The ASSP Region I (Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, and California) Region Operating Committee (ROC) met in San Francisco 26-27 October 2023 for its annual Fall session. The meeting was well-attended and provided updates to the twenty ASSP chapters located in Region I on a wide array of issues. Regional Vice President (RVP) Justin Molocznik chaired the two-day meeting through an agenda focused on ensuring that chapters have the tools they need to ensure the success of their members.

Three bay-areas chapters, San Francisco, San Jose, and Sacramento worked together to put all the logistics together for a meeting of this size. The three chapters did an amazing job, and the event was a huge success for all attending.

The Long Beach Chapter figured prominently into the event with some big news coming out of San Francisco. First, the WISE Chair for Long Beach, our very own Rosa Carrillo, was a guest speaker at the event! Rosa spoke about leadership with the OSH profession, and ASSP Region I provided everyone with a copy of Rosa’s latest book, Health and Safety Leadership Strategy. Thank you to Rosa for her insights and for once again highlighting the amazing talent that resides right here in the Long Beach Chapter!

At its October Education and Networking Session, the Long Beach Chapter of the ASSP presented speaker Dick Monod de Froideville, MPA. Dick Monod is a retired Cal/OSHA Compliance Health and Safety Officer and Industrial Hygienist/Safety Engineer with over 30 years experience. Dick is an OSHA Training Insitute Instructor at the California State University of Dominguez Hill (CSUDH) & Chabot Las Positas. Dick has a Masters in Adult Learning. Dick presented a wealth if information about current developments at Cal/OSHA, including new information about the revised appeals process.

A link to the presentation is also available here. The passcode is 6Q%5Wff^.

In 2021, at the height of the Covid pandemic, then Chapter President Jed Douglas contacted me to see if I’d be interested in serving on the EC. “You’ve been nominated…,” he stated. Honored, I accepted a role on the Long Beach Chapter EC. It turns out that the only person who knew my name was Jed Douglas, but that’s another story!

The truth is, serving this Chapter on the EC, first as Program Chair and Member Chair in 2021, then as Vice-President in 2022, and now as your Chapter President has been an incredibly rewarding experience. In fact, I want to take a page from Jed’s playbook and tell you all what he told me—you’re nominated to serve!

In the coming months, and in accordance with the ASSP and Long Beach ASSP by-laws, we will begin the annual process of electing members to the Executive Committee. Only a few of the positions are elected (Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary), and the remaining positions are appointed. Because the Vice-President automatically becomes the President for the following term, members are electing their future President when they cast their votes for Vice-President.