ABOR President Eileen Klein addresses EH&S Compliance Officers

Environmental Health and Safety held its Fall Compliance Officer luncheon in the Old Main Carson Ballroom on Monday.

Three Arizona State University professors were awarded EH&S’ Award for Excellence, and Arizona Board of Regents President Eileen Klein was the keynote speaker.

Klein thanked the attending compliance officers for their service.

“Thank you again for what you do and for your commitment,” Klein said. “Safety and security are foundational for our ability to operate; they’re foundational for us to have a state and a country that we are able to thrive in.” 

EH&S Compliance Officers promote environmental health and safety compliance in department, college and school offices and laboratories. Compliance eliminates safety hazards, exposures and injuries. 

University Business Services Associate Vice President Nichol Luoma recognized the volunteer compliance officers' responsibility to deliver campus safety, which is critical to student success.

“What I’m amazed at, looking at this group, is really how well we work together,” Luoma said. “You guys getting together talking about best practices, working with EH&S to implement those best practices is critical to our success as a university.”

EH&S Executive Director Leon Igras and CO Program Manager and Assistant Biosafety Officer Giorgio Scarpellini presented EH&S’ Award for Excellence.

• Anne Jones was awarded for incident response above and beyond the call of duty. After a Physical Sciences building evacuation, Jones assured evacuees went to assembly areas and kept the public away.
• Bertram Jacobs was awarded for leadership in safety or sustainability excellence. Jacobs supports EH&S as chair of the Institutional Biosafety Committee by reporting to NIH and CDC. Jacobs was a key stakeholder in the ASU IceBox Challenge Campaign.
• William Petuskey was awarded for longevity of commitment to ASU safety and sustainability. Petuskey co-chaired the EH&S Policy Committee since 2013 and continues to chair the University Lab Safety Committee since 2015.

The luncheon earned a Green Event Gold designation and was a Zero Waste event. EH&S and the Compliance Officer program also gave updates. 

Program updates

• Hosted a Biosecurity Workshop that brought local and national experts together to discuss risks and solutions.
• Provided orientation training for 29 new Compliance Officers in August.
• Recognizes Maureen King and Tamara John’s efforts to implement an efficient university-wide lab coat laundering service.
• Secured funds for next fiscal year to test laboratory eyewash safety stations, showers and laboratory fume hoods.
• Received three awards at the annual Campus Safety, Health and Environmental Management Association meeting.