The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) approves of OSHA’s newest white paper.

The oldest professional safety organization says “Sustainability in the Workplace:  A New Approach for Advancing Worker Safety and Health,” shows the agency is recognizing the opportunity the corporate sustainability movement provides to encourage better commitment to worker safety and health. 

“OSHA’s white paper helps raise awareness of the need for organizations to include workplace safety and health risks in any measurement of sustainability,” said ASSE President Tom Cecich, CSP, CIH.

In 2011, ASSE and other concerned organizations established the Center for Safety and Health Sustainability (CSHS) to advocate for inclusion of worker safety and health in the efforts of corporations and other organizations to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability.  Too often, the Center found, a corporation succeeded in raising attention to environmental successes but overlooked unacceptable levels of injuries, illnesses and even fatalities among its workers. 

Cecich said ASSE and the Center look forward to working with OSHA to help disseminate this report and to continue to work towards inclusion of occupational safety and health in the sustainability movement. 

 “A company cannot be sustainable if its workers face risks that make their wellbeing unsustainable,” said Cecich.   

The member organizations of the Center are ASSE, the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), the Canadian Society of Safety Engineers (CSSE) and the Institution for Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).  More information on CSHS can be found at http://www.centershs.org/index.php.