SWANA launches Safety Ambassador initiative at chapter level

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, has announced the launch of its Safety Ambassador initiative at its 45 chapters in the United States and Canada.

Under this new program, SWANA chapters will identify a member to serve as their Safety Ambassador. The Safety Ambassador will serve as an immediate and useful local resource for other members to ask questions and get answers about important safety and compliance-related information, according to SWANA. In this role, Safety Ambassadors will work as safety leaders in their chapters and are likely to speak at chapter events about how to reduce accidents and injuries, SWANA says.

“This initiative is an important example of SWANA’s effort to make safety part of the DNA of our association at every level,” says SWANA Executive Director and CEO David Biderman. “By having Safety Ambassadors in each chapter, members from coast to coast will have a go-to person for safety-related questions and information. This will be an important component of our effort to get the industry off of the federal government’s list of 10 most dangerous jobs.”

SWANA says several SWANA chapters have already appointed their safety ambassadors, who look forward to working with their members and other industry professionals to help reduce accidents and injuries in the solid waste industry.

In Florida, Chad Grecsek, who serves as that chapter’s Safety Ambassador, says, “Safety-related incidents continue to plague our industry at a rate that is way too high. As the newly appointed Safety Ambassador for the Florida Chapter, I look forward to this challenge and working with colleagues both in the public and private sectors to evaluate the data and identify innovative and proven solutions that aim to reduce health and safety related incidents.”

SWANA’s Safety Ambassador initiative is sponsored by Alliance Wireless Technology Inc. (AWTI), Houston.

“AWTI is proud to extend our partnership with SWANA to its new Safety Ambassador Initiative,” says AWTI and 3rd Eye MobileVision President and CEO Darrick Reed.  “Efforts such as this strengthen and promote the most important principle we must all strive for … making sure every employee and the public they interface with go home safe every day.”

SWANA is an organization of more than 8,300 public and private sector professionals committed to advancing from solid waste management to resource management through their shared emphasis on education, advocacy and research. For more than 50 years, SWANA says it has been the leading association in the solid waste management field. SWANA serves industry professionals through technical conferences, certifications, publications and a large offering of technical training courses.