For safety's sake

Paul Amyotte is presented with an Environmental Health and Safety Award by Dalhousie President Tom Traves and Board of Governors Chairman Jim Spatz. (Danny Abriel Photo)

Paul Amyotte and Peter Wallace are the winners of this year’s annual Environmental Health and Safety Awards. They were presented the awards at Dalhousie’s Board of Governors’ meeting last week.

Presented by the Dalhousie Environmental Health and Safety Committee, the awards recognize individuals for their contributions to improved safety or health at Dalhousie.

Professor of Process Engineering and Applied Science in the Faculty of Engineering, Dr. Paul Amyotte teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on industrial safety, prevention and risk assessment. He conducts research on offshore safety, inherent safety, process safety, and dust explosion prevention. Knowledge of these health and safety issues is critical to professional practice. 

Dr. Amyotte was recently invited to Texas A&M University, where he presented a lecture titled "Making Safety Second Nature." He is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, chair of the NSERC Strategic Projects Selection Panel for Safety and Security and a member of the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board with a particular interest in the teaching of risk management.

Peter Wallace is presented with an Environmental Health and Safety Award by Dalhousie President Tom Traves and Board of Governors Chairman Jim Spatz. (Danny Abriel Photo)

Peter Wallace, a senior instructor in the Department of Earth Sciences, has authored and formalized the special precautions required for the health and safety of many faculty and students participating in field work in his department. Mr. Wallace’s protocols provide for risk assessment and documentation, preparation and training for such risks. This has imparted field safety awareness and best practice throughout the teaching staff. And, his efforts have proven so valuable that other departments now use his safety manual in establishing their field work safety precautions.

He also has produced a comprehensive field guide and ensures that safety equipment is not only available, but up to date and maintained.