US safety and health professional of the year
NSSGA names Matthew Bunner as the 2015 James M. Christie Safety & Health Professional of the Year
MATTHEW Bunner, safety manager for Mulzer Crushed Stone Inc, has been named as the 2015 James M. Christie Safety & Health Professional of the Year by the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA).
The award recognizes an individual for substantial contributions and commitment to safe and healthy operating practices within his or her company and the industry.
Mr Bunner has been recognized for developing an aggressive safety audit programme that has allowed Mulzer Crushed Stone to significantly reduce hazards. He has developed compelling training materials that have increased the support for safety training among workers and management alike.
Mr Bunner has also taken a lead in presenting operator perspectives on compliance to MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration) senior leaders during the agency’s stakeholder outreach tours, and has continually sought to make the company’s operations safer and healthier.
‘Matt has made a substantial impact on safety and health throughout the entire US,’ said NSSGA president and chief executive officer Michael W. Johnson. ‘Advocacy is job number one for NSSGA, but truly safety is job number one for aggregates operations around the country.
‘Matt’s diligent work and achievements clearly illustrate our industry’s commitment to working to reduce injuries in support of NSSGA’s guiding principles of optimal workplace safety and health.’
Mr Bunner, a certified mine safety professional, is an active member of the NSSGA’s Safety and Health Committee, which develops and implements best practices for safety and health and urges the MSHA to focus regulatory and enforcement resources on areas of greatest risk.
He is also a two-term chair of the Indiana Mineral Aggregate Association’s (IMAA’s) Safety Committee, and previously received the IMAA’s President’s Award for distinguished service.
The James M. Christie Safety and Health Professional of the Year award was created in 1987 by the National Stone Association (NSA) in recognition of Jim Christie, the corporate safety director for Vulcan Materials Company, after his death.
Mr Christie was an industry leader who, in the early 1980s, challenged a young MSHA agency to focus regulations on the safety practices of manager and worker behaviour, and not strictly on a facility’s conditions. The NSSGA continued this tradition when the NSA later merged with the National Aggregates Association.
The James M. Christie Award will be presented as part of the NSSGA’s opening general session at its 2016 Annual Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, on 21 March.
