Last week I covered the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) annual meeting and as is always the case I ran into more than a couple of earnest looking safety professionals who, with a straight face, claimed that they were trying hard to work themselves out of a job.

Dr. Dan Petersen defined world class safety as an organization that was within the best 10 percent of his customers at that particular point in time.

I've been blessed to know and play for some great college coaches. I also played with some outstanding athletes on the high school and college level.

I learned a few years ago that by reading books and acquiring information that are completely unrelated to your work or current project, you open up to new and different opportunities.

At this week’s ASSE annual conference in Chicago OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels and NIOSH head John Howard walked out and took seats on the stage of the Skyline Ballroom at McCormick Place for a rather casual one-hour sit-down with moderator Diane Steagal representing ASSE.

The economic doldrums in the U.S. has thrown a very heavy wet blanket on OSHA standards-setting efforts (OSHA chief Dr. David Michaels spends more time these days explaining how OSHA regs don’t kill jobs than talking future plans).

Ahmed S. AZZAM, QHSE Country Manager for Ideal Standard Eqypt, told us an almost unimaginable crisis management story on Sunday at the conference. Ahmed is VP of the ASSE Egyptian Chapter, which has 260+ members. He is attending the conference with the chapter’s president and treasurer.

The idea for this discussion came about a few months back when I was talking with a fellow safety professional. He has been a Corporate Safety Director and a Global Safety Director for several years and he told me that he would like to be a VP of Safety before he retires.

Sustainability – the term alone conjures up a concept that is itself “sustaining,” as gauged by the permeation of the term into diverse areas – from manufacturing, to the building industry, even to hospitality and the food industries – that one is seemingly inundated with sustainability in day-to-day activities.

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bag because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The cover story of ISHN's May issue is about how lower exposure limits lead to conservative sensor settings. Also, check out some tips on how to avoid heat stress and advice on how to improve hand hygiene.