UL EHS Sustainability today announced the two keynote speakers for its upcoming American EHS&S Forum, set for May 3 – 4, at the George Jones Museum in Nashville, Tenn. Dr. David Michaels, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA, will discuss a new approach to sustainability in the workplace and Carol Singer Neuvelt, Executive Director of the National Association for Environmental Management (NAEM), will discuss the role of  transparency in changing how companies manage the EHS and sustainability (EHS&S) function, and communicate their program performance. The conference is open to the public.

Dr. Michaels served as a key contributor to the OSHA white paper, “Sustainability in the Workplace. A New Approach for Advancing Worker Safety and Health.” During his tenure at OSHA, Dr. Michaels focused on a number of issues, including regulatory enforcement for high risk industries, improved whistleblower protections, compliance assistance to small businesses, and protections for temporary workers. Dr. Michaels also increased OSHA's focus on and capabilities in data analysis and program evaluation.

“Dr. Michaels is widely regarded as a pivotal business leader in this space over the last eight years, and this is an unprecedented opportunity to get his insight into where U.S. EHS and sustainability programs are headed,” said Mark Ward, General Manager at UL EHS Sustainability.

“Employers are only truly sustainable when they ensure the safety, health, and welfare of not only their employees, but all employees across their supply chain,” said Michaels, who in January rejoined the faculty of George Washington University. “The sustainability movement is going to continue to evolve. Leading companies have recognized that while this brings challenges, there are also many opportunities for innovation.”

As head of NAEM, the largest professional community for EHS&S leaders, Ms. Neuvelt will discuss findings from the organization’s latest report, which reveals how the continued external demand for EHS&S information is driving the adoption of comprehensive, enterprise-wide software systems among companies of all sizes. NAEM's 2017 EHS&S Software Buyers Guide report reveals that “working to provide greater external transparency is among the top reasons why companies are shopping for commercial software to track environment, health and safety and sustainability performance.” The expectation for external transparency about environment, health and safety, and sustainability (EHS&S) performance is driving more companies to the commercial software market.

"From the integration of EHS&S metrics into product development to the emergence of supply chain reporting, to meeting stakeholders demand for transparency, the EHS&S function today is a source of value creation across a business," said Carol Singer Neuvelt, Executive Director, National Association for Environmental Management. "Given the challenges of this new role, the use of commercial software tools is increasingly indispensable to managing global EHS programs."

The two-day event features a full schedule of practical training and UL client-led sessions, offering attendees an ideal setting to collaborate with peers and industry experts. Conference goers will be able to learn about the latest trends affecting their industries, watch live demos to get maximum value from their investments, and hear how others are leveraging UL solutions through case studies and best practices sessions. Tickets are available online at: http://learn.ulehssustainability.com/auf-user-forum-register-0.

About UL:

UL fosters safe living and working conditions for people everywhere through the application of science to solve safety, security and sustainability challenges. The UL Mark engenders trust enabling the safe adoption of innovative new products and technologies. Everyone at UL shares a passion to make the world a safer place. We test, inspect, audit, certify, validate, verify, advise and train and we support these efforts with software solutions for safety and sustainability. To learn more about us, visit UL.com.

About UL EHS Sustainability:

UL EHS Sustainability is a division of UL, the premier global independent safety science company that has championed progress for 120 years. UL EHS Sustainability empowers organizations to protect the well-being of workers, reduce risk, improve productivity, enhance compliance, and drive measurable business improvement through its EHS, occupational health, environmental, supply chain, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility platforms. More than 2,000 organizations in over 20 major industries including manufacturing, healthcare, and construction & energy, trust UL's tools to meet their expanding needs. The new PURE™ Platform is a full suite of environment, health, safety, sustainability and supply chain software solutions designed for users who want total connectivity and visibility into the overall health, safety, and sustainability of their organization. Visit us at www.ULEHSsustainability.com.