Election ballots will be sent from ASSP society March 10th. Elections will run March 10-24th.

Thank you for taking the time to participate.

Election Non-Voting Positions: These positions are not voted on.

President: Nichole Guilfoy

Nichole Guilfoy is an experienced Total Worker Health practitioner and consultant, Nichole has over 20 years of expertise in human resources, safety, well-being, organizational development, and communication.  She provides evidence-based education, coaching, and strategic support to organizations across the Pacific Northwest. Nichole has a Bachelor of Science degree from Portland State University where she focused her studies on public health and Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

President-Elect: Kyle DeHart

Kyle DeHart is an Industrial Hygienist with SAIF Corporation and has been working in the fields of occupational health and safety and environmental management since 2014. In the past, Kyle has served as Chapter Advisory Group Member, Co-Chair/Chair of the Membership Committee, and is your current Chapter year’s Vice President . Along with his service to ASSP, Kyle has been active in recent years with the GOSH Program Planning Committee, as well as the Northwest Occupational Health Conference Planning Committee. Kyle holds a Master of Science in Industrial Hygiene from Montana Tech and is a Certified Industrial Hygienist, OSHA 500 Authorized Outreach Trainer, and BCSP Certified Safety Professional. In his free time, Kyle enjoys cycling, rock climbing, playing guitar, listening to his extensive collection of vinyl records, and spending quality time with his wife and friends. Having been a Columbia Willamette Chapter Member since 2018 he is excited to continue serving the Chapter and its community of members.

Treasurer: Peche Barteaux

Peche Barteaux is a third-year student at Columbia Southern University working towards a Bachelors in Occupational Health and Safety. With eight years of experience at Oregon’s largest school district, Peche has been an active member of the American Society of Safety Professionals Columbia-Willamette Chapter since 2017. She has served as a student liaison to Oregon State University, contributed to the WISE Committee for three years, and participated as Sunshine Committee Chair for the last two years. Currently, she holds the position of Treasurer-Elect and has volunteered for SOLVE’s Earth Day event for the past three years. Peche is passionate about helping people and fostering a culture of safety and well-being. 

Election Voting Positions: These positions require a vote.

Vice President: Matt Harper

Matt Harper is a board-Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) and Certified Safety Professional (CSP). He is currently a Principal Consultant with BSI in Hillsboro, Oregon. His responsibilities include assisting clients throughout the Pacific Northwest with various industrial hygiene, occupational safety, and health related needs. Matt holds a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Science with a Minor in Environmental Health and Safety from Oregon State University.

Treasurer-Elect: Deb Bridges

Deb Bridges, ASP, CIT, is an Occupational Safety and Health Consultant for Safety Northwest, where she has worked for almost 7 years.  Prior to joining the SNW team, she worked for 17 years in the contract restaurant field as a unit director, as well as conducting safety training and compliance for new and existing accounts both locally and regionally.  Deb grew up in Oregon, then studied at the University of California Davis, where she received a BA in History and has a Certificate in Project Management from Oregon State University.  When she is not being a safety nerd, Deb enjoys scuba diving, including working as a volunteer diver at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, competitive racewalking, as well as hiking and camping. 

 Since joining Safety Northwest 7 years ago I’ve sought out opportunities to increase my knowledge and to meet other safety professionals, and have found ASSP, both at the national and local level, to be a significant factor in my ability to learn, to access training, and to grow professionally.  Now, I am interested in giving back, doing my part to support the CWC, and am excited about the potential of serving as the treasurer-elect, then the treasurer.  Other volunteer roles include serving on the board of directors for my local farmer’s market, serving as the vice-chair of our neighborhood association, and the captain of my Portland to Coast team where I manage all the team finances.   Thank you for the opportunity!

Secretary: Caity Benston

Caity is gearing up for her third year as an ASSP member and fourth year in the safety industry, currently acting as Partner Marketing Manager for safety software and consulting company, KPA. She lives in Milwaukie, OR with her husband Brian, her daughter Evelyn, their cat Cookie, and their dog Princess Pants. Caity also serves as the President for the Toastmasters Club: The Clackamas Stepping Stones. When she isn’t busy with work or parenting (ha!), she enjoys reading, horror movies, cooking, hiking, and travel. .

Advisory Group: (Two Positions Available)

Delta Blurton

Delta Blurton is currently residing in Portland, Oregon, and serve as the Acting Global Safety/IH Manager in Technical Services at Intel. With five years of active membership in the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), I am now in my third year as an Advisory Group Member-at-Large for the National ASSP. Additionally, I hold the roles of Webmaster for the Columbia Willamette Chapter and co-chair of the Women in Safety Excellence (WISE) initiative.

In my current position, I am responsible for overseeing multiple global Safety/IH internal standards within our organization. One of my most notable achievements at work includes piloting an annual lab safety self-assessment program, which saw participation from over 2,000 labs globally and achieved a 98% completion rate in 2024.

On a personal note, I have been happily married for 24 years and am proud of my two children who are excelling at Oregon State University.

Amme Standring

Amme Standring is originally from Grants Pass, Oregon until moving to Corvallis to attend Oregon State University, she is the Safety Director for Charter Mechanical. She has worked in safety 24 years now for the mechanical trades and has had the pleasure to work on projects ranging from large semiconductor projects and commercial projects such as the Portland Airport, downtown buildings, school buildings to NW natural projects at the Oregon Coast. These years have given her the opportunity to run these projects by being the on-site safety manager daily to running a project team of 12 to cover our workforce and projects with proactive safety support. Her most impressive accomplishments are “The relationships I have built with the project teams, workers and construction community. I feel that anyone that has worked with me, understands that I am here to help support a safe and healthy construction environment for all workers.”

Delegate at Large: (Two Positions Available)

Elena Estrada

Elena Estrada is a Safety and Risk Analyst for Clackamas County Water Environment Services. Elena previously worked with the City of Portland. She has enjoyed her time serving as Treasurer-Elect and Treasurer with CWC. She is now looking forward to this opportunity to continue serving on the Executive Board..

Jackie Boyd

Jackie Boyd grew up in the small mountain town of Mt. Baldy in Southern California, where her love of the outdoors began. After graduating from the University of Nevada, Reno, she moved to Portland, Oregon in 2019 to attend graduate school at Oregon Health & Science University – Portland State University School of Public Health. Since earning her Master of Public Health in Environmental Systems and Human Health, Jackie has been working as a Project Manager at the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, managing the Oregon Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (OR-FACE) Program and the Work-life Check-ins Project. Similar to the Delegate at Large position, as a Project Manager, Jackie is an effective communicator, a problem solver, goal-oriented, and adept at building and fostering relationships. One of her proudest accomplishments is receiving the ASSP Foundation Grant and Scholarship, which has helped fund courses for her ongoing Occupational Hygiene Awareness Certificate from the Pacific Northwest OSHA Education Center.

Deb Bridges, Health & Safety Consultant, ASSP CWC Community Service Chair

Can you share what initially drew you to Safety & Health and what continues to motivate you in your work? Additionally, is there a particular project or achievement in your professional career that you’re especially proud of?

I was offered a job at Safety Northwest shortly after I left my job as the food service director at Reed College, where I’d spent the previous 17 years.  I had always been intrigued by the Safety & Health field, distinctly remembering my first meeting with an EH&S director and thought, wait, you can do that for a living?!  So when the owner, Joe Mullens, offered me an opportunity, I couldn’t wait to get started!  Joe absolutely loved what he was doing and I was certainly looking for place that allowed me to feel like my work was making a difference in people’s lives.

As a consultant, I don’t always have a direct, hands on ability to make change at an organization, so I assist in moving them in the right direction – kind of like a dog herding sheep.  I work around the edges, coaxing the organization in the direction they need to go, sometimes applying pressure and sometimes waiting for them to see the results of our work.  I’ve had a number of successes, both in construction and general industry – in both cases they started at ground zero or with an accident, and we managed to get them beyond compliance to best practice.  I say that I’m always happy to work myself out of a job, that is the best measure of success!

As far as a single achievement that I’m proud of, it is getting selected by the CWC as one of the recipients of is the WISE award presented at GOSH 2023.  Getting recognized by fellow safety professionals is always the ultimate compliment!

You’ve been a fantastic Community Service chair for several years and were the Sponsorship chair for the 2025 GOSH Conference. Can you share a memorable moment or achievement from your time in these roles?

I’ve been co-chairing the Community Service committee with Paula Jones, which has been amazing.  Some of the most memorable moments for me have been the SOLVE events, especially the post-event lunch with the group, as well as seeing the tremendous generosity of our chapter members giving to our various causes.  I never will forget dropping off all the presents to Doernbecher in December of 2023 – wow!

This was my first year as the Sponsorship chair for GOSH 2025 and we were able to get soooo close to our sponsorship goal, but ended up just under.  It has been a wonderful experience to work with other members of the GOSH committee and to assist in the success of the event.  Even though we didn’t quite reach our goal, we did raise more in sponsorship than 2023, so I was pretty stoked about that!

We hear you have some fascinating hobbies outside of work. Can you tell us about one of your favorite hobbies and how you got started with them?

Hmmm – which one, competitive race walking or scuba diving?  Both?  I’ve been diving for 20+ years and dive both warm and cold water, and am currently a volunteer diver for the Oregon Coast Aquarium.  When there, I assist with cleaning and maintaining the exhibits, and yes, regularly swim with sharks!  Scuba diving was something that I had always wanted to do and is one of the few activities where I’m 100% in the moment, just hanging out and observing the underwater world.  I simply love it!

I started race walking in 2009 after I saw some of the elite teams at the start of Portland to Coast.  I had always been a fast walker, but realized that those folks were FAST!   I hired a coach, learned the technique, and now compete regularly in masters athletics events.  I compete locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally in multiple distances.  Last year I was the National Outdoor Champion in both the 5000m and 10k in my age group (master’s events are in 5 year age groups) and competed for the US at the World Masters Outdoor Championships in Sweden, where I placed 15^th in the 10k and 11^th in the 5000m in my age group.  In the 10k, we also compete as a team in the respective age groups, and our team won the silver medal!  This March I will compete for the US in the World Masters Indoor Championships, held in Florida (first time in US!).  I also captain my Portland to Coast team, RockBottoms, who are the reigning Overall Women’s Champions and 20 time Masters Women’s Champions.  Race walking not only keeps me in shape, but also has given me an opportunity to visit various countries, to meet some incredible fellow athletes, and to develop long-lasting friendships – both nationally and internationally!

When and how did you begin your safety career?

I started in the Sheet Metal Apprenticeship (Local 36) in 1999 in St. Louis, Mo.  My safety started when I started my Mechanical company “Brison Mechanical” in 2006.  Throughout my time in the field, I realized just how unsafe I was and the stupid risk that I took so I wanted to make a difference.  We did not have a positive safety culture when I worked in the field.  Work was profit driven without the three-leg stool “safety, production, & quality”.  It was always hurry up and get it done!  If you reported and injury, you would be let go so we did not report anything.

What do you do now in Occupational Safety & Health and what do you like most?

My role in Occupational Safety & Health is the Environmental Health & Safety Director at General Sheet Metal.  I enjoy being a servant to all employees and ensuring their safety.

Tell us a bit about your experience obtaining your Bachelor’s in Safety – what motivated you, how was the experience?

My experience obtaining my Bachelor’s in Occupational Safety and Health was very rewarding to fill a personal goal to myself.  I obtained a degree in 2000 for computer programming when I was pursuing a career in computer science.  For my satisfaction having certifications and having the top safety position at General Sheet Metal was not enough for me on a personal level so I wanted to obtain higher education in Occupation Safety & Health.  I will admit walking across the stage at 50 years old had its challenges, but I managed to walk with honors for Magna Cum Laude!  With support from my family and friends, failure was not an option. 

What motivates you to be a safety professional?

My motivation comes from problem solving with coaching and learning rather than pointing and blaming.  Coming through the sheet metal trade and now being an EHS Director for a Sheet Metal company aligns well for me.  90% of the time, my teams have the right answer and are looking for validation where we can collaborate together for the best solution to execute work in a safe manner.  It is definitely the employee engagement that motivates me the most!

What do you like to do in your free time?

I enjoy spending my free time with my family.  I have been married for 24yrs and we have a 21-yr old son and a 7-yr old daughter.  We enjoy traveling, site seeing, and home projects.

Save the date!

Our next Community Service event is coming up in April. Join us for a Spring Clean-up with SOLVE. Sign-up information coming soon.

Oregon Spring Cleanup | SOLVE

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Donate Toys to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital!

Donate anytime via their Wish Lists on Amazon or Target! Once you land on their donation page, click on either Amazon or Target wish list, choose your item(s) and they will be shipped directly to Doernbecher.

View their wish list: Wish List | OHSU

In July 2024 ASSP announced a phased increase in membership dues over the next three years. This decision was voted on by the ASSP Board of Directors and was based on the results of a research project that was approved in 2022 and the fact that costs continue to increase to deliver exceptional member benefits. The research indicated that most members would support an increase in their investment if membership provided additional value. The two key changes are:

1. Phased increase in annual membership dues over next three years
2. All members can now join any and all Common Interest Groups and Practice Specialties at NO COST, giving them access to these colleagues across industries and identities and free CEUs through webinars offered by these communities.

Learn more about the changes here: Q&A: Unlock More Value in Your ASSP Membership

Phased Increase in Membership Fees

Starting September 2024:

• Phased increase in dues over the next three years:
  • First Year: $195 USD (currently $180 in U.S., $150 in Canada)
  • Second Year: $205 USD
  • Third Year: $215 USD
• Other rates:
  • Members outside U.S. and Canada: $80 USD
  • Students and emeritus members: $15 USD

This is the first increase for U.S. members since a phased increase between 2017-2019.

This change does NOT affect your chapter dues.

Increased Free Access to CIG and PS Communities!

As part of this restructuring, all members will now have the opportunity to join any or all common interest groups and practice specialty communities at no additional cost. Previously, membership in each group or community was $20/each/year. Here are a few benefits you can receive when participating in these communities:

• Broader Connections: Engage with colleagues across 18 practice specialties and four common interest groups.
• Enhanced Collaboration: Collaborate, discuss best practices, and share resources with industry peers.
• Learning Opportunities: Access over 80 webinars annually, many offering free CEUs.
• Financial Relief: No extra fees for joining groups, reducing financial burden.
• Customizable Experience: Add or remove groups anytime to suit your needs.
• Commitment to DEI: Reflects ASSP’s dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Practice Specialties: Practice Specialty Communities for Safety Professionals | ASSP

Common Interest Groups: Common Interest Communities for Safety Professionals | ASSP