Each year, the agency presents the Designated Agency Safety and Health Official Safety Awards (DASHO Awards) for outstanding service in workplace safety. The awards are part of a week-long series of events focused on the topic. Three of this year’s eleven DASHO Awards winners recognized the accomplishments of Office of Finance and Management (AFN) colleagues at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (MMAC).
Duane Roe, an occupational and safety health specialist in the Facility Services Division (AMP), won a DASHO Safety Employee Award for ensuring good air quality inside the Aeronautical Center’s buildings. A recent Office of Facility Management customer survey ranked that issue as a top concern of MMAC staff, so Roe and the safety staff conducted nearly three times as many air quality checks as planned. They also responded to the findings that arose during the studies.
In the virtual DASHO Awards ceremony, DASHO Support Group Manager Wayne Vogelsburg said that Roe also provides air-quality education during the quarterly Safety Stand Down exercises, and writes articles about the topic in the MMAC newsletter. He describes Roe as "the consummate occupational and safety health professional."
Vogelsburg said, "Employees at the MMAC have healthier places to work, thanks to Duane’s commitment to occupational safety and health."
Another DASHO Award went to a team that responded to a lithium battery fire at a relocatable communications tower on the grounds of the Aeronautical Center. An incident occurred on November 7, 2023, involving a lithium battery in the trailer holding the tower. Travis Hildebrand from the Operations and Maintenance Division and Jason Palmeter from the Facilities Services Division were among the emergency responders.
According to Vogelsburg, Hildebrand quickly took control of the situation from a security perspective. Working as the MMAC’s occupational safety and health lead, Palmeter briefed FAA Logistics Center leadership about the fire and immediately planned the next steps.
Other first responders included Shaun Elliott, Robert Griffin, JC Ogle, Jason Peace, and Kevin Rochat.
"The team documented the incident, conducted a root-cause analysis, and determined a corrective action plan," Vogelsburg explained, pointing out why they earned the DASHO Award. "The actions of this team exemplified the three keys of workplace safety — communication, accountability and follow-up."
The MMAC Occupational Safety and Health Team also won a DASHO Award for consistently exceeding expectations to make the Aeronautical Center a safer place to work. In addition to Palmeter and Roe, members of the AFN team were Keith Eddins of the FAA Academy, Tori Hudson, and Markus Werner of the Facility Services Division.
Other recognized team members were Gregory Day from Aviation Safety, who works at the MMAC’s Civil Aerospace Medical Institute; Shaun Elliott of Tech Ops at the Logistics Center; and Shawn Scalf from the ATO Flight Program Operations group.
The DASHO Awards recognized MMAC’s Occupational Safety and Health Team for the following efforts to improve workplace safety:
Three ATO employees at the Aeronautical Center also won individual DASHO Awards. Two of them work in the Logistics Center and were part of the team that responded to the lithium-battery fire.
Griffin won a DASHO Safety Champion Award for responding to that incident. Elliott earned a DASHO Safety Employee Award for advancing a culture of workplace safety at the Logistics Center. Vogelsburg said Elliott’s colleagues value occupational safety and health, thanks to his leadership as the designated environmental protection specialist.
John Korff of ATO Safety and Technical Training also received a DASHO Safety Employee Award. His collateral duties include volunteering as the environmental, occupational safety, and health representative at the Aeronautical Center and serving on its related working groups.
Congratulations to all the MMAC’s DASHO Award winners!
