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Georgia Chapter Donates to Victims Fund at Imperial Sugar

Bob Wilson & Dwayne Zeigler at the Imperial Sugar Refinery

On February 7, 2008, a catastrophic explosion took place at the Imperial Sugar Company refinery in Savannah, Georgia. The root cause of the blast is still under investigation and the ignition source that came in contact with combustible sugar dust is unknown at this time. The explosion, ensuing fire and building destruction caused many severe injuries and eight fatalities. The more severely injured were taken to a burn center in Augusta, where over the next days and weeks, more succumbed to their injuries. At the time of this writing, thirteen fatalities have resulted from the disaster.

The Georgia Chapter accepted donations at its February meeting and the generosity of members and guests resulted in $1,283.00 being raised to contribute to the families of the victims. Bob Wilson, past president of the Georgia Chapter of ASSE and Director of the Georgia Chapter, National Safety Council presented a check for the donated amount on behalf of the Chapter to Mr. Dwayne Zeigler, Senior Manager Construction Engineering, at the Imperial Sugar Company refinery.

President's Message - January 2008

Our activity year is at its halfway mark!! So far we actively supported the Georgia DOL Safety, Health and Environmental Conference (held in Savannah), continued our support for the Youth Alliance and our Construction Section, and provided some interesting speakers/topics at our general membership and construction section meetings. (I’m particularly pleased with the quarterly “lunch and learn” sessions that have been offered by our Construction section.)

And, if you haven’t already noticed, our “new and improved” website and newsletter are top of the line!

Now the “heavy lifting” begins. Our Chapter has committed to support/sponsor a variety of activities relative to our youth. In January, I will assist the Youth Alliance in providing safety training methods to vocational teachers. In the spring, we will participate again in the “Introduce a Girl to Engineering” conference held at Georgia Tech. In April, members from our construction section will support “Career Days” for youth pursuing training to enter the construction trades. In May, our volunteers will assist in the International Science and Engineering Fair.

I hope you’ll get involved and support our efforts to promote our profession and help our youth “be safe” during the remainder of our activity year.

Ray Hudson
770-301-2242
hudsonray@bellsouth.net