SPC Members participate in the Excavation Safety Day at the Lubbock Training Facility

Keitha holding the big trophy for the winner of the BBQ luncheon at the event.
On July 9, 2019 ASSP South Plains Chapter (SPC) members Ben Maldonado, SPC President 2019-2020, and Cricket McWilliams participated in the Excavation Safety Day event at the Lubbock Fire Training facility.
Keitha Molina, Damage Prevention Manager for 811 and President of the Permian Basin Chapter ASSP invited the South Plains Chapter to participate in their event. During the event Chapter members had the opportunity to meet new people and talk about many safety-related topics and possible future partnerships.
Ben stated that it was a, “tremendous opportunity
South Plains Chapter becomes a member of the Lubbock Chamber Commerce
As an outreach to our community, the South Plains Chapter joined the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce in February 2019.
On June 6 members attended the Chamber’s Business After Hours event at 4ORE! Golf in Lubbock to network and hit some golf balls.
We will be participating in future events with the Chamber, so keep checking the website for more information.
If you’re an ASSP member, you are welcome to attend any Chamber event.
Drone use in Industrial and Electrical Inspections the Topic for May

Mr. Mike Cardenas (left) and Dr. David J Hemmert with FIZUAS demonstrating capabilities of drones.
On May 21, 2019 the ASSP South Plains Chapter welcomed Dr. David Hemmert, Mike Cardenas and Jake Martinez with FIZUAS Lubbock. FIZUAS is one of the industry leading experts of small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) products, sensors, and accessories.
The cost of the lunch for all attendees was provided by FIZUAS – so a big thanks goes out to the entire FIZUAS team for their support of our Chapter!
The discussion and presentation centered on industrial inspection in the electrical and energy industry, but also discussed applications in emergency management and in safety for confined space entry. Being able to evaluate and diagnose problems remotely by the use of drones is and will continue to be a major advance in the safety profession.
A question was asked about becoming a drone pilot.
Drone pilots flying for hobby/recreational purposes
Safety Directors from Local Area Businesses provide insight at Safety Summit
By Renee Witherspoon, CSP, CIH, CHMM, South Plains Chapter Past President

Texas Mutual’s Safety Summit Panelists (L to R) Pat Niekamp (moderator), Scott Ramsey, Bill Brown and Javier Rodriguez.
On April 30 the South Plains Chapter ASSP participated in the Texas Mutual’s, WorkSafe Texas Summit in Lubbock. One of the highlights of the event was the Panel Discussion with:
- Javier Rodriguez, Safety Director with Mesquite Oil Tools;
- Bill Brown, Safety Director with Falcon Energy Services; and
- Scott Ramsey, Safety Coordinator with Armstrong Mechanical.
Pat Niekamp, Founder of the Texas CEO Magazine was the moderator for the panel.
The panel provided their insight on how they promote a positive safety culture. Safety cultures are the values, norms and everyday behaviors of an organization that can either promote or discourage safety.
All of the panelists agreed that top management must be involved in the safety program to have a positive safety culture.