James “Jim” Nelson, CSP, is a Safety and
Environmental Manager with LBT, Inc. He has over 25 years of health, safety and
environmental experience across a range of industries.
James has been a member of ASSP since 2001 and AIHA since
1997. He is a Professional Member of
ASSP and currently serves as President of the Great Plains Chapter, a position
he has held since September 2019. Currently he is also in his second year as
Deputy Region Vice President for Region V. James has served on the Board for
the Great Plains Chapter (2005-2011, 2018 to current) in a variety of roles
including Delegate, Secretary and Vice President. In addition he has served the Douglas County
LEPC (2007-2012) and an ex-Officio Member-Board of Directors National Safety
Council- Greater Omaha Chapter (2207-2009). In 2009 James received the Safety
Professional of the Year award from the Great Plains Chapter.
James received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the
University of Nebraska- Lincoln in 1992. He earned his CSP in 2003. He is an Industrial 1 Waste Water Treatment Operator in the State of Nebraska. James is a OSHA Outreach Trainer for General Industry.
James is a Level II Cope and Climbing Instructor with the Mid-America Council of BSA. He serves on
the ROPES committee which oversees the safety and operation of high and low challenge courses and two climbing towers in the Council. In addition he has provided health, safety and environmental support to several Eagle Projects.
As a current leader in both the Great Plains Chapter and Region V, I have worked to serve members
and non-members alike in the HSE field. I see the position of Area 2 Director as a continuation of that service. All who have served in leadership roles in the Society have each faced their own challenges within those roles. Over the last 2 years, those challenges have not gone away; rather they have changed in
a wide variety of ways. With these changes the need for help and support for those individuals has grown.
If elected as the Area 2 Director for Region V, I will work with chapters to help find solutions to the challenges they are facing. Part of finding those solutions is increasing the networking between chapters. Though some of this networking is done at Regional Operating Committee Meetings, COVID has made it more challenging whether these are virtual or hybrid events. Even when in person, it
is usually 1 person attending, so communication and interaction can still be
limited. I would envision 1 or 2 virtual meetings among the chapters in the Area to help facilitate interaction so the chapters are not feeling like they are in a vacuum, especially if they have had
significant board turnover.
As part of the increase in communication and collaboration,
I will help promote meetings and learning sessions that chapters are willing to
open up to other chapters. As President of Great Plains Chapter, I have worked with Heart of America and other chapters to promote virtual meetings that they offered up to other chapters and have in
turn, sent out notice of some of our Chapter Meetings to the other Chapters to attend.
My goal is to increase the collaboration among chapters while promoting ASSP and increasing membership.