KellerOnline® Announces 2007 Safety Professional of the Year


Neenah, WI - J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc., the nation's most respected name in risk and regulatory management, has named Dan Ryan, of Veolia Water North America in Dayton, Ohio, as the 2007 KellerOnline® Safety Professional of the Year (SPOTY). The SPOTY award is sponsored by KellerOnline®, the most widely used safety management tool on the web.

Ryan, Vice President of Environmental, Health, Safety and Security (EHS&S) for the nation's largest services provider for municipal and industrial water and wastewater systems and facilities, was chosen after creating a safety culture that is unsurpassed in the water and wastewater industry. Veolia Water North America posted their best employee safety statistics for a calendar year, beating the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for private-industry water, wastewater and other systems by more than 200 percent. Their recordable incident rate was 4.1 compared to the BLS industry average of 7.6 and their lost-time-incident rate was 0.7 compared to the BLS average of 2.3.

Veolia Water North America employs some 2,700 people and works with more than 270 municipal and industrial customers. Ryan believes that policies and procedures are the cornerstone of a safety program, but they are also typically the least effective component toward accident reduction. He says, "A safety program's ultimate success or failure relies on employee involvement, accountability and management commitment - demonstrated through leadership-by-example from the president to the front-line supervisor. At Veolia Water we have that."

Ryan will receive a $2,500 cash award during a ceremony planned in Neenah, Wisconsin, along with a plaque, certificate, and multiple one-year subscriptions to KellerOnline for himself and others in his organization.

Chris Seider, Environmental Health & Safety Manager for Burger Boat Company in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, was awarded second place. Six years ago, the incident rate at his company was 37.7 with a DART rate of 31.1. Since then, he has worked to change the safety culture at Burger Boat Company to improve their incident rate to 7.5 and DART rate to 4.8, below the industry standard of 12.1 and 6.1 respectively.

Seider will receive a $500 cash award, a plaque, certificate and a one-year subscription to KellerOnline.

Mike Martin, Safety Director for S&S Transport Inc. in Grand Forks, North Dakota, was awarded third place. His efforts included decreasing the overall accident rate for his organization to 1% while increasing the fleet size by more than 20 trucks. He will also receive a plaque, certificate, and one-year subscription to KellerOnline, along with a $50 cash award.

Nearly 100 safety professionals submitted entries for KellerOnline's 6th Annual SPOTY award. "This year's winners have done outstanding things with their respective safety programs and built cultures within their organizations that helped them to beat the odds in their industries," said Rustin Keller, Corporate Internet Products Manager for J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. "KellerOnline is proud to support these and all other dedicated safety professionals in the most important job - safety."

About KellerOnline®

KellerOnline® (KOL) is the most widely used safety management tool on the web. More than 19,000 safety professionals rely on KOL to manage their safety programs. KOL integrates a safety management process with reference materials, tools, and applications in order to help users reduce accident rates, decrease injuries, and lower workers' compensation costs. To learn more about KellerOnline®, visit www.kelleronline.com.

About J. J. Keller

J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. was established in 1953 and has become the nation's most respected name in risk and regulatory management. The company employs over 1,200 associates and serves over 300,000 customers including more than 90% of the Fortune 1,000. Keller's diverse product line includes publications, consulting, online services, and outsourced services. For more information go to www.jjkeller.com

For more information, contact:
Marketing Communications
Jean Bilitz
1-800-843-3174, ext. 7304
E-mail: jbilitz@jjkeller.com

Janal Emmer
1-800-843-3174, ext. 2720
E-mail: jemmer@jjkeller.com

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