Pacific Maritime Association

PACIFIC MARITIME ASSOCIATION 23 George W. Pasha, IV, President and CEO of Pasha Hawaii, gives the keynote speech at the Southern California PMA Safety Awards banquet. NMSA President Dave Morgan (left) and SSA's Rob Dieda (right). 75th Anniversary of Annual Safety Awards 2024 marked the 75th anniversary of the Coast and Area PMA Safety Awards, which recognize the safety performance of PMA Employers, ILWU Locals, and individual longshore workers. George W. Pasha, IV, President and CEO of Pasha Hawaii, gave the keynote address at the Southern California awards banquet, which was attended by over 400 PMA staff, member employees, and ILWU representatives. Coastwide, over 900 guests attended awards events to recognize the importance of good safety practices and commit to further improving safety at West Coast ports. The Southern California banquet has consistently been the most widely attended safety event in the West Coast marine cargo handling industry since its inception in 1949. MACOSH Representative David Turner, Vice President at Yusen Terminals, concluded his membership on OSHA's Maritime Advisory Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (MACOSH) after serving four two-year terms. Turner had been selected by the U.S. Secretary of Labor to represent West Coast marine terminal operations and to provide advice to OSHA on formulating maritime industry standards and administering the OSH Act related to the maritime cargo handling industry. We thank him for his service. Safety Leader William Alverson Retires William (Bill) Alverson, PMA Vice President of Accident Prevention and Training Strategy, retired after 18 years of service. Alverson joined PMA in 2006 and held various roles, including Vice President of Contract Implementation and Interim Area Manager for Northern California. His impact on improving waterfront safety will be distinctly remembered. Alverson was a member of the Employer Coast Safety Committee and participated in three safety contract negotiations, serving in 2014 as Employer Chairman. He also led the safety response on the West Coast to a 2011 spate of explosions in refrigerated containers from Vietnam. PMA is deeply appreciative to Alverson for his significant contributions and wishes him a well-deserved retirement. NMSA Person of the Year The National Maritime Safety Association (NMSA) Board of Directors selected Robert Dieda of PMA member company SSA Marine as 2024 Person of the Year, honoring him at NMSA's annual meeting for his long career of improving safety on the docks. As safety director for SSA Marine in the Pacific Northwest, Dieda served on PMA's Joint Coast Safety Committee for three contract negotiations, helping update the Pacific Coast Marine Safety Code, which guides safety standards on the docks. He also served as NMSA President and on the NMSA Technical Committee, the working arm of marine terminal operations safety for NMSA. "Over the course of his career, Dieda has earned the respect of both employers and the union for his no nonsense approach to safety in operations and he has been an influential mentor and leader at SSA Marine," NMSA said in its presentation to Dieda. 2 0 2 4 | A Y E A R I N R E V I E W

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