Mission
The mission of the Lansing Area Safety Council is to provide safety education programming and serve as a resource hub to greater Lansing.
Vision
Our vision is to provide the Lansing area with the education, tools, and resources to create a culture of safety for our citizens.
Goals
- Promote safety through education for our workforce, community, and schools.
- To provide safety education and programs for those from birth to end-of-life and everyone in between.
- To be a resource hub for safety education and training
- To educate with the purpose of preventing the personal and economic loss associated with injuries and health hazards.
Objectives
- To meet the unmet safety needs of greater Lansing
- To partner with local organizations who have existing safety programs
- To provide a website hub for the greater Lansing area on local safety resources
- To provide high level professional safety training for the local workforce, community, and schools
Strategies
- Programming offered in person to the workforce, community, and schools
- Virtual programs, live or recorded, for training with workforce, community, and schools
- Programs facilitated by highly trained professionals and volunteers
History of the Safety Council
The Lansing Area Safety Council was created in 1939 out of the Lansing Chamber of Commerce Safety Committee. The leaders of Lansing, including the mayor’s office, chamber, police, Fire, and community leaders came together to create one entity that would serve as the safety education and resource hub for Lansing.
The Lansing Area Safety Council was organized on December 1, 1939 by a group of local business people, Chamber of Commerce officials, City Council members, and Police & Fire officers who felt that Lansing had some safety needs that were going unmet. The first meeting was held at the Hotel Olds in downtown Lansing. One hundred people were in attendance for a $1.25 a plate dinner! On that evening, the Safety Council was formed.
For 84 years the Lansing Area Safety Council has provided safety education to the greater Lansing area. Education programs have included CPR and first aid training, school safety programs, Safety Patrol Picnic, and other programs that have helped to keep the Lansing community safe and educated on safety prevention methods.
Timeline of the Lansing Area Safety Council
- November 1939 the Safety Committee of the Lansing Chamber of Commerce along with the City Council & Mayor took the first steps to organization. Also helping to sponsor were the Chief of Police, Traffic Commission, Safety Director, and other civic organizations.
- First Director – Harold D. Lille
- Affiliated with the National Safety Council
- Founded in December 1939 at the Olds Hotel
- 1941 there were 5 divisions of the Safety Council – Industrial, Industrial First Aid & Health, Plant Protection, Commercial Vehicle, Home
- The Commercial Vehicle Division assisted the war effort
- October 1944 the IRS recognized it as an exempt organization
- 1949 Board of Control was comprised of representatives of Lansing’s industrialists, Merchants, Board of Education, Fire & Police (Lansing & East Lansing), City Government, Utilities, Public Carriers, Radio & Press
- April 1950 Formal Charter with the National Safety Council
- 1950s Committees – Traffic, Accident Facts, Education, Enforcement, Engineering
- 1955 Teen Age Traffic Safety Conference
- 1970 Accident Prevention Programs to support industry, business, citizens and city government.
- 1974 Requested $500 as a grant from the City of Lansing for Safety Patrol equipment, belts, badges, raincoats, flags & poles. Plus training costs and two annual incentive programs, i.e. the picnic
- 1978 held 3 events – Drive Awards Banquet, Green Pennant Luncheon (awards for schools), School Crossing Guard Dinner.
- In 1978, one of the programs was Defensive Driving, which we did until the mid 2010’s.
- 1979 Seat Belts were a major concern, they added a bicycle safety coordinator, school safety, co-sponsored the Bus Driver Rodeo
- 1980 Established worked with school PTAs to address recent abductions and attempted abductions of school children.
- Programs in 1980 were Drive & Survive, Running Safety and child abductions.
- Mid 1980’s moved from the house downtown to 3315 S. Pennsylvania Ave.
- 1990s to 2000s Programs consisted of the annual Safety Patrol Picnic, CPR/First Aid Training, Babysitter Training, OSHA and Defensive Driving.