Welcome!

President's Message - August 2008

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the new president of the Triad chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers. After being a member of three ASSE chapters over the past twenty years, I felt that it was time to give back to the society that has given me so much throughout my career. I’m honored to serve with the dedicated members of the executive committee and I look forward to an exciting and rewarding year.

We’ve decided to start the new chapter year off with a social event so that everyone can get better acquainted in a relaxed atmosphere. Our holiday social last December was a big hit and we’re hoping to build on that success. Final preparations are being made for a late afternoon gathering in downtown Greensboro during the week of August 25.

The next major event is the Region VI Professional Development Conference at the Kingston Plantation in Myrtle Beach September 14-19. The pre-conference sessions are scheduled for Sunday-Tuesday and include, among others, the ASP review, an ARM review course, and the OSHA 10-hour course for general industry. The general conference begins at 8:30 on Wednesday and concludes at 12:00 on Friday. The quality of sessions and speakers at this conference is as good as you will find anywhere, not to mention the opportunity to network with your safety peers on the beach in September. More information can be found on the conference website.

Following that event is the Guilford County LEPC/ASSE Safety and Environmental Conference at the Greensboro Coliseum on September 29-30.

There will be an 8-hour HAZWOPER class taught by Guilford County Emergency Services on the 29th followed by the full conference on the 30th. In addition, an ASSE golf tournament is being planned for October 1. You will receive more information on this conference in the near future.

We’ll then begin our monthly technical meetings with a lunch meeting on October 21 and a dinner meeting on November 18. We plan to have a representative from the North Carolina Department of Labor/OSHA speak at our October meeting. Tom Patch, CSP, past-president of the Colonial Virginia ASSE chapter will join us in November to present “Management Strategies for Incident Investigation.” After our holiday social event in December we will continue with our monthly technical meetings on the third Tuesday of the month. So, mark your calendars now and prepare to join us for an exciting and rewarding year.

I would like to thank you for your continued support of the ASSE and I challenge you to think of ways in which you can become involved in the affairs of our chapter. I welcome your suggestions and recommendations on how we can better serve our members and how we can establish ourselves as the best chapter in Region VI and the entire country. Feel free to send me your emails or call me at 336.407.1069.

Sincerely,

Ron Graves
2008-2009 Triad Chapter President

© 2008 Triad Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers