The Southwest Area Instructor’s Association (SAIA) was formed on February 1-2, 1978 in Floydada, Texas. A group of ten safety professionals representing Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico and Kansas came together to established this new association. One of the first matters of business was to create a purpose for the group. The following statement was adopted as the purpose and is still in effect today.

“To better enable the participants to perform their duties in safety and training by the exchange of information, programs, publications, experiences, and/or any other useful materials. To provide knowledge, training and leadership necessary to enable the participants to perform, with a positive attitude and dedication, all assigned duties and responsibilities in an effective manner.”

In the early 90s, several safety professional members of the Mason Dixon Group began attending the SAIA meetings. In 1996 it was decided to merge the two groups together and maintain the SAIA name. Since that time, the group has grown to more than 150 members representing 20 states.