Dear Chesapeake Chapter Members,

The 2027 Chesapeake AIHA/ASSP/JHU Educational Seminar is looking for speakers, and we would like to encourage our members to consider sharing their knowledge and experience with the safety and health community.

If you have been looking for an opportunity to present, this is a great chance to get involved. We are looking for individuals who:

• Have new insights, ideas, or best practices to share
• Have experience or expertise in an area that would benefit others in our profession
• Have a successful program, initiative, or lesson learned they would like to present
• Simply have an interest in presenting and contributing to the professional community

Whether you are an experienced presenter or this would be your first time speaking at a professional seminar, we encourage you to submit a topic.

The speaker and topic submission link will be available on the Chesapeake Chapter website beginning in October. Please consider submitting your topic and sharing your experience with your colleagues.

This is a great opportunity to get your ideas out to the safety and health community, share what you have learned, and help others in our profession.

We look forward to seeing the great topics and ideas our members have to offer.

Turning Pages. Improving Safety.

We’re excited to announce the launch of our NEW Book Club, kicking off in early September!

INAUGURAL BOOK
Human and Organizational Potential (HOP)
by Ivan Pupulidy and Crista Vesel

WHEN: Beginning of September (exact date TBA)
FORMAT: Virtual meeting
FREQUENCY: Monthly meetings

ABOUT THE BOOK
Human and Organizational Potential (HOP) helps us understand how people tackle risks and create safety in the workplace. It offers a bridge between theory and application to help us work within complex adaptive systems, which, by their very nature, deliver the unexpected. This book helps us understand our systems, our culture, and our people.Illustrated with real-life examples, safety professionals, managers, and leaders at all levels will find practical ideas to help guide them through safety challenges.

STAY TUNED FOR:

• Exact meeting date and time
• Registration link
• Discussion topics

INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING?
Email Matt Koss at Matthew.koss2@gmail.com to be added to the discussion.

Not a member yet? Visit ASSP.org to learn more about the benefits of Chapter membership.

Chesapeake Chapter
American Society of Safety Professionals

Chesapeake Chapter Members,

We are thrilled to announce that Ashton Alban-Hatcher has been named the 2026 ASSP Region VI Safety Professional of the Year!

This marks the third year in a row that a Chesapeake Chapter member has earned this honor, following Paul Esposito (2024) and Matt Koss (2025).

Ashton is a Project Manager at EA Engineering, Science, and Technology. Her leadership has strengthened environmental and occupational health and safety programs, including the development of an ISO 45001-informed safety management system.

A few highlights of her impact:

• ASSP Leadership: Chairs the Chesapeake Chapter and Region VI WISE groups, and contributes at the Society level.
• Mentorship: Fosters meaningful growth for emerging and established safety professionals.
• Community Impact: Serves as President of AIHA Chesapeake and helped grow the joint PDC into a 175+ participant event.

Please join us in congratulating Ashton on this well-deserved honor!

– ASSP Chesapeake Chapter

The Chesapeake ASSP Sport Fishing Charter was finalized on July 1, 2026 and we had fourteen participants. Eight members and their six guests enjoyed a morning of fishing fun as we motored up the Bay for fabulous Rock Fishing. Once the Captain settled into a honey hole off the northern CraigHill channel everyone caught their limit very quickly and settled into “catch and return” status. I think everyone caught their limit twice over.

Motoring down the Bay the Captain picked an excellent spot for bottom fishing for bait fish. All anglers were pulling Spot in left and right to fill the barrel and several of us were catching two at a time.

The 1st Mate (Steph) and Captain Brandon were attentive to every need and I heard no complaints about the service, food spread or weather. The Lord smiled upon our trip this time while we were out “Chasin Tail”.

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!”