The future of workplace safety, occupational leadership challenges, corporate safety perspectives, key issues and more will be featured at the ASSE’s Professional Development Conference and Exposition, Safety 2007, to be held June 24-27 in Orlando, Fla., at the Orange County Convention Center.

Safety 2007, the signature annual event of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), will offer more than 200 educational sessions emphasizing practical material addressing today’s key issues and challenges facing safety, health and environmental (SH&E) professionals worldwide.

ASSE’s strongest show yet

“The 2007 program is our strongest ever,” said ASSE Conference Planning Committee Chair Christine Sullivan, CSP, ARM. “We received more than 500 proposals to speak at the conference, which gave the program selection group several options. We are also emphasizing in the program the opportunities for attendees to connect with each other and exchange ideas, evidenced by the roundtables to be headed by ASSE Practice Specialty Leaders in their areas of expertise.”

According to Sullivan, Safety 2007 will be strong in safety management and technical/standards sessions. In addition, increased emphasis has been given to risk management, managerial and career building skills and fire protection.

Educational opportunities

With two General Sessions, two Plenary Sessions and over 200 concurrent sessions, the conference educational program offers a variety of sessions and topics with multiple tracks from which attendees may select. Concurrent education session program tracks will include the following:

• Career/Personal Development
• Construction/Mining
• Consulting
• Emergency Response/Security
• Environmental/Hazardous Waste
• Ergonomics
• Health/Industrial Hygiene
• Healthcare
• Human Behavior
• International Safety
• Regulatory and Legal
• Risk Management/Loss Control
• Safety Management
• Technical/Engineering/Standards
• Training and Education
• Transportation

An important part of the program will be the Key Issue Roundtables, which will provide all of those interested an opportunity to contribute. This year’s roundtables will be hosted by the ASSE Practice Specialties in their areas of expertise. It offers fellow professionals that chance to speak up, share lessons learned, and meet others with mutual interests. Topics range from developing and implementing global SH&E metrics to managing multi-employer work sites. Sessions will be conducted during the concurrent session periods.

At an Executive Summit on Tuesday, June 26, a panel of business leaders will discuss their views on the importance of employee safety and health in their organizations and the expectations business and industry leaders have of the safety and health function.

The concurrent session program also includes a Fundamentals Program of sessions designated for beginners in the profession. This program offers an excellent introduction to a broad range of topics and a breath of insight into the profession.

In conjunction with Safety 2007 an academic forum for full-time academicians and members of the ASSE Academics Practice Specialty will be held Wednesday, June 27. It will focus on issues important to SH&E professionals who teach, counsel and work in research.

Pre- and post-conference seminars

Attend ASSE’s pre- and post-conference seminars to explore in-depth continuing education and training opportunities and earn up to 4.2 additional CEUs. Take advantage of more than 40 one-, two- or three-day seminars offered before and after the Professioanl Development Conference. Pre- and post-conference seminars include examination preparation workshops for ASP, CSP, CHST and CHMM certification, seminars for the ASSE Certificate in Safety Management, ASSE Executive Program in Safety Management seminar, as well as several technical and managerial topics such as nanotechnology, leadership skills and many more.

Continuing education credit

Attendees earn 1.7 CEUs for the conference, which includes the Wednesday lunch (1.65 without lunch). CIHs earn 3.0 conference safety CM points (approval number 06-3237). CHMMs earn 1.0 CMPs. Up to 4.2 CEUs, as well as additional CM points and CMPs, may be earned for the pre- and post-conference seminars.

Meet the speakers

The opening keynote address, Thinking in the Future Tense, will be delivered by cultural anthropologist, writer and commentator Jennifer James, Ph.D. James spent 12 years as a full-time faculty member of the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department at the University of Washington, Seattle, but left the university in 1982 to follow her interest in international business and community service.

Also planned for Monday, June 25, ASSE has invited OSHA director Edwin G. Foulke Jr. to share his insights to SH&E professionals on the regulatory, standards development and compliance assistance efforts of the federal government in a special plenary session.

Tuesday’s keynote address, Leading Quietly, will be delivered by Harvard Business School ethics professor Joseph Badaracco Jr., who will attempt to guide SH&E professionals in spearheading the safety effort in their organizations without becoming the acknowledged face of such operations.

For anyone who has ever said, “it can’t be done,” Giovanni Livera’s Wednesday keynote, Anything is Possible, hopes to challenge unbelieving attendees to think again. An entertaining motivational speaker who incorporates magic tricks into his presentations, Livera claims he will take his audience from the limitations of conventional thinking into a world where thinking like a magician makes anything possible.

A growing show

At last year’s ASSE PDC held in Seattle, the largest ever, people representing 33 countries attended with more than half being safety directors, managers and engineers. More than 70 percent of ASSE PDC attendees had 10 or more years of experience in the SH&E field.

ASSE had a record-breaking 2006 exposition, selling out all available space, and is on pace for another record-breaking exposition. According to Sullivan, ASSE expects to continue that growth trend this year.

Meet your host

Founded in 1911, the Des Plaines, Ill.-based ASSE is the largest and oldest professional safety society and is committed to protecting people, property and the environment. ASSE has more than 31,000 occupational safety, health and environmental practitioner members who manage, supervise, research and consult on safety, health, transportation and environmental issues in all industries, government, labor and education.

SIDEBAR: SHOW AT A GLANCE

What: Safety 2007: ASSE Professional Development Conference & Expo
Where: Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Fla.
When: June 24-27, 2007
Hot Topics: Safety management and technical/standards sessions. Increased emphasis on risk management, managerial and career-building skills and fire protection.
Contact info:
American Society of Safety Engineers
Customer Service
1800 E Oakton St.
Des Plaines, IL 60018
(847) 699-2929 between 8:30 to 5:00 CST
(847) 768-3434 fax
customerservice@asse.org
How to register: Visit www.safety2007.org, follow the “Click here for Registration, Sessions, Expo details and more!” link at top, then click on the “reg fees & schedule” tab. Or contact ASSE customer service at (847) 699-2929.
Getting there: The Orange County Convention Center is about 20-25 minutes from Orlando International Airport (airport code: MCO), Florida’s busiest airport and a Delta Airlines hub. To get to the convention center from MCO, go West on SR 528 to Exit 1 (International Drive), go North (right) approximately one mile. The center will be on your right.