MI resident leads safety engineers

A long-time Southfield resident and member of the North America Management team of ABB Inc. is the new president of the oldest safety society in the world, the American Society of Safety Engineers.

In the new role, Darryl C. Hill, PhD, CSP, will continue his drive to increase workplace safety and eliminate suffering while minimizing financial losses.

Elected by his peers of more than 32,000 occupational safety, health and environmental professionals to lead ASSE in its 100th year, Hill, with more than 20 years of experience, aims to lead the occupational safety and health profession as it continues to work towards improving workplace safety for all while contributing positively toward the bottom line.

“Based on my experience in occupational safety and health, it is evident to me that safety decisions must not be based on 'I think' or 'I feel'... but on statistical process control tools, risk assessments and incident trend data,” Hill said. “Once the scientific work is done, however, foresight and intuition are quite effective in helping us to expand our understanding of tomorrow and make better decisions now," he said.

Hill, an ASSE member for more than 20 years, is vice president for safety and health, ABB North America, in Auburn Hills, MI. At ABB his responsibilities include occupational health and safety management for multi-plant, service and project locations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Hill has a BS in occupational safety from Iowa State University, an MS in hazardous waste management from Wayne State University and a Ph.D. from Oakland University, MI, in educational leadership. He also served as an adjunct faculty member at Oakland University and is a certified safety professional (CSP).

As a volunteer ASSE member, Hill served as the vice president for finance, as regional vice president, as the construction practice specialty administrator and as a member and chair of the ASSE public relations committee. He was awarded the prestigious ASSE Edgar Monsanto Queeny Safety Professional of the Year (SPY) honor; the Charles V. Culbertson Outstanding Volunteer Service award; the Oakland University occupational safety and health leadership award; the Michigan Safety Conference distinguished service to safety award; and, many more chapter recognitions.