NORFOLK, Va. -- This year’s 33rd annual Joint Safety and Environmental Professional Development Symposium (PDS) continued its record of providing a critically important free online event. The event focused on a variety of high-interest topics relevant to safety, occupational and environmental health.

The PDS, sponsored by the Naval Safety and Environmental Training Center (NAVSAFENVTRACEN), wrapped up April 25. A record high 3,095 people, representing five U.S. armed services, multiple federal and international agencies and 25 countries, registered for more than 120 sessions. PDS sessions qualify for continuing education credits (CEU) and altogether, attendees received over 18,000 hours of CEUs during the week-long event.

“The high-caliber speakers and presentations are indicative of the symposium’s goal of serving as the premier safety, occupational health and environmental learning event for the DoD,” said Cmdr. Nicholas Schaal, commanding officer, NAVSAFENVTRACEN.  “The symposium provides the opportunity for participants to challenge assumptions, hear the latest in trends and policy and to share innovative ideas.”

Symposium presenters represented backgrounds in safety, environmental and occupational health, public health, industrial hygiene, occupational medicine and audiology.

Leveraging the heightened interest in blast overpressure (BOP) and its impacts, the symposium featured several key sessions with in-depth discussions on the issues and ways of mitigating the risks to servicemembers. For example, determining BOP levels provides leadership an understanding of environments when firing a weapon could induce detrimental health effects, impact performance in the field and ultimately affect the warfighter.

Other new sessions this year focused on human factors data collection and interpretation when reporting mishaps in the Navy’s Risk Management Information mishap reporting system; employing computer vision for fish detection and counting from sonar images and assessing the effects of underwater sound on protected marine species.

Additional presentations further discussed safety initiatives for the Navy and Marine Corps, Air Force, U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center and the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.

“We keep having the same problems, just with different people, when it comes to effectively managing risk and preventing easily avoidable mishaps,” said Rear Adm. Dan “Dino” Martin, commander, Naval Safety Command. “This symposium was a great opportunity for us to learn about emerging issues, the latest policy updates and to continue collaborating to ensure readiness remains at the forefront.”

 Most session recordings will be available to participants,  to ensure maximum awareness of the symposium’s agenda. For those registrants who may have missed a session or want to rewatch, recorded sessions will be available for viewing at https://events-na2.adobeconnect.com/content/connect/c1/889710285/en/events/event/shared/3768808444/event_landing.html?sco-id=3768808397. Registrants can click on the interactive schedule, select a topic and press play to start the recording. Viewers can also receive a certificate with CEU credit for watching each recording. Recordings will be available approximately within four weeks of the PDS’s conclusion.

For those interested in participating or presenting during next year’s PDS April 20-24 2026, e-mail the symposium’s planning committee at NAVSAFENVTRACEN_JOINT_PDS@navy.mil.