The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) has named Steven Thygerson its 2025 Safety Professional of the Year. The environmental and occupational health professor at Brigham Young University has been instrumental in advancing workplace safety and health through education, research, advocacy, and global outreach.

Thygerson, Ph.D., MSPH, CIH, inspires the next generation of safety and health professionals by mentoring students and teaching courses that bridge academic knowledge and real-world application. His leadership in study abroad programs has created hands-on experiences in workplace safety around the world. Since 2010, Thygerson has been the faculty advisor for the flourishing ASSP Student Section at Brigham Young.

e National Safety Council recently awarded more than $140,000 in grants to seven organizations to help employers mitigate the risks of heat stress on the job.

The nonprofit cites Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing that since 2011, almost 500 people have died from heat-related incidents at work.

“These fatalities are preventable through planning, training and tools that provide early warning signs of heat stress,” the council says.

Multiple outlets have reported that some NIOSH workers who previously received reduction-in-force (RIF) notices were recently informed that their positions are being reinstated. The recissions of RIF notices affect 328 NIOSH employees, according to NPR. Earlier, CBS News reported that all workers are being reinstated in the NIOSH respiratory health division, division of safety research, division of compensation and analysis support, and the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory.

The news of the reinstatements roughly coincided with testimony to Congress from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, about layoffs undertaken at the department he oversees. The layoffs implemented April 1 affected roughly 10,000 federal employees, including more than ninety percent of the NIOSH workforce. Additional layoffs on May 2 eliminated virtually all remaining NIOSH positions.

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