And The Green Cross for Safety Medallion goes to...

Congratulations to Liberty Mutual for winning the National Safety Council's highest award, The Green Cross for Safety Medallion. It will be presented to CEO Ted Kelly tonight at a dinner in Chicago.

Liberty Mutual has long been in safety's vanguard. In the middle 1970s, when I was still a young man directing the Army's Safety and Health program in New England, I have fond memories of my many visits to the company's Research Center in Hopkinton, MA, to listen to Dr. Stover Snook expound on his cutting-edge ergonomic research (a brilliant scientist, Stover would stop me cold as he casually discussed the misadventures surrounding the frequent disappearances of his pet python at home) and to watch Gil Drake and his staff teach emergency driving maneuvers to the teenage sons and daughters of Liberty's policyholders.

Gil, a very lucky man who had the good fortune to marry a wonderful woman who also happened to be the former Miss Venezuela, was the best driving instructor I ever met. Nearly all of the techinques taught today by the instructors at the Research Center, including Liberty's Decision Driving concept, were invented by him. A man dedicated to saving lives on the road, he was also a good friend. It is very gratifying to see that Gil's message and that of his peers still resonates at the company he gave so much of his life to. Ted Kelly can be very proud tonight. The National Safety Council chose wisely.