Welcome to the new Chapter Year!
The Executive Committee for this Chapter Year is on the Chapter website at Chapter Officers – ASSP Western Pennsylvania Chapter . I encourage you to take a look at who has volunteered to work as the Executive Committee to bring you, the Chapter members, value for the annual membership dues that you continue to pay your membership with the ASSP and this Chapter.
Thank you to the outgoing Executive Committee for their committment in 2021-2022 Chapter year. A special thank you to Fran Sehn, the President for Chapter Year 2021-2022 who started as the VIce President then moved into President. We appreciate your willingness to step in and lead the Chapter!
Wayne Vanderhoof CSP, CIT
Chapter President
A Year in Review
By Fran Sehn, Past President
Greetings to all.
Hope you are having a safe and good summer season. Over the past nine months I have had the opportunity to serve as the President of the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Society of Safety Professionals. A chapter with 900 members and three student sections as of the past chapter year. In the year we had visited all three of the student chapters (IUP in November, SRU in February and Thiel in March) in addition students from these sections joined us for a Holiday luncheon and a tour of the (Terminal Modernization Project) Revitalization Project of the Greater Pittsburgh Airport. The students and the professional members were impressed by the safety efforts by the management and the safety on site. The meetings at the campuses included virtual presentations by outgoing President of the Society Brad Giles and Incoming President Christine Sullivan. The future of the profession is alive and well. Thanks again to Cindy Medford, Majed Zreiqat, Tracey Cekada, and Melissa Heike for their leadership at the schools. We also had a successful chapter PDC in April. We continued to offer several virtual meetings during the year as well, in spite of the residual impact of Covid 19. Our final meeting was at Rivers Casino for a great presentation by Chris Robinson and Bob Carroll of the OSHA office in Pittsburgh. They provided some excellent information as part of the OSHA Update in a great location with good food.
As the President serving part of the second year for the prior President, it was important to provide these technical and, dare I say, social opportunities to our chapter. It was personally rewarding to as a seasoned professional (I lasted longer in office than William Henry Harrison).
In the past few weeks, two of our own chapter members were recognized as Fellows of the Society, the highest honor for volunteer service to ASSP. Pam Walaski and Joel Haight received these awards in Chicago at Safety 2022. Our chapter has been well represented by ASSP over the years and Pam and Joel are to be congratulated for this achievement.
Several opportunities for improvement occurred during these past months. Our election for 2022-2024 was participated(voting) by approximately 13% of the chapter membership. In addition, the attendance at our in-person meetings and to some extent virtual meetings was not what would be expected. The Pandemic influenced the in-person attendance, but virtual attendance could have been better. With 900 members we should expect a higher percentage of attendance in my humble opinion. Hopefully we can improve on the attendance in the coming year(s).
Finally, the WPA Chapter is in good hands. The incoming Executive Committee has served the past year with me and will be under the leadership of Wayne Vanderhoof as President, Chris Sarracino VP, Robert MacAnich Treasurer, Alec Kinslow Secretary, Trudy Hayes Membership Chair and incoming Delegate Justin Koss, it will continue to provide the chapter with professional experience. (Editorial note: Fran Sehn will hold the title of Past President as well as serve as an elected Delegate.) They will need your help. Your participation and engagement are critical to the success of the chapter and the
Be safe
Yours in safety
Fran Sehn Past President
WPA Chapter, American Society of Safety Professionals