The National Safety Council (NSC) presented Gary Catapano, FirstGroup America (FGA) senior vice president of safety, with its 2011 Distinguished Service to Safety Award, the highest NSC honor given to an individual safety professional.
The award recognizes outstanding service to the field of safety and health. Five individuals received the award this year. Gary was selected because of his work in the area of improving transportation on a national basis.
“I am pleased to accept this noble honor from the National Safety Council”, said Gary Catapano. “Safety is at the core of everything we do, and the safety and security of our passengers is a tremendous responsibility that we take very seriously. As an industry leader in transportation, FGA has been a pioneer when it comes to developing, designing, and implementing safety training and technology, and I am proud to be a driving force in this effort.”
Gary has worked for nearly two decades as a transportation safety professional. He currently serves as the senior vice president of safety for First Student, and is focusing on the school bus operations. Gary also chairs the FGA Safety Council, which provides a safety review function for all FGA divisions including First Transit, First Services and Greyhound. He is the current chair of the National Safety Council Transportation Safety Division and a member of its Board of Delegates. Gary is also a member of the National School Transportation Association and chairs the Safety and Security Committee. He holds a commercial driver's license, is a Defensive Driving Instructor and a New York State Certified School Bus Instructor. Gary is also an OSHA Outreach Trainer and has special training in incident analysis and collision investigation.
The Distinguished Service to Safety Award was presented at the Opening Session of NSC's Congress & Expo in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.