Chapter History

The Michiana Chapter ASSP was officially chartered on June 20, 1982, spun off from the former Tri-State Chapter. Our first President was John Polhemus, Safety & Health Manager from Miles Laboratories in Elkhart, which of course eventually evolved into ownership by Bayer HealthCare. John was nominated by the Chapter in 1988 and won the ASSE National Safety Professional of the Year Award (SPY) award. Von Cork, Safety Manager for Uniroyal in Mishawaka was another of the founding members and long time mentor of the present leadership. Presently our national roster shows 47 members officially, but out monthly meeting sees normally 10 -15 members. We meet for our breakfast meeting on the second Tuesday of each month from September thru May. The May meeting has traditionally been a plant tour and luncheon for many years. You can find out about our next meeting by checking the News on the Home page and by reading our Chapter Newsletter. As far as safety in the workplace is concerned the Michiana Chapter is the only thing going in St. Joseph County, Indiana. We are however closely related to the OSHA Council of the Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce, our neighboring county to the east. Many of our members are also members of the Elkhart OSHA Council, recipient of the Indiana OSHA Govenor’s Workplace Safety Award in 2003.