FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (September 26, 2018)

J. J. Keller Announces 2018 Safety Professional of the Year Winners

16th Annual Awards Recognize Unique & Effective Safety Programs

Neenah, WI -  Tracy Clingingsmith, Safety Manager for Alamo Group in Seguin, Texas, has been named the 2018 Safety Professional of the Year (SPOTY) by J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. The SPOTY Awards recognize industry professionals who lead unique and effective approaches to their safety programs.

When Clingingsmith started as Safety Manager at Alamo Group in Texas, she changed the culture of how all employees, from the top down, thought about safety.

Alamo Group, with 36 companies internationally, manufactures industrial mowing equipment for the government and agricultural sectors. Clingingsmith’s location in Seguin, Texas, leads the company in safety. Clingingsmith explains, “Any manufacturer has numerous situations each day where there could potentially be an accident, but with our safety focus, we have not had a lost-time accident since April 17, 2007. It is a milestone we take very seriously and with pride.”

With Clingingsmith leading the way, safety has become a way of life at Alamo Group in Texas. She stated, “We do not view it as a special project; it is the way we work.”

Second- and Third-Place SPOTY Awards

David Swanson, Senior Director of Safety and Mission Assurance at Orbital ATK in Dulles, Virginia, earned the second-place SPOTY award from J. J. Keller. Three years ago, Swanson was challenged with a merger that grew his team and his span of concern from four to nine manufacturing sites across the United States and doubled their average Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRR) overnight. At the end of 2017, Swanson had lead the group’s performance to lower their TRR to .3, well below their industry average.

H. Demetrius Rumph, Director of Safety & Risk Management at the City of Columbia in Columbia, South Carolina, received the third-place SPOTY award. A 20-year veteran in the safety field, Rumph chose safety as a career to impact people’s work environment and quality of life. His efforts at the City of Columbia to engage employees in the safety process have drastically reduced Workers’ Compensation costs, a main safety objective for 2018.  

The Essence of the SPOTY Awards: Ensuring Employees Make It Home to Their Families

“We received many outstanding applications this year, but our three winners rose to the top due to their remarkable commitment to workplace safety,” said Rustin Keller, president and CEO at J. J. Keller. “Ensuring employees make it home to their families every day is truly what J. J. Keller helps our customer companies do, and it is what these winners are doing.”

Clingingsmith will receive the SPOTY Award, and Swanson and Rumph will be recognized verbally, during a ceremony at the J. J. Keller Corporate Campus in Neenah, Wisconsin, in October. Each winner will receive a cash prize, plaque, certificate and complimentary KellerOnline subscription.

Since 2002, the J. J. Keller SPOTY award program has recognized safety professionals, awarding over $200,000 in cash and prizes through the program.

About J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc.

Since its beginning as a one-man consulting firm in 1953, J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc. has grown to become the most respected name in safety and regulatory compliance. Now over 1,400 associates strong, J. J. Keller serves over 600,000 customers — including over 90% of the Fortune 1000^® companies. The company’s subject-matter expertise spans nearly 1,500 topics, and its diverse solutions include ELogs and mobile technology; training via online courses, streaming video or DVD; online management tools; managed services; consulting services; online and print publications; forms and supplies.

Safety professionals rely on J. J. Keller’s in-house expertise and wide selection of products and services to reduce risk and improve regulatory compliance, performance management, and operational efficiency. For more information, visit www.jjkeller.com.