Loss Prevention Director Dennis Shinault Awarded DSSA

Dennis Shinault, Director of Loss Prevention for Baldwin & Lyons, was awarded the Distinguished Service to Safety Award (DSSA) in October 2010. The DSSA is the National Safety Council’s (NSC) most prestigious individual recognition. It awards exemplary efforts and success in improving safety and health at work, on the road, and in the home and community. Dennis was publicly honored at the 98th Annual NSC Congress & Expo, the world’s largest event for safety, health and environmental professionals; and the National Awards Celebration Reception.

Dennis has dedicated his professional and personal life to improving safety. For more than 20 years, he has been an active member in NSC committees and several trucking associations, and was a founding member of the Great Lakes Region Safety Forum. He is the current chairman of the NSC’s Motor Transportation Safety Division and has twice been the chairman of their Commercial Vehicle and Fleet Safety section. In addition, he promotes safety at his local police department through his assistance to Field Training Officers, who are trained to handle terrorist takeovers of schools, hostage situations, and active shooter situations in public facilities.

Throughout his career, he has had a tremendous impact on the transportation industry. He has developed at least 20 seminars and webinars for commercial motor vehicle drivers and motor carrier management. In the late 1980s, Dennis assisted Donald Capuano, a 1996 Baldwin & Lyons DSSA recipient, in the development of the program, “Too Late to Live,” to make commercial vehicles more visible at night and during inclement weather. The program resulted in the virtual elimination of losses filed with Baldwin & Lyons due to under-ride and rear-end collisions by vehicle drivers who cannot see or identify a commercial vehicle on the road at night. The concept was later adopted as a U.S. Department of Transportation Regulation for motor carriers.

The safety initiatives Dennis has developed and contributed to have helped Baldwin & Lyons’ insureds improve their compliance with DOT and OSHA regulations; improve their operating ratios by reducing loss frequency and severity; improve their out-of-service ratios and decrease their insurance loss ratios; and develop a culture of fleet safety.

Baldwin & Lyons is proud to have Dennis Shinault as our Director of Loss Prevention and congratulate him on this esteemed accomplishment.

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