Environmental Health and Safety

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Since the COVID-19 vaccination was made available to the public in late 2020, the topic of vaccination has been widely discussed across the country including in the daily news, by governments and agencies, in the courts, in communities, and in the workplace. From the very beginning, federal, state, and local governments/agencies have engaged in campaigns to encourage vaccination; passed laws mandating vaccination in the workplace, public places, government buildings, and elsewhere; and incentivized vaccination. Indeed, President Biden’s Administration made COVID-19 vaccination a predominant part of its national strategy to combat the pandemic. 

What if we could crowdsource our EHS data? A prime example focuses on the safety successes of the U.S. airline industry - no commercial U.S. airline has experienced a fatal crash since 2009! Their safety strategy has been so effective that the healthcare industry, which currently experiences 250,000 unnecessary patient deaths a year in the U.S., is attempting to follow its protocols. So, what has helped the airline industry achieve such immense safety feats and how can EHS leaders in industries outside of the airline industry take a page out of their book?

How do employers monitor the health and safety of personnel without encroaching on their privacy and productivity? What’s more, how do you ensure they’re wearing the proper protective gear at all times and also check that they’re utilizing safety protocols and utilities appropriately? The answer lies with wearable devices. 

In many ways, sustainability is a safety professional's best friend. Sustainable practices are almost always inherently safer than unsustainable ones, and approaching your day-to-day operations from the perspective of sustainability will likely help you create a safer workplace. 

There are many parallels between exceptional safety leadership and sports. It takes proper planning and execution to be a consistent winner. Great leadership is great leadership, regardless of the context. Here are some lessons learned from the sports world to improve your own safety leadership.

Workplace regulators recently extended California’s COVID-19 pandemic regulations, including some revisions that could negatively impact the labor shortage. Some business groups have criticized these changes, while organizations supporting workers in the state have supported them.

Manufacturers are adopting tech like artificial intelligence (AI) to automate some basic tasks and allow human employees to focus on bigger, more important jobs. New technological breakthroughs for power plants come when there’s a need to focus on sustainability to protect the environment and avoid using up natural resources. Now, wireless technology may play a pivotal role in power plants. Here’s how it will likely improve power plant operations.

On January 13, 2022, the Supreme Court issued a highly anticipated decision blocking OSHA's emergency temporary standard (ETS), which required employers with 100 or more employees to implement a COVID-19 vaccination or weekly testing policy, in addition to other requirements.