IISC History

In the early 1950's a group of dedicated safety professionals, led by EMC Insurance Companies, John Deere and Pioneer, created an all volunteer organization to represent workplace safety for businesses in Iowa.

The Industrial Safety Association was incorporated in the State of Iowa on February 12, 1955 by a group of concerned safety professionals.  Their purpose was to establish and maintain an association to promote safety within business and industry throughout the state of Iowa.

Volunteers and the board of directors ran the association until they signed a contract with Associations Management, LTD in the mid 1970's.  The name of the association was changed to Safety Association of Iowa.

In 1979, the board of directors approached the National Safety Council (NSC) to become a Chapter of NSC.  To achieve chapter status, they were required to hire a full time staff person.  An executive director was hired in 1980 and a new chapter of NSC was formed in Iowa.  The name of the Chapter then because Iowa Safety Council and a Board of Trustees was formed.

The Iowa Safety Council broke ties with Association Management, LTD in 1983 and set out on their own.  Additional staff was added over the next five years and increased in membership, sales, and training allowed much greater visibility.

NSC approached The Iowa Safety Council to expand its service area into the state of Illinois.  After much discussion the Iowa Safety Council agreed to a joint membership with NSC and set up an office in Bloomington, Illinois in February 1993.  The Iowa Safety Council then changed its name to Iowa-Illinois Safety Council in 1994.

The Iowa-Illinois Safety Council is currently one of 24 Chapters to currently hold a joint membership with National Safety Council.

The Iowa-Illinois Safety Council no longer has an office in Illinois but maintains operations out of their office in Des Moines, Iowa but continues to serve its members in both states by offering training courses across the state of Iowa and in central Illinois.