Thought Leadership

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 In watching many Commitment Based Safety meetings and how employees are reporting in on their contributions to their commitments for the last 24 hours there is something noteworthy going on. As we know, in a zero injury culture every employee manages his or her risks every day. 

A Comment posted to ISHN regarding story (link at bottom): I continue to be perplexed at the view that safety professionals depend on an aggressive OSHA for our livelihood. It is as though OSHA birthed us. That is simply not so!

IF the middle class continues to shrink, worker safety loses an important advocate. I think we are seeing the beginnings of the impact already.  When politicians openly question the value of “overly protective” safety laws and decry an overly litigious society as the bane of modern society it's because they believe saying such things will get them elected.

I would look outside the EHS arena, which gets too lost in being OSHA-centric, for answers to some of the questions that confront the future of the EHS profession. I think the world of Risk Management and Insurance and the Liability Environment play a much bigger role in corporate decision-making when it comes to occupational safety.

One of my clients in South Africa (ZA) instituted a People Based Safety (PBS) program about four years back. As you recall this was the time the Football (soccer) World Cup was hosted by ZA in 2010.

It seems that workplace injuries are directly influenced by economic situations. As the price of raw materials increases, there is a natural tendency to take additional risks to produce more volume.  As the end of the calendar quarter approaches, there is added pressure to meet goals or deadlines.

Good training is a key element, but only part of the puzzle for vehicle safety. Employers with vehicle fleets or employees who drive are aware (or should be) that the greatest probability of an injury incident is going to be vehicle or driving related.

 “There’s a sense that a new guy’s life isn’t worth as much ‘cos he hasn’t put his time in yet.” Chris Taylor, Platoon. “Temp” as in temporary; a temporary person. The designation shows how much value we tend to place on those in the workforce who won’t be around very long.

ISHN posted this commentary from Dr. Howard earlier in April. Given Dr. Howard’s long tenure at NIOSH and his visionary perspectives on worker health and safety, we want to “rebroadcast’ it as an ISHN blog.

Making sure that your workplace is as ergonomic as it can be is not only a way of setting things right, but it is also an effective means of preventing problems from occurring in the future.