The NJ AIHA will hold their dinner meeting and presentation of scholarships on June 15, 2017.  Click here for the meeting notice and more information on how to register.

The New Jersey Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers Celebrates North American Occupational Safety and Health Week

CRANFORD, NJ — Local members of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers (NJASSE), a state affiliate of the oldest and largest safety society, are concerned that the number one cause of on-the-job and off-the-job deaths continues to be transportation incidents – all modes. Therefore, in celebration of North American Occupational Safety and Health Week (NAOSH) which runs from May 7-13, 2017, the NJASSE along with thousands of other organizations, will be working to raise awareness of the importance of preventing on-the-job and off-the-job accidents, by distributing transportation best practices information and urging all to heed to traffic rules and regulations.

In 2015, there were 6,296,000 million vehicle crashes resulting in 35,200 people dying (7% increase over 2014) and injuring 3.9 million more. In the U.S. alone, car crashes cost all of us $242 billion each year. Males made up approximately 70 percent of those who died in transportation accidents in 2015, 30 percent were female.

As for weather conditions, in the U.S. the majority of crashes occur during normal weather during daylight hours. The top factors causing fatal crashes are 1) failure to keep in proper lane or running off road; 2) driving too fast for conditions or in excess of posted speed limit; 3) DUI; 4) failure to yield right of way; 5) distractive driving and inattentive (texting, talking, eating, etc.); 6) operating erratic, reckless, careless, or negligent manner; and, 7) failure to obey traffic signs, signals or officer.

The State of New Jersey’s experience is not unlike that of the nations. In fact, in 2015, there were over 240,000 motor vehicle crashes. 562 motor vehicle related deaths which represents 1.54 motor vehicle fatalities per day. Of particular concern were the 173 pedestrian fatalities, which represent nearly 31% of all motor vehicle fatalities, which is 17% higher than the national average of 14%. There were over 55,000 teenager motor vehicle related incidents in 2015 and in that same year 59 teenagers lost their lives on New Jersey roadways.

Distracted driving is a behavior dangerous to drivers, passengers and pedestrians alike. Distractions including talking on a cell phone, texting, eating and using/looking at a GPS injured an estimated 391,000 people in motor vehicle crashes in 2015, while killing 3,477 others. For drivers 15-19 years old involved in fatal crashes in the U.S., 10 percent of the distracted drivers were distracted at the time of their fatal crash.

Businesses can and are doing their part by reviewing their driver safety policies, most are including an element that would prohibit workers from conducting business on a cell phone while driving, mandating seat belt use and developing work schedules that allow employees to obey speed limits and to follow hours-of-service regulations.

We all need to continue to do our part to curb these preventable tragedies. We urge you and your readers to support NAOSH Week this May 7-13, and throughout the year by urging your friends, family and co-workers to drive smart. The tangible and intangible losses due to transportation crashes are extremely high. Click here for more information on NAOSH week and click here for a presentation on distracted driving.

Are you looking for an inexpensive way to study for the CIH and CSP exams? Do you need certification maintenance points to meet your re-certification requirements? 

Once again this year the biggest bargain in town for Safety and Industrial Hygiene education is the NJAIHA/NJASSE Summer Review Course!

The New Jersey Section of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (NJAIHA) along with New Jersey Chapter of the American Safety Society Engineers (NJASSE) is offering a comprehensive Industrial Hygiene/Safety Review Course. The course is designed to provide basic training in some critical areas of industrial hygiene and safety and will likely be beneficial for those entering the field as well as those who are just looking to sharpen their skills in certain technical areas.

In addition, many of the people who have attended the program have found it to be very helpful in preparing for the CIH and CSP examinations. Certified Industrial Hygienists have the opportunity to obtain CM points per lecture (0.167 points per contact hour). Participants are welcome to attend any or all of the lecture sessions, depending on their individual training needs. People who need certification maintenance points must sign an attendance sheet for each session. Use the following link to our full course information: http://www.njaiha.org/events/njaiha-summer-review-course/

The NJ Chapter of the AHMP will hold its next meeting on April 25th at Montclair State University.  The topic is “This Wheel’s on Fire”: Energy Market Cycles in a New Era. An update of the current energy and regulatory markets.  The speaker is Tina Davis, Managing Editor, Energy and Commodity, Americas, Bloomberg News.  Click HERE for more information and to register.

My name is Joe Leuzzi, and I’m running for Treasurer of the NJ Chapter of ASSE.  I have been a member of ASSE since 2004, and am interested in further developing myself as an EHS professional with a great organization.  I believe this is a great platform that will allow me to share my past experiences and influence others on the importance of what we do every day as EHS professionals.

I have an environmental science background from Rutgers University.  I began my career working as an EHS professional with a local EHS consulting firm, PHASE Associates.  During my time as a consultant, I was able to manage various projects and had a great opportunity to develop my career in the safety and industrial hygiene field completing projects for various companies that included food and beverage, research and development, specialty chemicals and manufacturing.  I moved on from consulting and had an opportunity to spend more than 10 years at Sanofi, a large pharmaceutical company as an EHS Specialist.  There I was able to further develop my safety and industrial hygiene experience and have my first true exposure to the environmental field and environmental program management.  After a great career with Sanofi I had an opportunity to manage all EHS programs and build my experience with Rust-Oleum Corporation, a large paint and coatings manufacturer, and soon after that I worked as the EHS Manager at Anheuser-Busch, a global food and beverage manufacturing company.  I recently accepted a position with Merck as an Associate Director, Safety & Environment in the Global Safety and Environment department.