On June 10th, the Texas Chemical Council (TCC) and the Association of Chemical Industry of Texas (ACIT) hosted its annual Awards Banquet to recognize member facilities who have demonstrated outstanding performance in safety, community awareness, emergency response & overall dedication to the chemical industry during 2009.

The TCC Outreach Committee recognizes member facilities for their performance in community awareness, emergency response, security and pollution prevention in the Caring for Texas Award Program featuring the  Excellence and Sustained Excellence in Caring for Texas Awards.

The TCC Occupational Safety Committee recognizes member facilities for demonstrated commitment and exemplary results toward safe operations throughout the year with its safety award program. Awards in this category recognize Distinguished Service, Zero Incident Rate, Zero Contractor Incident Rate and the Best in Texas.

ACIT presented several Regional Member of the Year awards. This award identifies and recognizes one outstanding ACIT supplier of goods or services in each ACIT Region who has made an important contribution to the chemical industry in Texas and has demonstrated outstanding leadership within ACIT.

The Gerald R. Ehrman Award for Leadership in Safety Management was presented to Steve Skarke of Kaneka Texas Corporation (Pasadena site).

The Safety Professional of the Year Award was presented to Bob Brennecke of the BASF Corporation (Pasadena site).

April 29, 2010

Since its inception, the TCC/ACIT Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Seminar has provided practical information, industry best practices and lessons learned while offering continuing education credits to thousands of people who work in and for the chemical manufacturing industry.  Each year, the seminar is organized by a committee of dedicated volunteers who work for TCC and ACIT member companies, government regulatory agencies, universities, safety councils, and other organizations and “friends” of the chemical industry.

The roots of today’s seminar date back to the 1970’s when TCC-sponsored sessions began to appear as a part of Texas Safety Association meetings.  “Seminar-like” meetings were held periodically into the mid 1980’s.  A.D. Cyphers of DuPont was the chairman of the TCC Occupational Safety Committee in those days, and he challenged the committee membership to create a seminar that would be a “world class event.”  The committee accepted the challenge, rolled up their sleeves, and organized a one-day “Safety” seminar on June 9, 1988 at the San Luis Hotel in Galveston, Texas.  The seminar expanded to a two-day event in Galveston in June of 1989.  From 1990 through 1996, the seminar was a four-day event with a format that slowly evolved into today’s seminar.  From 1997 through 1999, the seminar was held at the Woodlands Executive Conference Center before moving back to Galveston.  In 2000, the seminar moved to its current location at the Moody Gardens Hotel.

The 2001 seminar was visited (unexpectedly) by Tropical Storm Allison on June 5.  Fortunately, Moody Gardens was spared and the seminar stayed more or less on schedule.

Also in 2001, the “Safety Seminar” was officially changed to the “EHS Seminar.”  The usual offering of occupational safety, industrial hygiene, process safety, emergency management and other H&S topics was expanded to include environmental air, water, and waste management topics as well as chemical plant security-related topics.  Since then, energy management and sustainability presentations have been added.

Over the years, seminar attendees have been entertained and inspired by keynote speakers including Fred Haise (Apollo 13) and other NASA astronauts; government officials; educators; local personalities such as Jim “Mattress Mack” McInvale; a National Safety Council president; Oscar Newton and other motivational speakers; local media personalities such as Doug Johnson, Ron Stone, Steve Smith, Giff Neilsen, and Jan Carson; Houston Comets head coach Van Chancellor; Richard Alderman (the Peoples Lawyer); humorists; former Houston Oilers head coach Bum Phillips and quarterback Dan Pastorini; and many others.

In keeping with the spirit of continual improvement, the exhibitor show was introduced in 2006 giving seminar attendees a chance to visit with industry suppliers and learn more about the latest EHS products and services.

The mission of the seminar committee is “to present an annual EHS seminar that provides knowledge to foster personal growth of the attendees and the performance of their organizations, while enhancing the image of the chemical industry.”  Our hope is that our history will continue for years to come and we will be able to educate and influence thousands more.

The 2010 Seminar takes place June 7-10 at the Moody Gardens Hotel in Galveston. To register, visit: www.ehs-seminar.com