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AMERICAN SOCIETY

OF SAFETY ENGINEERS

1800 East Oakton Street

Des Plaines, Illinois 60018-2187

847.699.2929

FAX 847.296.3769

www.asse.org

January 6, 2014

The Honorable David Michaels

Assistant Secretary

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

U. S. Department of Labor

200 Constitution Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20210

By http://www.regulations.gov

RE: Nomination of R. Ron Sokol to ACCSH

(Docket No. OSHA-2013-0006-0028)

Dear Assistant Secretary Michaels:

On behalf of the 35,000 members of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), I urge you to consider thoughtfully our nomination of R. Ronald Sokol, CSP, to serve as a public member of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH). Ron has had a distinguished, well respected career as a safety professional serving leading organizations in construction safety and is a passionate voice for worker safety within his profession. Among his many achievements perhaps most important to the mission of ACCSH is Ron’s unmatched experience in providing training to countless workers in construction. Of all the aspects that contribute to safe construction worksites, training arguably may be the most important. The appointment of a construction training expert with Ron’s experience can help inform and support every activity the Committee undertakes.

As his attached resume shows, Ron serves as the organizational leader for the Safety Council of Texas City, Texas, a highly-regarded safety training organization that trains the construction workers of leading employers in the petrochemical industry to help ensure they are safe and healthy on the job. From that position, Ron has established a well-respected voice for workplace safety and health in the Texas City community and beyond, urging focused commitment to worker safety and health especially among employer and community groups with whom he is involved. In service to that purpose, Ron was a founding member and active leader in the Association of Reciprocal Safety Councils (ARSC), an organization committed to helping its member training organizations provide the best safety training possible. In support of that effort, the ARSC website at www.arsc.net documents over 300,000 workers the work of the organization impacted in construction safety within the petrochemical environment.

Ron is also a committed member of Rotary International. For over a decade, Ron served on the Houston Business Roundtable Safety and Health Resource Committee. He takes it upon himself to seek publication of safety-related commentary in local newspapers. He is a regular speaker at a variety of safety and health conferences in the Texas and Louisiana region.

Ron also brings a deep appreciation for the important role advisory and cooperative efforts like ACCSH play in helping drive this nation’s commitment to occupational safety and health. Most recently, Ron contributed to OSHA’s effort to address temporary workers safety by sharing the best practices he has developed with OSHA staff developing its current temporary worker campaign. Ron has served as an active, contributing member of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) NORA Construction Council. He has worked closely with other stakeholders in labor and business on the Council to develop successful national efforts aimed at addressing fall protection, nail gun, heat and other key risks to the safety and health of construction workers. From that work, Ron has taken it upon himself to be a vocal champion among fellow ASSE members and other safety and health professionals not only of the Council’s work but also for the value the profession can realize in working cooperatively with stakeholders across the spectrum of interests in the occupational safety and health community.

Ron is a Professional Member of ASSE, a committed leader in ASSE’s Council of Professional Standards, the past Administrator of ASSE’s Construction Practice Specialty, and a respected current member of ASSE’s Government Affairs Committee. In 2002, Ron was awarded ASSE’s Charles V. Culbertson Outstanding Volunteer Service Award. He was named ASSE’s Construction Safety Professional of the Year in 2004. He has been awarded Safety Professional of the Year awards by both his ASSE Chapter and Region. Along with his fellow members, I can attest to Ron’s considerable abilities to handle technical as well as challenging policy issues in occupational safety and health.

ASSE is a better organization because of Ron’s involvement. We are certain that ACCSH similarly will be well served with Ron as a member. ASSE appreciates your consideration of our nomination of a valued member and leader in the occupational safety and health community.

Sincerely,

Kathy A. Seabrook CSP, CMIOSH, EurOSHM

President