2015 in review: OSH convention highlights
From Salt Lake City, Utah to Dusseldorf, Germany, safety professionals traveled far and wide to expand their professional knowledge and engage in networking with their colleagues. Here are some highlights from 2015’s occupational safety and health conventions:
A+A ups the OSH showmanship in Dusseldõrf
Exhibitors who came from Australia and Venezuela, from Mexico and Monaco, nine cavernous exhibition halls; live demonstrations of products - including fires that attendees were invited to extinguish; conversations in many different languages; a corporate fashion show that could rival a Broadway production, and almost – but not quite – an indoor windmill. Clearly, occupational safety and health trade shows are done a little differently in Germany.
Flexibility can help offset work-related stress, says Germany’s Labour Minister
The digital workplace has introduced both exciting new possibilities and an unwelcome new dimension to the problem of work-related stress, according to Andrea Maria Nahles, Germany’s Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. The key to dealing with both, she says, is flexibility.
From NSC Congress & Expo
Safety culture: Does your brand have value?
Terry Mathis, founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, asked for a call to action Monday, saying every safety program needs branding, which creates buy-in. He compared safety programs to sports teams and other visually recognizable brands such as Nike and Coca-Cola, which all have distinct logos.
From NSC Congress & Expo
Roadmap for operational excellence
At NSC on Monday, speaker Sam Smolik, SVP America Manufacturing and Refining Operations at LyondellBasell, offered some management advice he has learned over 40 years in the manufacturing business. He said he started at LyondellBasell when the company wasn’t in the best shape, but they have worked really hard to get where they are today.
From NSC Congress & Expo
Safety culture: Does your brand have value?
Terry Mathis, founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, asked for a call to action Monday, saying every safety program needs branding, which creates buy-in. He compared safety programs to sports teams and other visually recognizable brands such as Nike and Coca-Cola, which all have distinct logos.
From NSC Congress & Expo
Safety culture: Does your brand have value?
Terry Mathis, founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, asked for a call to action Monday, saying every safety program needs branding, which creates buy-in. He compared safety programs to sports teams and other visually recognizable brands such as Nike and Coca-Cola, which all have distinct logos.
From NSC Congress & Expo
Roadmap for operational excellence
At NSC on Monday, speaker Sam Smolik, SVP America Manufacturing and Refining Operations at LyondellBasell, offered some management advice he has learned over 40 years in the manufacturing business. He said he started at LyondellBasell when the company wasn’t in the best shape, but they have worked really hard to get where they are today.
Report from Safety 2015
How system think can change safety
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Christopher Hart opened his speech at Safety 2015 by thanking the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) for supporting two important initiatives: changing the impaired driving limit from .08 to .05, and banning the use of personal electronic devices while driving.
Report from ASSE
How do you become a safety business partner?
(And why should you?)
EHS professionals can raise their profiles within their company by transforming themselves into what John McBride calls, safety business partners. “I’m not talking about a title,” said McBride, SPHR, of Consentium Search in Wesley Chapel, Florida. “We’re talking about a role, a level of participation.”
From Safety 2015
A larger – and different -- role for EHS professionals
Can safety practitioners help combat corporate social responsibility? Should they? They can and they should through a new “servant leadership” role, according to Karen E. McDonnell, Ph.D., who is with the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health IOSH in the UK.
Perceptions of EHS professionals are changing (for the better)
The evolution of the EHS field, which has been ongoing for 10-15 years since the effective conclusion of the activist OSHA era, is on display here at the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo being held this week in Salt Lake City. EHS professionals in 2015 are no longer looked at as “the safety man” or the “industrial hygiene techie” if they position themselves properly, according to speakers.
Among the many competitive advantages provided by best in class EHS work…
How do you show that EHS is a positive investment as opposed to a cost? Attendees here at this year’s American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo in Salt Lake City are learning about making the business case for EHS in multiple sessions. Among the benefits:
How EHS professionals can further their careers
Professional development is a central theme of the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo being held this week in Salt Lake City. Here are just some of the components of personal professional development plans attendees are learning about -- how many are you using?
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