J.J. Keller & Associates — a provider of risk and regulatory management publications and products — has named Dan Ryan, of Veolia Water North America in Dayton, Ohio, as the 2007 Safety Professional of the Year. The SPOTY award is sponsored by KellerOnline, an online safety management tool.
Ryan is vice president of environmental, health, safety and security (EHS&S) for the nation’s largest services provider for municipal and industrial water and wastewater systems and facilities. Veolia Water North America employs some 2,700 people and works with more than 270 municipal and industrial customers.
Veolia Water North America posted their best employee safety statistics for a calendar year, beating the Bureau of Labor Statistics for private-industry water, wastewater and other systems by more than 200 percent. Their recordable incident rate was 4.1 compared to the BLS industry average of 7.6, and their lost-time-incident rate was 0.7 compared to the BLS average of 2.3.
Ryan will receive a $2,500 cash award during a ceremony planned in Neenah, Wis., along with a plaque, certificate and multiple one-year subscriptions to KellerOnline for himself and others in his organization.
Chris Seider, environmental health and safety manager for Burger Boat Co. in Manitowoc, Wis., was awarded second place. Six years ago, the incident rate at his company was 37.7 with a DART rate of 31.1. Since then, he has worked to change the safety culture at Burger Boat Co. to improve their incident rate to 7.5 and DART rate to 4.8, below the industry standard of 12.1 and 6.1, respectively. Seider will receive a $500 cash award, a plaque, certificate and a one-year subscription to KellerOnline.
Mike Martin, safety director for S&S Transport Inc. in Grand Forks, N.D., was awarded third place. His efforts included decreasing the overall accident rate for his organization to 1 percent while increasing the fleet size by more than 20 trucks. He also will receive a plaque, certificate and one-year subscription to KellerOnline, along with a $50 cash award.
Nearly 100 safety professionals submitted entries for KellerOnline’s 6th annual SPOTY award. “This year’s winners have done outstanding things with their respective safety programs and built cultures within their organizations that helped them to beat the odds in their industries,” said Rustin Keller, corporate Internet products manager for J.J. Keller. “KellerOnline is proud to support these and all other dedicated safety professionals in the most important job – safety.”
