Erickson receives New Mexico award

Itasca, Ill. (December 15, 2006) — The National Safety Council has awarded its Distinguished Service to Safety Award to Dennis J. Erickson, Scientific Advisor to the Governor of the State of New Mexico. The award, which was presented during the National Safety Council’s 94th Annual Congress and Expo, is the highest honor bestowed on an individual safety professional by the NSC in recognition of outstanding service to the field of safety.

“Some of the most innovative advances in safety and health today are the result of individual ingenuity and initiative in various fields of safety,” said Alan C. McMillan, President and CEO, National Safety Council. “This award is just one of the ways the Council is encouraging individuals to strive for excellence and serve as pioneers in the quest for creating a culture of safety in businesses, homes and communities, and on our roads and highways. Dr. Erickson is one of these individuals who understands this new safety paradigm and has made tremendous contributions to safety. We are honored to present Dr. Erickson with this prestigious award.”

During a distinguished 35-year career at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Erickson served in diverse and multi-functional capacities including Division Director for Environment, Safety, and Health; Deputy Associate director for Nuclear Weapons Technology; and Division Leader for Dynamic Testing. In addition, he served loaned-executive assignments as the science policy advisor to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and as an executive director in the University of California Office of the President. He has provided extended service to the National Safety Council as an elected member-at-large, vice-chair, and advisor to the Council’s Board of Delegates.

Erickson is a recognized leader in safety-related management systems and R&D, and is well known for his commitment to stakeholder involvement, public openness, and risk communication. These recognitions complement scientific accomplishments that span ultrahigh magnetic field research, pulsed power development, and weapons technology. Erickson received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and B.A. degree in physics and mathematics from Augsburg College in Minneapolis.

The Distinguished Service to Safety Award, which symbolizes and recognizes individual innovation and service in the field of safety, is among the ways the National Safety Council is honoring individuals who take a lead in creating initiatives that support and promote a corporate culture of safety.

“It begins with an individual who understands the critical importance safety plays in their organization and that one person then serves as a catalyst for expanding safety to the level where it is a part of their mission, a core corporate value,” added McMillan. “Individual by individual, business by business, we are recognizing leaders who are relentless in making safety a way of doing business.

The National Safety Council is a nonprofit, nongovernmental, international public service organization dedicated to protecting life and promoting health. Members of NSC include more than 50,000 businesses, labor organizations, schools, public agencies, private groups and individuals. Founded in 1913 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1953, the primary focus of the NSC is preventing injuries in workplaces, on roads and highways and in homes and communities.