NEWS RELEASE – March 5, 2021
Dr. Emily J. Haas receives the prestigious Rossiter W. Raymond Memorial Award
The Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME) is pleased to announce that Dr. Emily J. Haas has received the Rossiter W. Raymond Memorial Award. Established in 1945, and sponsored by the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME), the award recognizes the best paper published by AIME in a given period where the lead author is a member under 35 years of age.
Dr. Emily J. Haas is recognized for her paper, “Quick fixes to improve workers’ health: Results using engineering assessment technology,” published in Mining Engineering, volume 69(7):105-109 in 2017. She was acknowledged on SME’s virtual awards video during the Society’s March 1-5, 2021 annual conference. This award honors Rossiter W. Raymond who was one of AIME’s founders and served as President and Secretary, and was an Honorary Member. In addition to being a consulting mining engineer, Raymond was a practicing lawyer, sailor, soldier, writer, orator, editor, theologian, teacher, novelist and chess player.
When Emily was asked what her first thought was when she learned she was the recipient of the Rossiter W. Raymond Memorial Award, she replied, “I am honored
to be part of an award that signifies so much history and progression in the mining industry. Just as the work of Rossiter Raymond aimed to improve leadership, honesty, and a positive culture in mining, the efforts outlined in the paper aimed to do the same; we truly hope that the outcomes discussed in this paper are a conduit to support healthier workplaces in the industry.”
Haas has worked at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for eight years and specializes in developing, implementing, and evaluating organizational-level interventions with an emphasis on improving employee engagement in response to new and evolving technologies to mitigate health hazards in the workplace. Dr. Haas has
directed highly-visible, multi-level research projects which led to the adoption of best practices around safety climate and risk management initiatives by high-risk industries including mining, oil and gas, and construction. Adopting these practices as recommended within their health and safety management systems, companies experienced significant reductions in fatalities and recordable injuries. She also co-led several interventions to successfully integrate respirable dust assessment technologies into the mining workplace. These intervention frameworks have been adopted by multiple operations in the industrial minerals industry. Additionally, she designed a pioneering effort around mobile big data collection in mining, helping companies understand how to use their daily data points as leading indicators to prevent incidents in the workplace.
Haas has authored over 75 publications and provided over 90 technical presentations, including workshops and keynotes at international health and safety conferences. Awards received are the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering in 2016; the Arthur S. Flemming Award in the Social Science, Clinical Trials, and Translational Research in 2018; and, in addition to being a Samuel Hyman Finalist in the Safety and Law Enforcement category, she received the Gears of Government Presidential Award for her research in organizational safety culture in 2019.
Haas received her Ph.D. in Health Communication from Purdue University in 2012 and her M.A. in Health Communication from the University of Dayton in 2008.
The Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME) brings together the mining and mineral industry’s brightest and most dedicated professionals. Over 13,000 global members advance their careers with world-class technical resources, educational programs, networking opportunities and professional development tools from SME. Our members are focused on sharing best practices for safety, environmental stewardship and moving mining forward.
SME. Inspiring mining professionals worldwide.
For more information on SME, contact Jackie Dorr, Communications Manager, dorr@smenet.org.
For further details, see www.smenet.org