The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) has named Jeremy Bethancourt, director of safety, health and training for LeBlanc Building Co. Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz., as the organization’s 2017 Edgar Monsanto Queeny Safety Professional of the Year.
Besides holding the position of government affairs for ASSE’s Arizona chapter, Bethancourt has played a lead role in getting billboards posted throughout Arizona to bring attention to the dangers of distracted driving.
“Jeremy’s ability to inspire others and lead them toward a common goal has been nothing less than extraordinary,” said John LeBlanc, CEO and owner of LeBlanc Building Co. Inc. in a statement. “Our achievement as a premier expert in worker safety and progressive fall protection is in no small part due to Jeremy's technical understanding of the building process and his willingness to integrate new approaches into safety while maintaining productivity.”
Bethancourt is the co-founder of the Drive Smart Arizona coalition as well as co-founder and program director of ACTA Safety, member of the ANSI/ASSE A10.32 fall protection subcommittee, chair of Arizona's annual
Workers Memorial Day ceremony and collaborator in several national construction research projects.
For more than 10 years, he has been an advocate for the use of fall protection systems and equipment to protect the nation’s residential home builders. This directly led to his appointment to two terms (2012-16) on OSHA's Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health.
"The best way to see the impact of Jeremy's efforts is to look on the OSHA website," said Bill Parsons, Air Force chief of occupational safety and a member of ASSE’s New Mexico chapter in a statement. “A lot of the information given to the residential construction industry is due to the consultation and sharing he has provided.”
Bethancourt also volunteers for Kids' Chance of Arizona and Kids’ Chance of America, organizations that provide educational scholarships to children of injured workers. He also is a regular speaker at ASSE chapter events and the society's annual conference.
ASSE formally will honor Bethancourt at Safety 2017 Professional Development Conference & Exposition, which will be held June 19-22 in Denver.