The winner of this year’s American Society of Safety Engineers' (ASSE) Council on Practices and Standards (COPS) Safety Professional of the year award is Thomas (Thom) Kramer, P.E., CSP

Mr. Kramer is a safety consultant and structural engineer with more than 15 years of expertise. As a dually registered professional engineer and certified safety professional, he has spent much of his career consulting with clients on the investigation and renovation of facilities, which often required extensive and creative structural and safety modification. He specializes in the assessment and design of fall protection systems. He is widely considered as a thought leader in the fall protection industry.

Mr. Kramer has actively worked with ASSE on a national level since 2007. He has served as an active member of the Engineering Practice Specialty aiding in newsletter article development and the creation of a Fall Protection Subcommittee within the group.

He is a member of the ANSI Z359 Committee of Fall Protection and serves as subcommittee chair for the ANSI Z359.6 “Specifications and design requirements for active fall-protection systems” and for ANSI Z359.15 “Specifications and design requirement for horizontal lifeline systems.”

Mr. Kramer has also served not only as PDC Committee member but also as its Chair for 3 years and its Program Subcommittee Chair for 3 years. He has spoken on fall protection numerous times at ASSE PDC and has served as a greeter several times at the PDC. He works consistently and diligently to advance not only ASSE but also the Safety Profession.

The Thomas F. Bresnahan Standards Medal  for 2015 goes to Bruce W. Main, P.E., CSP

A core principle for every ASSE member is keeping people from harm. Industry safety standards are a key method of sharing knowledge and best practices to achieve that core principle. Safety standards also impact trade and commerce and writing fair standards is important for a level playing field in the global marketplace. 

Industry safety standards impact a wide array of ASSE members because ASSE members work in a wide variety of industries and at companies large and small.  Most industrial and commercial companies use or supply machinery of some kind(s). Too often safety standards are written with the best of intentions but with limited practical experiences in the real and messy industrial and commercial worlds. The result can be theoretical requirements with good intent but little practical application – which often results in the standards being ignored. 

Mr. Main brings his experiences from applying the risk assessment process with clients in many different industries and organizations to standards development.  These experiences have given rise to real world expertise that he brings to the safety standards discussions. Through his participation, Mr. Main has been influential in developing standards that improve safety yet accommodate real world constraints. Mr. Main has attained leadership positions in both national and international standards activities in recognition of his abilities and contributions. 

As the primary delegate for ASSE to the ANSI B11 standards series, Mr. Main brings ASSE concerns and perspectives to the standards discussions.