For so many of us, 1991 doesn’t sound like that long ago, but in reality, that was 32 years ago! 1991 is remembered for many reasons, not the least of which was sudden collapse of the Soviet Union and the beginning of the war in Iraq. Closer to home, 1991 also saw the formation of the Long Beach Chapter of the ASSP (then still known as the ASSE).

Current members Tom Butler and Marianne Thomas remember the formation of our chapter very well. As they recall, the only local chapter at that time was the Los Angeles Chapter. Members met monthly at the TAIX restaurant on Sunset Blvd. at 6:00 p.m. As Tom recalls, traffic generally became so bad that reaching those monthly meetings on time became more difficult. Marianne, who at the time was serving as the Senior Safety Engineer for McDonnell Douglas in Long Beach, approached her fellow safety professionals about starting a Long Beach chapter. With the support of McDonnell Douglas, the Los Angeles Chapter, and ASSE, Marianne, Tom, and several others began the process of establishing a charter for the Long Beach Chapter.

As we start the new term (July 1 – June 30), I am extremely excited about our aggressive agenda for the coming year(s). Let’s face it – Covid was a gamechanger when it came to ASSP activities. Seemingly overnight, our chapter, like all others, stopped in-person meetings and activities, thereby severely hampering one of the main reasons most of us belong to ASSP – networking and interaction. Covid is, thankfully, history, and it is well past time to bring our once vibrant chapter back to where it can and should be!

On June 21, 2023, ASSP Long Beach Chapter members were very fortunate to participate in a 1.5 hour boat tour of the Port of Long Beach. The tour was packed with amazing information about the Port, its history, navigation of ships, and so much more. Nice weather helped make the event a huge success, and everyone enjoyed their time at this special event. Thank you to our Past-President, Karen Townsend, for making all the arrangements for this great event!

The Chapter is extremely excited to welcome Ms. Allyson Clark as its Social Media Chair. For the last 10 years, Allyson Clark has been applying group psychology mechanisms to support leading change for high-hazard industries. She likes to solve some of the toughest challenges with behavioral dynamics and environmental compliance. She has developed EHS Software and dashboards to help promote greater transparency of safety cultures. She has a Master of Science from Montana Tech and holds a CSP and CHMM certification.

The Long Beach Chapter of the ASSP is fortunate to have Ms. Clark, and we invite you to reach out to her with any suggestions you have on the chapter! Welcome, Allyson!

The Chapter is extremely excited to welcome Mr. Luis Ortiz as its Vice-President Elect for the 23-24 term. As Vice-President, Mr. Ortiz will automatically become President for the 24-25 term which commences 1 July 2024.

Mr. Ortiz is the President and Founder of Safety First Management, LLC.  Luis holds both a B.S. and Master’s degree in Occupational Environmental, Health & Safety.  Luis is also an instructor at the CSUDH OSHA Training Institute Education Center teaching various OSHA courses. He is also a Federal and CAL OSHA 10/30-hour trainer.

The Long Beach Chapter of the ASSP is fortunate to have Mr. Ortiz, and we invite you to reach out to him with any suggestions you have on the chapter! Welcome, Luis!

The Region 1 Operating Committee (ROC) meeting was held in Portland, Oregon 20-21 April, 2023. Long Beach Chapter President Karen Townsend and President-Elect Chris Rainwater represented the Long Beach Chapter at the meeting. Members received important updates on financial issues, awards and honors, and technology/communication changes. Members discussed a wide array of issues and each chapter within Region 1 provided reports on their activities.

Members discussed the timing and location of the next ROC meeting (Fall 2023) which is tentatively scheduled for September 2023 in San Francisco. Stay tuned for additional information.