Dr.
Earl Heath
Class of 1991
Background:
Dr. Earl D. Heath was born on December 28, 1921, in Glassport,
Pennsylvania, U.S.A. He was the son of the late Robert H.
and Sarah A. Heath. Dr. Heath received his B.S. degree in
Industrial Education from what is now California University
of Pennsylvania in 1948, a Master of Arts degree in Industrial
Education from the University of Maryland in 1951, and a Ph.D.
degree in Safety Pro-gram Organization and Administration
from New York University in 1957. He was a Certi-fied Safety
Professional and a Registered Professional Engineer. During
World War II he served with the United States Army in Europe.
Professional
Experience:
Dr. Heath worked as a laborer in the construction and steel
industries; taught high school; directed a county-wide transportation
system; worked as a research associate and assistant professor
at New York University's Center for Safety Education; served
as Chief of Safety Training for the Department of the Army;
attended the Industrial College of the Armed Forces; was named
Deputy Director of Safety for Headquarters, U. S. Army, Europe
and Seventh U. S. Army; served as chief of the Research Manpower
Division of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration;
and served as director of the Office of Training and Education
of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. After
his retirement from the federal service in 1983, Dr. Heath
was a private con-sultant and taught at Johns Hopkins University.
Career
Highlights:
Dr. Heath served eight years with the Department of the Army
as chief of the Training Branch in the Safety Division. In
this capacity, he developed, recommended, and implemented
safety training programs to combat accidental losses among
military, civilian, and foreign national personnel. He also
managed the Army Safety Man-agement Career Program which covered
more than 700 full-time civilian safety engineers and other
specialists. This program, the first of its type in the federal
government, enabled the Army to recruit and retain high quality
personnel and is credited with having con-tributed significantly
to the Army's superior safety record. With the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration, Dr. Heath planned the largest
safety training effort of its type ever carried out in this
country, without which the Occupational Safety and Health
Act of 1970 could not have been implemented. This required
the training and placing in the field of more than 2,000 federal
and state com-pliance officers and inspectors. He also energized
virtually every segment of this nation's educational and training
infrastructure to provide information and instruction on job
safety and health to the some 5 million employers and more
than 75 million workers covered by the Occupational Safety
and Health Act of 1970.
