somewhat more convenient to dial in, but the ASSP is about networking in addition to education. Please RSVP if you haven’t already. I’ll look forward to seeing all of you on Friday the 19th. Until our next – call, text, or email me if I can ever be of assistance. Take care and please stay well.

– Paul

Paul Thurber

Good Morning – Good Afternoon – Good Evening!

I trust everyone is having a safe summer. For whatever reason, it seems like there is a lot going on. Regardless of the industry and or company – everyone is busy. Sure, some exceptions may apply, but busy feels like the new norm. Let’s make certain to take/make the time needed to self-check. Are we taking care of ourselves in a manner that supports our personal and professional health? We’ll talk more about this later down the road, but for today, reach out to others when you find yourself in need. We’re a T-E-A-M and we know that Together Everyone Achieves More.

By the way, let’s not confuse “busy” with productive. We need to make certain we’re still making and meeting our goals along the way.

Our July meeting is later this week and it seems like we just met for June. Time sure is flying these days – we must be having fun. We will be meeting on Friday the 15th at our normal time and location. (AGC Building at 5000 Grantswood Road, Irondale) We will be discussing HEAT and hearing from our UA SafeState team regarding heat injury prevention and new wearable technologies.

Let’s come together if our schedules permit. I know it’s easier and somewhat more convenient to dial in, but the ASSP is about networking in addition to education. Please RSVP if you haven’t already. I look forward to seeing all of you on Friday. Until our next – call, text, or email me if I can ever be of assistance. Take care and please stay well.

 – Paul

Paul Thurber
President – ASSP Alabama Chapter
paul@everguard.ai
334-247-5170

Hello Colleagues and Friends!

    It’s getting hot out there and I hope everyone has a heat-illness free summer underway. Remember, heat illnesses can occur even when it feels cool outside or even when it’s raining. How’s that for an opening line? Enough about that for now, but it should remain high on our discussion/training lists throughout the next 3-4 months at least. Let’s make it a plan to discuss heat-illness prevention best-practices throughout the summer.

   On the more traditional greetings, I trust this letter finds everyone busy and safe. As we’ve discussed before, safety doesn’t happen by chance – it requires a task-by-task choice.

   Great meeting last month, by the way. Thanks to everyone that found the time in their schedule to attend. Randall Arms did an outstanding job with his Lone-Worker presentation. As briefly discussed in the meeting, the Executive committee met as well and agreed to look for Social Media Manager for our Chapter’s various accounts. Please let me know if you have an interest in helping the Chapter move forward with this.

   Our June meeting is a little over a week away and I hope to see you there. We will be meeting on the 17^th at our normal time and location. (AGC Building at 5000 Grantswood Road, Irondale) Our speaker will be Justin Brown from Sales Solutions. Justin will be presenting on Fall Protection.

   June’s challenge is very similar to that of May’s as it relates to the heat. It’s been said that ‘what gets measured – gets completed’. Let’s seek to identify new ways to measure and teach hydration and its overall importance to sustaining an incident-free effort. Remember, of friends at UA SafeState have free services available to help support our efforts in this.

   Let’s lead by example as it relates to our safety. Our example should be one of communication, caring, and contributing to not only our own personal safety, but to the safety of others alike.   I’ll look forward to seeing all of you on the 17th. Until our next – call, text, or email me if I can ever be of assistance. Take care and please stay well.

 – Paul

Paul Thurber
President – ASSP Alabama Chapter
paul@everguard.ai
334-247-5170

Greetings!

    I trust this letter finds everyone doing well, staying healthy and successful. I know a lot measure success differently; however, as a safety family I believe we all value safety, both on and off the job similarly. With that said, I hope this letter finds you safe for all the right reasons.  

   Since our last meeting, we’ve experienced a lot of change. I guess change is becoming more and more of our constant. How’s that for irony?  Seriously though, we really have become more AWARE as a result of the pandemic. Awareness, as a whole, has always played a big part in our safety efforts, but it seems like everyone is simply more aware these days. As I travel, I see people paying more attention to the news in lobbies, restaurants, and such. In fact, I overheard a group of young people exiting the hotel yesterday reminding each other to “be safe” as they were heading out. Two little words that drive countless requirements and actions. I love to hear them spoken!

   Our May meeting is fast approaching, and I hope everyone is able to join us live and in person. It would be great to get back to thirty or forty on a given month. Please try to make it in person if you’re able. Our speaker this month is Randall Arms. For the last 15 years, Randall has dedicated his career to safety. He spent his first 8 years in the safety distribution industry providing product solutions to clients, and educating the latest updates with standard organizations such as ANSI, NIOSH, etc.  He also had the opportunity to spend time as an EHS professional managing EHS programs at companies such as Bridgestone, Dal-tile and Gibson Guitar.  Randall understands that safety is more than a standard or legislation – it’s how people think, behave, and react. Today, Randall is the regional sales manager for Blackline Safety where he promotes connected safety devices that focus on lone worker and gas detection solutions.

   As for our challenge this month, it’s May and it’s getting hot out there already. What are we doing to prepare ourselves and our teams for the heat? Let’s make this a conversation during our next meeting. Let’s bring those best practices together as a share. I’ll start the conversation and count on everyone to share a bit.

   As we go about our personal routines, let’s not forget to check on others. Truth be told, none of us can go it alone. Sure, we may think we can, but I’d disagree. Let’s be each other’s keepers – that means we’ll ask questions AND we’ll listen to the responses.

   I look forward to seeing all of you on the 20th. Until our next – call, text, or email me if I can ever be of assistance. Take care and please stay well.

 – Paul

Paul Thurber
President – ASSP Alabama Chapter
paul@everguard.ai

It’s April Already!

    I hope this letter finds everyone doing well. It’s the first week of April and it seems like everyone and everything is operating in the fast lane. How many of you can remember what the Eagles had to say about, “LIFE IN THE FAST LANE…”? Let’s make certain we’re doing everything we can to prevent surprises. Remember, surprises lead to incidents and incidents lead to injuries.

   I recently had the privilege to speak at the Forging Industry Association’s inaugural Safety Conference in Detroit, where I introduced our AI (artificial intelligence) solutions to that industry. It was a great meeting by the way. During said meeting a “near miss” was defined by an attendee as “any unplanned event”. Think about that for a minute, if something happens that we weren’t expecting, it could or could not – would or would not result in injury solely based on reaction and response. To us safety folks, those are code words for LUCK. In all my days, I have not heard a better definition for near miss than that. With this in mind, do we think we do a good job of capturing “all near misses”. I think we’d all agree, WE DO NOT. 

   Our April meeting is fast approaching, and we have our good friend Tom Robinson from the AGC coming to speak to us about Work Zone Hazards. UA SafeState will be sponsoring the lunch for this meeting, so please plan to attend. We’ll be meeting at the same time and same place as our usual meetings.

   As for our challenge this month, it’s April and we’re well into the second quarter of 2022. How are we doing? NO, I MEAN HOW ARE WE DOING? Let’s self-check often and routinely. As we go about our personal routines, let’s not forget to check on our fellows. Let’s be each other’s keepers – that means we’ll ask questions AND we’ll listen to the responses.

   I look forward to seeing all of you on the 15^th. Until our next – call, text, or email me if I can ever be of assistance. Take care and please stay well.

 – Paul

Paul Thurber
President – ASSP Alabama Chapter
paul@everguard.ai
334-247-5170

A Big Hello To All!

    Here we are in March already, busy times for sure. I hope this letter finds everyone both safe and healthy. I don’t know about you, but I’m certainly thankful we’re seeing a little reprieve to our COVID related cases here in Alabama and their associated variety of severity. Kudos to our safety, HR, and healthcare related members for their persistence and perseverance throughout this ever-changing pandemic. In fact, kudos to everyone for just hanging in there and weathering this storm.

   Our March meeting is scheduled for the 18^th and it’s an in-person meeting at the AGC building off of Grant’s Mill Road. Please try to attend in person if your schedule will permit. I’d like to see us fill the room like we were doing pre-COVID.  Our presenter will be Alex Blevins from Jeff State and he will be demonstrating their CDL training simulator. I am certain this will be both educational and entertaining for everyone.

   Thankfully, we’re beginning to fill our speaker calendar; however, we have a few open months still available, so feel free to continue making those recommendations for speakers and/or topics. We appreciate everyone’s input thus far.

   Just as an update, we met, discussed, and enabled a survey to share our opinions surrounding the recommended changes to the ASSP as sent to us through the national office. As a body (Alabama Chapter) we elected to support the changes and believe that they will better our Association’s ability to operate. Some skepticism may still exist, but nothing out of the ordinary. Remember, change equals opportunity. We need to remain diligent in reading and following along with our national association’s ongoings, so that we can be a conduit of feedback whenever/wherever necessary. Thanks to everyone for their participation and opinions throughout the consideration process.

   As for my challenge this month, it’s March already and at month’s end we will have concluded the first quarter of our new year.  OH MY!! Are we mentoring one or some of the people in our employ? Are we sharing the who, what, where, when, how, and why? As we go about our personal routines, let’s not forget to check on our fellows. Let’s be each other’s keepers – that means we’ll ask questions AND we’ll listen to the responses.

   Remember, knowledge without action is useless. Let’s let our actions pave the way toward World Class Safety in our jobs, families, and communities. Have a great month!

   I’ll look forward to seeing all of you on the 18^th. Until our next – call, text, or email me if I can ever be of assistance. Take care and please stay well.

 – Paul

Paul Thurber
President – ASSP Alabama Chapter
paul@everguard.ai
334-247-5170

Greetings!  

    How does it feel to be in the second month of this year already? Time sure does fly when we’re having fun, right!? Hopefully, everyone has completed their 2021 reporting and posting requirements. While I’m thinking about it, let’s remember to briefly talk about that during our upcoming meeting on the 18^th. We’ll have an official speaker as well, but we’ll talk recordkeeping and reporting for a networking opportunity later in the meeting.

   Our friend and fellow member Justin Shephard has graciously offered to become our program manager (for lack of official title) for this year. We believe it’s imperative to offer a quality and planned topic and presenter list for our membership. We’ll be looking forward to those recommendations for topics and speakers in the coming days. A special thanks to Justin for stepping up to help us out with this valuable service.

   As always, thanks for everyone’s continued support of the ASSP. It’s kind of like church, we get out proportionately what we put into it and I’m talking participation wise primarily. Please plan to attend on the 18^th if your schedules will allow it. Thanks for notes and leads concerning my presentation last month as well. Several of you had/have good questions and comments and I trust everyone found the information helpful and informative. Thanks again for allowing me the opportunity to share.

   As for my challenge this month, it’s February and it’s time to begin editing the goals we established for this year. We’re half-way through the first quarter and it’s always a good place to check-up. Self-checks are a vital part of our professional (personal and spiritual) health. As we go about our personal routines, let’s not forget to check on our fellows. Let’s be each other’s keepers – that means we’ll ask questions AND we’ll listen to the responses. I know we’re all busy, but let’s not forget that we “WORK TO LIVE not LIVE TO WORK”. Have a great month. I’ll look forward to seeing all of you next week on our call.  

   Until our next – call, text, or email me if I can ever be of assistance. Take care and please stay well.

 – Paul Paul Thurber
President – ASSP Alabama Chapter
paul@everguard.ai
334-247-5170

Happy New Year!

    Can you believe it’s January again? It seems like we celebrated a new year only a few months ago and here we are celebrating it yet again. Hopefully, for those operating with a “resolution” in place, everything is on target and progressing as planned. For everyone else, I hope this note finds you happy, successful, and progressing just the same. So, here’s to us all making 2022 the safest and healthiest we possibly can. – CHEERS!

   2022 brings our Chapter an opportunity to get back on track. Of course, we’ll be kicking off January, thanks to the pandemic, VIRTUALLY. We’ve thought long and hard about it and it just doesn’t make sense right now to meet in person. Hopefully, some of the recent spikes will pass and we’ll be able to get back together in February or soon thereafter. We’ll be communicating so that everyone knows when to reassemble. Until then, we’ll do the best we can in the virtual setting. Let me give Vincent Scott a special shout out for driving this side of the meeting for us. His tech skills are quite handy when conducting these virtual activities. We are thankful for him!

   Thanks for everyone’s continued support of the ASSP. We’re still open to everyone’s suggestions for topics and presenters in 2022. We have a couple months covered and could really use several more topics and/or presenters of interest. If you have one (or some) just shoot me an email, call, or text and I’ll reach out to get them scheduled accordingly.

   This month, I’ll be presenting on New Safety Technologies. As many of you know, I am a VP with Everguard ai, and I want to make certain I’m doing my part to help educate my colleagues about the “next level” safety solutions that I’m seeing changing the way we’ve traditionally done safety. I promise NOT to make this a sales call; however, a brief information session since we’ll have some additional things to discuss as well.

   As for my challenge this month, it’s January and I know everyone’s working on reporting, goal setting, and such; however, “Let’s find someone to share ourselves with. Let’s mentor another by giving our knowledge, assistance, patience, or perhaps even time.”  Have a great month. I look forward to seeing all of you next week on our call.

   Until our next – call, text, or email me if I can ever be of assistance. Take care and please stay well.

– Paul 

Paul Thurber
President – ASSP Alabama Chapter
paul@everguard.ai

Hello and Happy October:

    As always, I hope this letter finds you healthy and happy. We have an awesome month in front of us with our normally scheduled meeting next Friday (10/15/21) and then our first PDC of this administration. For those of you that don’t know, Our PDC is scheduled for October 22^nd at the AGC building (just like our meetings). The attendance is limited to 20 attendees so please get signed up at your first convenience. The PDC will be both a certification course as well as a refresher. You won’t need to test and certify unless you choose that course. The link, with all the associated details to this course is here. I hope to see you there.

   We sure hated to lose the Alabama Governor’s Conference this year, but the weather just couldn’t be trusted, and the decision was made for safety’s sake and we certainly can’t argue with that. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m looking forward to next year’s conference already.

   On the 15^th, we have Justin Shephard coming to speak to us on the topic of, “Post Offer Physical Abilities Testing: Clearing up the Confusion”.  Justin is the VP of Operations for ErgoScience and is a licensed physical therapist. He was scheduled to present this topic at the Governor’s Conference so it should still be hot off the presses. I’ve asked Justin to leave plenty of time for questions, because I’m sure we’ve all had or heard about that “one person or situation” that he might be able to assist us with. Remember, we’re all looking for those bits of information we can use to make us better professionals.

   As for my two cents this month, you know me… Let’s find someone in need and share ourselves with them. Our knowledge, assistance, patience, or perhaps even time. We’re given so much to share, and it would be nearly criminal to hoard it.

   Have a great day, week, and remaining month. Let’s make safety intentional and help others understand the “WHY”.  Until our next – call, text, or email me if I can ever be of assistance.

   Take care and please stay well. Thanks for reading. – Paul Paul Thurber
President – ASSP Alabama Chapter
paul@everguard.ai
334-247-5170

Greetings To All: 

    I hope this letter finds you healthy, happy, and hopeful. We’ve had a busy summer and I don’t know about you all, but I’m glad it’s cooling off a bit and we’re back into yet another year of college football. I know that’s probably not received as good news for all, but I’m trusting it is for most – at least in our great state anyway. Let’s all work to develop and demonstrate that same level of excitement in the coming months for our great association as well. 

    Since my last letter, we’ve met in August with the Tuscaloosa Section for an outstanding presentation by Frank Wampol and an Executive Committee meeting to begin our annual planning and program coordination. We certainly have a lot going on as well as to look forward to in the coming months. 

   On the 17th, we’re excited to have Jeff Marksberry coming to speak to us in Birmingham. Please plan to attend in person if your schedule permits. Some of you may know Jeff already, he currently serves the TVTC as Executive Director. Please let me assure you that this will be a must-see presentation. Jeff’s topic will teach us a lot about incident/accident investigation and the preparation for litigation.  I am confident we’ll all leave with at least one new nugget of information.

   For those of you who know me, you know I’m all about our safety “today”. Tomorrow is gone and tomorrow will soon be the today that we need to focus upon.  So TODAY is where we need to place our attention and intentional acts of safety. Please find someone to assist today – sharing is caring. Our safety is our responsibility and linking ourselves with a great network of professionals like the ASSP will help us all become better.

   Have a great day, week, and remaining month. Let’s be safe on purpose and make our efforts at home and work intentionally safe. I look forward to seeing everyone on the 17th. Until then – call, text, or email me if I can ever be of assistance.

   Take care and please stay well. Thanks for reading. – Paul

Good Morning, Good Afternoon, or Good Evening to all.

    I trust this brief letter finds everyone well; these are different times for sure. For anyone who may not know me, I am Paul Thurber, and I will be serving as President for the next couple years. Thanks to everyone for the vote of confidence and in advance for their participation, input, feedback, and support. Like the continuous improvement model has demonstrated, we will need communication, execution, and feedback in order to excel. My commitment to this Chapter will be to communicate often in hopes to rebuild our exciting and effective pre-covid program. I would be remiss if I didn’t take a minute to offer words of genuine gratitude to our previous President and to the Officers for a job well done. There certainly was not a pandemic preparedness plan waiting for us at the start of 2019 to lead us through all the globally changing parameters.  With that said, a big THANKS to Matt, Tom, Allyn, and Kurt, just to name a few. Because of your efforts, our Chapter is in an excellent position for growth and prosperity.

   Today is a new day and we have an amazing association in the ASSP that is in existance to support its members. We have countless opportunities to network, learn, improve, engage, and fellowship in our future.  In fact, as Timbuk 3 has said, “our future’s so bright, we’ve gotta wear shades”.

   Remember, our association with the ASSP is a little like church. We get out of it in proportion to what we put in. My challenge to us (me included) is to be faithful, committed, engaged, supportive, and most of all – in attendance for the upcoming year(s). Virtual meetings have been good in sustaining our effort; however, the previous mentioned growth comes from our live synergies.

   Have a great day, week, and remaining month. Lets be safe on purpose and make our efforts at home and work intentionally safe.

   Take care and please stay well. We’re in this together; thanks for reading. – Paul

Times of Need

I’ve pretty much concluded there’s not much more one can say about how awful 2020 is that hasn’t been already been said/shouted/meme’d a billion times over.  Every idea I come up with about the new norm sounds clichéd at this point – including basic overuse of the term “new norm”, like I just did there.  Sorry about that.  This is the season for giving thanks, though, so there’s no better occasion than now to take inventory of those things we do still have going for us.  Our family and friends become ever more important to us in tough times.  And we to them.  However awful things have been, we still have those gifts for which to be thankful.  Consider, too, all the people we don’t really even know at all who could use more love and support in their times of need.  As safety advocates, our world is built around a professed mission of caring about the welfare of others.  In addition to our knowledge and skills, our values stand front and center.  It is the great gift we have to offer people at work, at home, within our sphere – and outside of it – and it’s never been more needed than now.  I hope that the fellowship of ASSP is part of your support system, as well.  Please join us for our November 20th Zoom Chapter meeting where we’ll feature a presentation on Human Performance by Stephanie Swindle (Southern Company).  We’re really looking forward to her message and we’ll have an invite coming your way soon.  Also, if you have shares for our meeting that I may add to the agenda for that day, please let me know.

Thank you for your gifts – to me and to so many others,

Matt Hollub, President

ASSP Alabama Chapter

Greetings ASSP Colleagues,

I hope this message finds you and yours doing well. I continue to look forward to the time when we may meet as an ASSP family, together as one, and in-person. Having said that, our online ASSP Chapter meetings got off to a very fine start last month. OSHA’s new Compliance Assistance Specialist, Francisco Garcia, visited with us during Safe & Sound Week to talk safety programs and give us an OSHA update. He’s a great guy and I think he’s going to be a welcome resource for Alabama companies. In these times, I think our businesses need all the help we can give them. For us, the ASSP family, we are challenged to be just that much better at what we do and how we serve the safety needs of others. We’re all stressed and strained to the max which, unfortunately, presents greater risks for serious injuries and illnesses.

This month, we will get back to holding our ASSP Chapter meetings on our normal meeting days – the third Friday of each month. On September 18th, please join us for an online (Zoom) ASSP Chapter meeting on the topic of fall protection, in observation of OSHA’s Fall Protection emphasis week. You should all be receiving an invitation to the meeting soon and I hope you’ll be able to attend.

Take care out there – of yourself and of others!

Warmest regards,

Matt Hollub
ASSP Alabama Chapter President

Greetings ASSP Members and Friends,

I sincerely hope this message finds you in good health. By now, the current pandemic has evolved to a point where many, if not most of us, now know of someone who has been personally afflicted with COVID-19. The health outcomes of this infection vary significantly, driven – it seems – by age and by how the virus potentially exploits personal co-morbidities. There’s so much left for scientists and researchers to learn about SARS-CoV-2. The anxieties created by this pandemic leave us exhausted and ready for solutions, wherever we think we can find them. Ultimately, science is the key. And the only thing that surpasses science is better science. As safety and health professionals, our mission is to stay on that high road to always protecting others – in the workplace, in the home, in public places.

ASSP has been providing ongoing technical and managerial guidance to its members throughout this pandemic. Their online offerings and the conversion of the ASSP PDC to a virtual platform keeps us informed and stimulates new thinking about how to cope with the pandemic.

I want to give a special shout-out to the Tuscaloosa-West Alabama Section for their engagement of members with monthly virtual meetings this summer. Plans are underway for an Alabama Chapter online Zoom meeting during the month of August, so please stay tuned for more information on that.

At the outset, I mentioned “good health”. By that, I mean health in every way – including your physical, psychological and social state of well being. COVID-19 has forced us to look at workplace safety and health as a function of what happens with our workers both in and outside of the workplace. With that in mind, I’ll also mention an upcoming event, the Total Worker Health 2020 Symposium , at the University of Alabama on September 1, 2020 at the Bryant Conference Center in Tuscaloosa. Your ASSP Alabama Chapter will be representing at the event, and attendance is available both onsite and online.

Thank you for all that you do to protect people. Please let me know how we may be of help.

Best of health to you all – in every way.

Matt Hollub, Alabama Chapter President

Greetings ASSP friends and colleagues!

I hope this message finds you doing well and adjusting to your new normal.

Under normal circumstances, last month we would have held our special Chapter Awards luncheon to present service awards, honor our Safety Professional of the Year (SPY) recipients and celebrate our outstanding ASSP Chapter scholarship recipients.

Our plan moving forward is to hold that Chapter Awards luncheon later in the year when we can all safely join together.

With that said, we feel it best to not delay the announcements of our SPY award and scholarship recipients.

Beginning with our scholarships, we recognize these outstanding students for their achievements and desire to pursue careers in the field of occupational health and safety. Each recipient will be receiving a $ 1000 ASSP Chapter scholarship toward the fulfillment of their educations. Our recipients are:

From the University of Alabama Birmingham, Tyler Young from the Advanced Safety Engineering Masters Program, and Erin Lindsey from the School of Public Health.

From Jacksonville State University, Aidan Giddy.

From Auburn University School of Applied Engineering, Connor Lusk.

Our Safety Professional of the Year award recognizes outstanding contributions of individuals whose service to our ASSP Alabama Chapter and their profession. This year, we are delighted to announce two SPY award winners for 2020.

In the Construction category, the SPY goes to Shawn Ankerich! Shawn has served our Chapter as Chair of Programming.

In the General Industry/Academia category, the SPY goes to Dr. Jerry Davis. Dr. Davis has been a fixture in the safety community in Alabama for many years.

We congratulate our scholarship and SPY award winners for 2020 and look forward to honoring these fine folks in person at our upcoming awards luncheon, time and location to be announced.  Please look for a separate announcement with more information about our award recipients for 2020.

To our Chapter members, stay the course as leaders for our profession!

Take care out there.

Matt Hollub, President

ASSP Alabama Chapter

Dear Fellow Chapter Members and Friends,

About a week ahead of our scheduled March 20th Chapter meeting, the Executive Board decided it best that we cancel that event. Our feeling at that time was that the risk of sharing COVID-19 was probably not that significant. All the same, we cancelled that meeting out of “an abundance of caution”. Good move. Not much more than two weeks later, Jefferson County became one of the viral “hot spots” in Alabama. Now, a little more than three weeks later, we’re in shelter-in-place mode statewide. What’s next? That pretty much depends on how well we can discipline ourselves and educate others to take these current precautions a good deal more seriously.

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Dear ASSP Colleagues,

I hope this message finds you doing well.  And while we’re on the subject of doing well, I guess this would be a good time to talk about staying well and preparing for an outward spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.  As safety and health professionals, people will understandably be looking to us for guidance on how to reduce risks and deal with local communicable infections.  Linked here are two very fine articles released by ASSP on how to prepare for what may come next.  We are seeing respiratory protection products, particularly N-95 and 100 filtering facepiece units in critically short supply.  Clearly, the direct and ripple effects of COVID-19 will continue to teach us lessons on how to better prepare for these situations in the future.  For now, however, I’d suggest you get a look at both of these articles for some good guidance on creating contingency plans and training your people on how to respond to what’s happening now.

The Safety Professional’s Role in Planning for Pandemic

https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/getting-workplace-ready-for-covid-19.pdf [who.int]

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Dear ASSP Colleagues,

I want to express my thanks to all who helped make our Chapter PDC a successful one this year. Our hosts at AGC provided us with a great meeting space that enabled us to bring our attendees and exhibitors together in one big room. We had a record number of exhibitors this year who added value to our PDC with their on-hand services and expertise.

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Happy New Year and Welcome to 2020!

Our Chapter is kicking the new year off in a big way with a great new PDC on January 16th. We’ll be meeting at the AGC Conference Center and our topics will include:

Qualified Crane Operators – Get up to speed with the most current requirements for crane operators and strategies for compliance.

Aerial Lift Operator and Training – The new ANSI standards for safe use and for training include new classifications for lifts (now MEWPs) and requirements that will change lift designs and how we use them. These revisions are comprehensive and will impact employers across the map.

Sling and Chain Inspection – Failure to properly set up a load and lift can have disastrous outcomes. Get up to speed, or get refreshed, on the procedures that responsible employers must perform to ensure that every lift is a safe and successful lift.  

You can get registered for the Chapter PDC on our events page. As usual, breakfast and lunch will be provided and CEUs are awarded for attendees. Exhibitor space is also available.

I hope to see you all there! Let’s join together to make 2020 one of the best learning years ever for the ASSP Alabama Chapter.

Sincerely,

Matt Hollub, CIH, CSP

President, ASSP Alabama Chapter

Season’s Greetings!

It’s that time of year where we give thanks for all the goodness and blessings that have come our way.  We all celebrate the season in our own ways – with friends, with family, with reverence and grateful hearts, and with the hope for better days ahead.  This time of year also comes with a myriad of distractions and challenges for so many of us.  That’s why it becomes all the more important for us to maintain our focus on working safely and helping others to get through their workdays without injury.  So maybe this would be a good time to take a moment and check in on our employees and colleagues – perhaps giving a bit of added attention to those who may be struggling.

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Dear ASSP Colleagues,

For most of us, safety is more than just a job that we go to each working day. If we hold safety as a value that affects how we think and act, we become 24/7 ambassadors for a better way to work and live. With that, we are also challenged to set positive examples we hope others will follow. Which brings me to Danny Callies who, along with George Pierce (retired, Alabama ABC), has been reaching out employers and organizations to raise awareness of workplace safety and health rights in general industry, construction, and mining. “If you see something, say something”, is their message.

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Dear ASSP Colleagues,

I think of October as the official kickoff month of the holiday season. Fall may not be in the air just yet (another record high temperature expected today), but eventually our weather will change.  This is as good a time as any to remind our friends and families about the importance of safety at home. Time to start checking out those heating systems, fireplaces/chimneys, and home smoke/fire alarm systems for when the temps do drop down in the overnight hours. Seasonal recreational activities such as going out to ballgames, making sporting trips, enjoying Halloween festivities, etc – all have unique safety considerations.  These are important conversations and preparations we need to teach and put into practice.

As always, thank you for all you do to keep others safe at work and at home. And please mark your calendars for our next Chapter meeting on October 18th at the AGC.  We’ll see you then!

Matt Hollub, CIH, CSP

President, ASSP Alabama Chapter

September 2019

Dear ASSP Colleagues,

It was great to connect with so many of you at the Alabama Governor’s Safety and Health Conference in Orange Beach. If you were there, I hope you learned a lot and had a great time all the while. Events like the Governor’s Conference and the ASSP PDC’s (local, regional, and national), are prime opportunities for professional growth. In fact, as I was scanning the list of planning committee members for the AGSHC, I’m happy to say that virtually all of them are ASSP members and leaders.  And that, my friends, is part of our recipe for success with the Governor’s Conference – involving highly professional people throughout the process.  Being in ASSP does that for you. It builds your professional standing and creates opportunities.  And pretty soon, we’ll be sharing some upcoming learning events available to you through the Alabama Chapter, so stay tuned for more info. 

Thanks again for all you do to teach, coach and live safety at work and at home.  See you at the September meeting! 

Matt Hollub, CIH, CSP

President, ASSP Alabama Chapter