BCSP welcomes new board officers, members

The Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) has chosen 2023 leadership roles to serve BCSP certificants in the upcoming year:

Board President: Bruce K. Lyon, CSP, SMS, CHMM, ARM, PE
Vice President: Ashok Garlapati, CSP, FASSP, CFIOSH, QEP
Treasurer: Jay R. Harf, PhD, CSP
Past President: Leslie D. Stockel, MS, CSP, SMS
Public Member: Mary Hjorth, SPHR, SHRM-SCP

BCSP also welcomes new Public Board Member Mike Sutton, CFRE, CFRM.

About our 2023 President: Bruce K. Lyon, CSP, SMS, CHMM, ARM, PE is the Vice President and Director of Risk Management Services with Hays Companies. Lyon holds a bachelor's in Industrial Safety and a master's degree in Occupational Safety Management/Fire Science from the University of Central Missouri (UCM).

Lyon has over 35 years of experience managing and directing risk services for a wide range of national and global organizations. He is the Advisory Board Chair for UCM’s Safety Sciences Program, Vice Chair of US TAG 262 for ISO 31000, and a member of the ANSI Z590.3 Prevention Through Design review committee. He is the co-author of “Risk Assessment: A Practical Guide to Assessing Operational Risk” and lead author of “Risk Management Tools for Safety Professionals.” Lyon received the CSP Award of Excellence from BCSP in 2018.

About our 2023 Vice President: Ashok Garlapati, CSP, FASSP, CFIOSH, QEP is the Lead Auditor of the ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 standards and approved as an

IOSH & Global OSHA authorized trainer. He has over 30 years of experience in SH&E consultancy and SH&E management in the oil and gas industries.

Garlapati is a professional member of American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) and played an important role in the establishment of several ASSP chapters around the world. He volunteers as a BCSP Ambassador and has mentored several SH&E professionals in attaining their certifications.

Garlapati has previously been honored by ASSP with the Charles V. Culbertson Award, Region VI Safety Professional of the Year Award, Edgar Monsanto Queeny Safety Professional of the Year Award. He was named an ASSP Fellow for his contributions to the SH&E profession.

About our 2023 Treasurer: Jay R. Harf, PhD, CSP, CPEA, CSHM is the Vice President of Global Environmental, Health, Safety, and Sustainability (EHS&S) for Xylem Inc. headquartered in Washington, DC. Harf has 27 years of EHS&S experience with several Fortune 500 organizations, including Marsh & McLennan, Johnson Controls, and L’Oréal. He is a member of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP).

Harf holds a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Industrial Safety from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and holds a Doctorate in Corporate Leadership from Alvernia University in Reading, PA.

About our 2023 Past President: Leslie Stockel, CSP, SMS is an Assistant Professor of Professional Practice at Oklahoma State University (OSU) in Fire Protection & Safety Engineering Technology, as well as the Instructional Director for the OSU OSHA Education Center.

Stockel has 30 years of experience in the safety, health, and environmental (SH&E) profession, working in education and both public and private sector organizations. She has been a Professional Member of ASSP since 1993, holding numerous chapter and region leadership positions. In 2016, she was named Safety Professional of the Year for the Oklahoma City Chapter, and then Region III Safety Professional of the Year in 2017.

She also serves as the ASSP-OSU student section faculty advisor. Stockel earned a Master of Science in Engineering Technology Management and a Bachelor of Science in Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology from Oklahoma State University. She is currently enrolled as a PhD student at Texas Tech University.

About our 2023 Public Member: Mary Hjorth, SPHR, SHRM-SCP Mary Hjorth is an experienced executive who excels at designing and executing HR strategies by aligning “all things People” within a company’s vision. Her expertise is in leading companywide strategies, processes, and teams. Mary earned her Senior HR designations through the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM).

As an active volunteer, Mary is a mentor to young women at Texas A&M University and, through the Seedling Foundation mentors children who have an incarcerated parent. Her volunteer work also includes Board memberships. Currently she is on the board for Texas A&M University’s Aggie Women’s Network, Secretary for the Texas Diversity Council, Central Texas Chapter, and is the Public Director for the Board for Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP).

BCSP thanks Joaquin M. Diaz, MM, CSP, OHST, CHST, CIH, QEP, and V. Raymond Ferrara, CFP, who concluded their time on the Board in 2022.

The 2023 BCSP Board of Directors includes: