The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) named Ali Hasan Al-Failakawi the winner of the 2014 Award for Innovation in Occupational Safety Management for implementing a road safety program that helped reduce motor vehicle accidents at its Safety 2014 conference and expo in Orlando, held this past June.

More than 4,000 occupational safety and health professionals attended the three-day event that each year debuts and examines the latest in workplace safety products, trends, issues and challenges within the industry.

The Award for Innovation in Occupational Safety Management was sponsored by the Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS), a leading provider of on-site safety services and training solutions. Cintas awarded Al-Failakawi a $3,000 cash prize and a plaque recognizing his efforts.

Al-Failakawi is an occupational safety and health team leader for the Kuwait Oil Co., a giant oil and gas utility with more than 30,000 employees who travel more than five million miles monthly. He is also a member of ASSE, the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Kuwait Engineers Society. Al-Failakawi and his team also took the challenge of initiating a program to promote safe driving.

To develop the program, the team created a process called “SPEED-Management.” SPEED is an acronym that describes a multi-directional approach covering the following areas: Surveillance, including fleet controls, prevailing driving practices, etc.; Policies, suitable, appropriate; Engineering approach and solutions; Enforcement of rules/regulations; and Driver awareness program.

“Every organization should make ongoing safety a priority and this award highlights the best programs and tools of today,” said Dan Braun, safety officer at Cintas [Senior Vice President-Value Improvement Initiatives-Operations]. “We hope the ideas from the winner and honorable mentions encourage organizations to analyze their current safety programs and identify ways they can take them to the next level.”

Honorable mentions for the award developed tablet apps for assessing machine hazards, personalized e-learning programs, behavior-based safety approaches and more. The honorees include: John Bennett, M.C. Dean; Todd Christenson, State of Minnesota Department of Administration Risk Management; Jose Rafael Concepcion, Lydall Thermal Acoustical Inc., Michael Dardar, Blackhawk Specialty Tools, LLC.; Ryan Kamerzell, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Dennis Marolt, DPM Safety Consulting, LLC.; Andrew McLaughlin, The Kellogg Company; David Nadeau, Aristeo Construction Company; Kevin O’Donnell, NextEra Energy Resources, LLC.; Kenneth Phillips, 86 Airlift Wing Safety; Fred Satterlee, Abbott Laboratories; Deborah Stepansky, The Hershey Company; Jamey Wheeler, Montana State Fund; Clint Wolfley, URS Corporation; and Ken Woodlin, Walmart Stores, Inc.