Safety 2018 has come and gone. Wondering how it went? ASSP’s Public Sector Practice Specialty was well represented at this year’s conference, with several members attending the conference, participating in social activities and speaking on key topics. I’d like to share a quick summary.

Networking

Several members of our Advisory Committee (Lori Schroth, Leo DeBobes, Brandon Hody, Delaney Jones) greeted visitors to the ASSP Communities Lounge in the expo hall to educate them on our practice specialty and welcome them as potential new members.

Members of our group also teamed up to participate in the Safety Escape Room challenge and test their hazard analysis and problem-solving skills. Our team escaped in 21 minutes, just 4 minutes longer than the best time recorded. Great job, team!

In addition, our volunteer leaders met with in-person the volunteer leaders of the Military Branch to briefly summarize practice specialty and branch activities and begin discussing Safety 2019.

Education

Brandon Hody and Cory Worden (Healthcare Practice Specialty) facilitated a key issue collaboration session with about 40 participants on mitigating slips, trips and falls. Attendees were eager to share their ideas and own experiences of how to prevent slips, trips and falls.

In addition, Lori Schroth and Shawn Lewis (Military Branch) facilitated a session with 35 participants on best practices for suicide prevention in the workplace. Attendees shared many ideas of how to prevent and address occupational suicides, including approaches to assisting employees with their mental health.

The Public Sector Practice Specialty sponsored several concurrent education sessions as well:

• Concurrent Incident Command Systems Parts 1, 2, and 3, by Leo DeBobes and Gabe Miehl (Fire Protection Practice Specialty). Participants were eligible to take the FEMA exams for ICS 100, 200, 700 certification.
• Senior Bus Operations: More than Driver Safety Training, by Howard Spencer
• Safety and Health and the Working Woman, by Leo DeBobes and Delaney Jones
• Thoughts, Feelings and Opinions: Gauging Employees’ Perceptions, by Lori Schroth and Brandon Hody
• How is Your Psychological Safety Doing? by Kelly Bernish and Rosa Carillo
• Hazards of Homeless Encampments and Working in Urban Environments, by Cynthia Braun

Member Recognition

During the annual Practices & Standards awards luncheon, Delaney Jones, our social media chair, was named the Public Sector Practice Specialty Safety Professional of the Year Award for 2018. Sean Hannifin, our government affairs and standards chair, received a certificate of excellence for his significant contributions to the practice specialty and thorough regulatory updates.

In addition, Carmen-Julia Castellon, our content coordinator alternate, is part of ASSP’s We Are Safety Professionals campaign, representing public sector employees. She was featured on large displays throughout the event and on the campaign’s website.

As we begin preparing for Safety 2019, we are looking for concurrent speaking sessions to sponsor. Your idea should relate to the public sector and our mission. Be sure to read these submission instructions as well as these details on requesting sponsorship of your 2019 speaking proposal. We need to receive your requests by July 11, 2018, to give us time to review before the final July 18, 2018, due date.