The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) has named Thomas Kramer, managing principal at LJB Inc., an Ohio-based civil engineering firm, as the 2016 Edgar Monsanto Queeny Safety Professional of the Year for his leadership in helping develop more than 18 fall protection standards.

The award is named for Edgar Monsanto Queeny, who was president of Monsanto when an April 16, 1947 explosion of a French freighter destroyed the company’s Texas City Plant, killing 512 people, including 145 Monsanto employees. The incident forever enhanced the safety emphasis within Monsanto.

As a dually registered professional engineer and certified safety professional, Kramer has spent much of his career consulting with clients to reduce risk for workers at heights. He specializes in the assessment and design of fall protection systems, as well as fall protection program developments. 

Kramer’s fall protection expertise has been vital in helping develop and publish 18 ANSI Z359 Fall Protection Standards over the past decade. These standards are credited with stopping fatalities that result from fall from heights. Kramer also is active with ANSI Z590 and Z117, focusing on Prevention Through Design guidelines and Confined Space standards, respectively.  

“I am most proud of the difference I have made in peoples' lives,” said Kramer, who has traveled the world speaking at safety conferences. “First, I think of the workers who are able to go home safely to their families by what I have done - those I know of and that I don't.  Second, I think of all of the other safety professionals who I have touched in some way. Whether it was in a presentation, a training class or a one-on-one conversation, I feel like it is my duty to reach them in a multitude of ways.”

Kramer will formally receive his award during ASSE’s Safety 2016, which runs June 27-29, 2016 in Atlanta. More than 4,000 occupational safety and health professionals are expected to attended the three-day professional development conference and exposition, aimed at offering the latest in products, trends, issues and challenges facing the industry.