July 11, 2022 – Santa Fe College’s Building Safety Ambassador program has been recognized by the Campus Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Association (CSHEMA) with the 2022 Innovation Award for Safety Culture. CSHEMA is the preeminent leadership organization representing the Environmental, Health and Safety profession in campus environments.
SF received the award during CSHEMA’s annual conference, held this week in Scottsdale, Arizona, and was the only state college to receive an award from CSHEMA. Other institutions honored by CSHEMA included North Carolina State, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, Texas A&M and the University of Utah.
“We are honored to receive this award,” SF’s Safety and Risk Coordinator, Marian Nesbitt, said. “It is a credit to the leadership of the college for approving this program and to the employees who have given of their time to serve the college community. I am very proud to be a part of this incredible team.”
SF’s Building Safety Ambassador program began as a pilot program in 2019. It was created by Marian Nesbitt, SFPD Chief Ed Book and SFPD Captain Woods and designed to provide additional safety and security measures. The program trains employees in such topics as CPR and Basic Life Support, Stop the Bleed kits, evacuation drills, emergency procedures, fire suppression and extinguisher orientation, and recognizing hazardous conditions. Those who complete the two days of formalized training are deployed at all college properties to assist in the event of an emergency or hazardous situation, as well as proactively providing the assistance needed to keep the students, faculty, staff and visitors to the college safe.
The college recently graduated a third cohort of Building Safety Ambassadors, bringing the total number of Ambassadors to 38. A fourth cohort is planned. Any SF faculty or staff member interested in serving the college community as a Building Safety Ambassador can contact Marian Nesbitt at marian.nesbitt@sfcollege.edu.