With more than 500 exhibitors showing their products and services at the ASSE Professional Development Conference & Exposition, it’s not a bad idea to plan your itinerary in advance, so you won’t miss something you really want to see.

While the educational sessions will be the central focus of most of those who head to Orlando June 8 – 11 for Safety 2014, there are lots of social activities to help round out the convention experience. The American Society of Safety Engineers Foundation’s golf outing will get underway with a Shotgun Start at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 8 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club® Orlando.

Safety professionals who are heading to Orlando for the Safety 2014 conference and exposition June 8-11 can take advantage of a number of certification exam workshops being held in conjunction with the event. CSP, OHST, CHST, STS and Math Review workshops are scheduled from June 5 through June 14, with multiple date and time options available for most workshops, allowing Safety 2014 attendees to schedule them around sessions they want to attend.

OSHA’s effort to reduce the permissible exposure limits for silica began a new phase this week, with an intensive three week period of public hearings that wrap up on Friday, April 4. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels said his agency’s rulemaking is an open process, “and the input we receive will help us ensure that a final rule adequately protects workers, is feasible for employers, and is based on the best available evidence."

American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) President Kathy Seabrook has issued the following response to OHSA’s electronic reporting proposed rule:

With more than 200 speakers presenting sessions at Safety 2014, it can be a little daunting trying to decide which ones you want to add to your schedule. To help you decide, ASSE has invited all of its speakers to create short videos introducing their sessions.

North American Occupational Safety and Health Week, or NAOSH Week, occurs every year during the first full week of May. Occupational Safety and Health Professional Day (OSHP Day) falls on the Wednesday of that week. ASSE urges everyone to get involved in NAOSH Week in an effort to better educate the public about the positive benefits a safe workplace provides not only for workers, but for their families, friends, businesses, their local communities and the global community.