VPPPA praises Richard McConnell
Editors note: The following letter was sent to Ronald J. Gafford, Austin Industries chairman, president and CEO; and cc'd to Barry Babyak, Austin Industrial president, from Mike Maddox of the Voluntary Protection Program Participants' Association (VPPPA) regarding Richard McConnell's involvement with the organization.
As a member of the national Voluntary Protection Program Participants' Association (VPPPA) board of directors for 11 years, which includes five years as chairman of the board, I have been fortunate to be associated with one of your excellent employees, Richard McConnell, senior project manager at your LyondellBasell refinery site.
Richard has served on the national VPPPA board of directors for five years and also on the Region VI VPPPA (Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico) board for six years. On the national board of directors, Richard fills the very vital role of director from a contractor/construction company. In this capacity, he also is chairman of the contractor/construction committee, which is comprised of representatives from contractor VPP sites throughout the U.S. Under Richard's leadership, this committee has thrived and the number of contractor VPP sites has greatly increased in the last five years.
Richard's contributions go far beyond his contractor/construction committee responsibilities, as he is a unique individual who commands the respect of everyone he comes in contact with, both within VPPPA and OSHA, from the local level to Washington, D.C. Richard's respect is so great that when he speaks on any issue, everyone in VPP and all levels of OSHA listen.
In these trying economic times, Austin Industries is fortunate to have an employee such as Richard McConnell representing the entire company on a national level through his VPP work. The cost of his serving on the board is minimal, compared to the benefits Austin Industries reaps from his service. Austin Industries' support of VPP and Richard's service on the national and regional boards is greatly appreciated by everyone involved with this great program.