Next week’s iSHN Virtual Safety Expo, a free online EHS convention, will be chock full of exhibits, presentations from industry experts and networking opportunities. Here are a few tips to help you maximize your experience:

One of the biggest EHS events of the year takes place next Tuesday, Nov. 12, but none of the attendees have made airline reservations or booked hotels. That’s because the 2013 iSHN Virtual Safety Expo will bring together industry experts, thought leaders and PPE innovations in a day-long (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) event that you can enjoy from the convenience of your computer.

With a five percent increase in attendance, this year’s National Safety Council NSC Congress & Expo had the highest attendance yet.

Some 1,600 exhibitors from 55 nations have booked more space than ever before in the history of A+A, International Trade Fair with Congress for Safety, Security and Health at Work.

1. Paul O’Neill would be voted in as OSHA chief by safety pros in a heartbeat. Or they would like to clone him for every boardroom meeting on safety. He is an inspiration to professionals, with his straight talking passion for safety.

For the record, there were 204 exhibitors from foreign countries; 100 of them from China. Most of the rest were from Canada, with a smattering of vendors from India, Malaysia, Pakistan, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Brazil, Portugal, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Bahrain and Argentina.

The National Safety Council honored former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Alcoa CEO Paul O’Neill with the Council’s President’s Award at its annual Congress & Expo – the world’s largest annual gathering of safety and health professionals.

The National Safety Council hosted its National Awards Celebration in Chicago at its annual Congress & Expo. This event honors the safety accomplishments of NSC members.

“We were up in a customer focus group in Milwaukee not long ago. We had companies there from Fortune 100 to mom and pops,” said the VP of safety for a major distributor. “I’d say seven out of ten had had recent brushes with OSHA. So OSHA is still a big driver of sales, no doubt about it.”