The Naval Safety and Environmental Training Center (NAVSAFENVTRACEN) will host the 29th Annual Joint Safety and Environmental Professional Development Symposium (PDS) April 19-23. Conference planners are looking for claimant meeting sponsors and breakout session presenters.

The free virtual symposium offers the Department of Defense uniformed and civilian professionals opportunities to share innovative ideas, new trends and information in the fields of safety, occupational health and environmental protection. Offered online since 2013, the symposium has continued to grow. Last year’s event drew a record-breaking 3,500 participants worldwide with over 100 educational sessions.

“With the ongoing pandemic, it is important for us to be able to provide the PDS online again this year,” said Cmdr. Cary Isaacson, NAVSAFENVTRACEN commanding officer. “As a joint PDS, it continues to be important for personnel to be able to attend for professional development and earn continuing education both as presenters and attendees.”

Consideration is given to presentations from all government, industry and academic agencies. Speakers can present anywhere worldwide using an internet-connected device and telephone. Presentations may cover broad topics such as health and safety for disaster response and recovery, general safety, operational safety, occupational safety and health, industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, radiation and laser safety, environmental protection, and other trending topics.

“Last year, we were able to provide over 19,000 continuing education certificates tripling the number from the previous year of 5,500. There were over 3,500 registrants, which doubled the number from last year,” Isaacson said. “It was truly a joint PDS with 42% of personnel attending from the Navy, 3% from the Marine Corps, 1% from the Coast Guard, 23% from the Army and 15% from the Air Force. The remaining 16% were from other DOD organizations, industry presenters and educational institutions.”

For those thinking about participating this year, the symposium is an opportunity to learn about the latest trends, technology, best practices and interact with subject matter experts of various specialties. The symposium counts toward continuing education credits from an ever-growing variety of safety occupational health and environmental topics.

Those interested in presenting during 2021 PDS can email the PDS Planning Committee, NAVSAFENVTRACEN_JOINT_PDS@navy.mil.
Presentation Proposal: http://jointpds.adobeconnect.com/pds2021presenters/event/registration.html
Claimant Meeting Proposal: http://jointpds.adobeconnect.com/pds2021presenters/event/speaker_info.html