Recognition for doing things correctly seems to be a lost art.  Over the years, I have assessed perception surveys for hundreds of organizations and tens of thousands of employees.  As I tally the results, recognition for performance of doing things right is the lowest scoring safety management process. Interestingly, discipline (i.e., correcting people when they do something wrong) scores as the sixth lowest of the 21 safety management processes measured by the Caterpillar Safety Services statistically validated survey. 

Senior leadership is an easy target for most any complaint. Politicians, hourly workers, organized labor, front-line supervision and middle management all seem to blame ‘rich, uncaring upper management.’

The unsafe workplace costs a lot of money. The financial magnitude of expenses incurred in operating an unsafe workplace must be understood. This examination of the true costs associated with poor safety uncovers how far they extend beyond simply counting the cost of safety glasses or wages paid to the safety department.

It’s my sense that sequestration will happen, and that it will last for about two months. After that period, the pain for Congress and the impacted public – defense and non-defense alike - will be too great.

Being a Safety Advisor (OSHA) is not popular. Bosses hate you because you cost them money. Workers hate you because you nag them about earplugs and safety glasses. Everybody hates you because you are forever chasing compliance — chasing company compliance with Acts and Regulations; chasing worker compliance with site rules and practices; chasing, chasing, chasing.

In the U.S. at any given time, 20% of the population is serving in the role of caregiver for a loved one – and not always enthusiastically. Based on family dynamics and the cost of assisted living and nursing facilities, many families choose to share the role of caregiving for a loved one until such time that the loved one needs greater ongoing medical oversight than the family is capable of providing.

I received an email today from a professor at the Harvard Medical School. He wants me to buy a “Special Health Report” from Harvard Health Publications on the subject of positive psychology. “Happiness can be elusive. It can be fleeting. Too often, it can be lost in our modern world's swirl of stress, multitasking, and 24/7 news,” the sales pitch begins.

Hazards come in many shapes and sizes—from the physical to the behavioral and all points in between. And the efficacy with which hazards are identified to a large extent shape the overall effectiveness of your safety management system. So what happens when your personal or organizational biases prevent you from seeing things accurately and honestly?

There are a number of communications techniques that corporate leaders in sustainability and corporate responsibility communication use, to various degrees. Here are 15:

What a rollercoaster ride! It has been five years since I moved to New York to open our US office. My arrival here coincided with the worst financial crash since the Depression, a time when you were unsure whether there would be any cash in the ATM, let alone a market for sustainability advice.