As part of the National Safety Council Scholarship program, the Certificate Assistance Program helps support individuals on a safety career path obtain their NSC Advanced Safety Certificate® (ASC). Through the ASC program, NSC teaches best practices to those who are transitioning into a safety career or are currently in safety roles within their organization and need additional professional development to create a more proactive process for safety and health.
This year, NSC awarded five safety heroes with a scholarship to complete the ASC program. Congratulations to all!
Eric Hupp
Eric is the safety manager at Iowa 80 Group. Eric oversees the safety initiatives of the organization, which includes 38 profit centers operating throughout North America.
His passion for safety began while working as a paramedic, often responding to the aftermath of safety incidents. Hupp holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa and a Masters of Public Administration degree from Drake University. He continues to volunteer with his local fire department and is active in the Boy Scouts of America as the founding scoutmaster of one of the first female Scouts BSA troops in the nation. He is attempting to restore a 1930 Hupmobile sedan in his garage.
Lakshmi Attigala, Ph.D.
Lakshmi graduated from Iowa State University with a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology. She works as a laboratory safety specialist at the Department of Environmental Health and Safety at ISU. Before joining EH&S, Lakshmi was a research scientist/laboratory manager at ISU's agronomy department, where she worked with faculty, staff and students on various corn-related projects. As a lab manager, she was the first person to contact for all lab safety-related tasks, which involved chemical storage, chemical waste removal, ensuring lab personnel was up to date with their lab safety training, shipping all hazardous materials and updating all chemical and biological inventories. In her laboratory safety specialist role, she conducts annual laboratory safety surveys and training across ISU research labs, maintains the laboratory safety database, assists researchers with tax-free ethanol applications and disposes of laboratory equipment.
Jason Wallace
Jason said safety was not on the top of his mind early in life, yet helping others was something he very much enjoyed. After graduating high school, Jason entered college with the intent of obtaining a degree in criminal justice. During that process, his family moved into a rural area and he became a volunteer firefighter, where he became highly intrigued by safety and just how important it was. He realized that without appropriate safety measures in place the consequences could be catastrophic. That drove him to make safety a cornerstone of his professional and personal life. In understanding the world of safety more, he was able to transition from simply being an active safety committee member to managing an industrial safety program and being involved in community safety initiatives.
“It is my belief that safety should always be our top priority and it is my obligation to help share my knowledge with others to make not only my organization, but my community a safer place to be,” Jason said.
In his time with GloryBee he has been able to further his safety knowledge by joining NSC and the local ASSP chapter. Jason has attended three NSC Safety Congress & Expo events, and is vice president of the Cascade Chapter of ASSP.
Osama Janjua, CSP
Osama is a Certified Safety Professional with over five years of experience in the construction industry. He began his career in Pakistan, and he relocated to the U.S., where he is employed by Emilcott Associates, a Triumvirate Environmental company, as a senior EHS consultant. His job duties include completing routine health and safety audits and hazard assessments for construction companies in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.
Additional Scholarship Recipient: Samonia Malloy
NSC congratulates these individuals for their commitment to saving lives and preventing injuries. For those interested in applying for a 2023 scholarship award, applications will open in April.
