Each year in the United States more than 3,000 people die, thousands are injured and over $10 billion in property is lost as a result of fire. To enhance public safety in buildings and reduce these losses from fire, a bill — the Community Building Code Administration Grant Act of 2007 — has been introduced in the United States Congress.

The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) supports this bill that would improve building and fire code enforcement in jurisdictions throughout the United States.

“Improved code enforcement will lead to better design and construction practices,” said Chris Jelenewicz, engineering program manager with SFPE. “As a result, our nation’s schools, hospitals, shopping centers, homes and high-rise buildings will be better protected.”

This legislation authorizes a grant program through the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. If enacted and funded, the law would provide locally matched federal grants to jurisdictions who seek to upgrade their local building and fire code administration and enforcement resources.

These grants would provide $100 million per year over five years to help local governments employee building and fire code officials.

“Many fire protection engineers work as building and code officials to help build and maintain fire safe communities,” said Jelenewicz. “If this bill is enacted, many communities will have the opportunity to employee fire protection engineers as part of a community’s code enforcement team.”

This House version of this legislation was sponsored by Congressman Dennis Moore (Kansas) and was referred to the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee (H.R. 4461). The Senate version (S. 2458) was sponsored by Senator Mary Landrieu (Louisiana) and was referred to the Senate Banking Committee.

OSHA Names New Executives Assistant Secretary of Labor for

OSHA Edwin G. Foulke, Jr. recently announced new appointments to key executive positions at the agency.

Steven F. Witt has been appointed as the new director of OSHA’s Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs. He began his career at the Dept. of Labor in 1972 as an attorney in the Office of the Solicitor.

In 1983, he joined OSHA and held several positions including special assistant to the assistant secretary and director of the Directorate of Standards and Guidance. He served as the director of OSHA’s Directorate of Construction since October 2006.

Jennifer A. Ashley has been named the new director of the Office of Communications.

She has more than 20 years of experience in media and communications management, primarily in federal and state government relations and in the academic and legal arenas. Prior to joining OSHA, Jennifer served as the director of communications for the International Association of Fire Chiefs. She also was associate director of external affairs and director of alumni affairs for the University of North Carolina School of Public Health.

Ken Nishiyama-Atha has been selected as the new regional administrator for OSHA’s Region IX, headquartered in San Francisco. In 1997, he began his career with OSHA as a safety specialist in the Milwaukee area office. During his 11-year tenure with the agency, he has served as assistant area director for OSHA’s Appleton, WI, area office, and as area director in the Columbia, SC, and Mobile, AL, area offices.

John Hermanson has been selected as OSHA’s new regional administrator for Region III after serving as deputy regional administrator for Region VIII (Denver). John began his career with OSHA in 1976 as an industrial hygienist in the agency’s Indianapolis area office.

“It is a privilege to have these professionals in our agency who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience,” said Foulke.

“I congratulate them all on their new positions, and look forward to working with them as we continue to pursue the mission of promoting the safety and health of America’s working men and women.”

The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) Board of Directors recently approved the nomination of Alexi Carli, CSP, of Roswell, GA, to serve as ASSE Foundation Trustee.

She will begin her three-year term on July 1, 2008.

Carli is a Certified Safety Professional and has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management. She has served as a corporate health and safety manager for Atlanta, GA-based UPS for more than eight years.

During her 30-year career with UPS, Carli has held various positions as a package handler and driver, as well as operations management. She has spent the last 20 years in health and safety at UPS in the district, regional, and corporate level.

“We are very excited to have Ms. Carli join the Board of Trustees,” said ASSE Foundation Chair Cynthia Roth, COHN.

“She has contributed much of her time to the Foundation over the years serving as a liaison with the UPS Foundation, which has donated $331,000 to the Foundation toward the UPS Scholarship Program. Over the years, nearly 60 students have benefited from this program.”

Carli’s current job responsibilities at UPS as international health and safety manager include global policy and training program development, organizational health and safety strategy, injury and auto crash prevention planning and crisis management.

Fellowships for Eight Fire Officers Fellowships co-sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) have been awarded to eight senior fire officials for participation in the Harvard University Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program.

Recipients are slated to participate in the program this summer at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

The candidates were selected by the John F. Kennedy School of Government’s admission committee and a nominating panel made up of representatives from NFPA, IAFC, IFSTA, DHS/USFA, and former program participants.

The 2008 awardees are:

• William “Bill” L. Bingham, City of Boynton Beach Fire & Rescue, Boynton Beach, FL;

• Eugene Campbell, City of Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, Las Vegas, NV;

• John D. Eggleston, Albermarle County Fire Rescue & Rescue, Charlottesville, VA;

• David James, City of Delray Beach Fire-Rescue Department, Delray Beach, FL;

• Marc Revere, Novato Fire Protection District, Novato, CA;

• Michael O. Randolph, City of Gainesville Fire & Rescue, Gainesville, FL;

• Lawrence Rooney, City of Peoria Fire Department, Peoria, AZ;

• Mark W. Wendelsdorf, City of Caldwell Fire & Rescue, Caldwell, ID.

Fellows will participate in a three-week program scheduled to take place on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.

The curriculum was developed to cover a broad range of topics that are common to public sector professionals. The program emphasizes how leadership skills can be utilized in a variety of situations.

“As a graduate of the program, I know first-hand that the individuals attending this prominent program stand to benefit greatly from this learning experience,” said Chief Russ Sanders, NFPA’s central regional manager, executive secretary of the Metropolitan “Metro” Chiefs Section, and NFPA’s representative on the selection committee. FSM