In the late 1950’s, a small group of Safety Professionals, originally, members of the Safety Engineering Club of Baltimore petitioned to bring their group into the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE). The group had been rejected by ASSE many times prior because they “could not qualify as a chapter because of the small percentage of qualified people shown on the roster”. After more than two years, The American Society of Safety Engineers granted our (Chesapeake) charter effective April 9, 1963. Since that date “we have conducted ourselves as the Chesapeake Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers”.

On May 14, 1963, the Chapter held its charter acceptance meeting at the Sparrows Point Country Club. Below are some of the attendees:

• Mr. Hudson Quarles – President, Baltimore Safety Council
• Mr. L.D. Zweier – Management ’s Representative, Bethlehem Steel Corporation
• Mr. Paul Lucanski – ASSE Chesapeake’s 1^st Treasurer
• Mr. Henry Lamb – Eastern Regional Vice President, ASSE
• Mr. Kenneth Robinson – ASSE Chesapeake’s 1^st Vice President
• Mr. Al Blackman – Managing Director, ASSE
• Mr. Leonard Wozny – ASSE Chesapeake’s 1^st President
• Mr. Arthur Christian – Treasurer, ASSE
• Mr. Joseph Shofstal – ASSE Chesapeake’s 1^st Secretary
• Mr. James Van Namee – Vice President, Eastern Central Region, ASSE
• Mr. Wilbur Agee – ASSE Chesapeake Chapter’s 1^st Chaplain

It’s fitting in the country’s 250^th birthday to reflect on the closing comments of some of the original membership.

“As of this writing, February of 1976, in the year of our country’s two-hundredth birthday, we are alive and healthy. We are in the hands of well qualified leadership, both in the Chapter and at Society level. We are growing. We need to grow to keep up with the rapidly accelerated pace of our professional requirements – We’ll make it!”  

Congratulations to the ASSP Chesapeake Award Winners!

Ashton Alban – Safety Professional of the Year

Craig Lowry – Veditz (Volunteer) Award

AIHA Chesapeake – Corporate Partnership Award

Matt Koss – President’s Award

Thank you to all ASSP members who attended our annual Professional Development Conference last week at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. 

A special thank you to the PDC Planning Committee for planning a wonderful event!

Not pictured: Ashton Alban (SPY) and Matt Koss (President’s Award).

Please join us in congratulating Matthew Koss, who has been named as the 2025 Region VI Safety Professional of the Year by the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP).

With over 15 years experience in safety management, Matt is motivated to foster a thriving safety culture of organizational learning and continual improvement. He is an active member of the Chesapeake Chapter and currently serves in the role of 1st Vice President, volunteering to chair Chesapeake Chapter’s 2024 PDC. 

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Please join the entire Chesapeake Chapter in congratulating Paul Esposito for receiving the Region VI Safety Professional of the Year award at the Region VI conference in Virginia Beach!

The Chesapeake Chapter of the American Society of Safety Professionals is seeking speakers for upcoming chapter meetings. Chapter meetings can be hosted in virtual, in-person, or hybrid formats. In addition, there is a lot of flexibility in regards to the dates and times for chapter meetings. If you have a presentation that you feel that your fellow safety professionals may benefit from, please reach out to Johny Hayden (Chapter Programs Chair) or James Woodward Sr. (Chapter President). We hope to hear from you soon!

John Hayden
Jhayden@pnat.com

James Woodward Sr.
jwoodward@mcleancontracting.com