Each month, Examinetics gathers three or four safety professionals and asks them to share their thoughts on what is happening in the world of EHS. The panelists come from various types of companies and industries, and from diverse safety backgrounds and roles. As we start a new year, the panelists looked back and reflected on what we learned. Below are eight takeaways we have learned from a year of hosting safety roundtables.

Women have made amazing strides in many fields and industries throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Unfortunately, there are many others in which it remains a big challenge for a woman to rise to the top — or even, in some cases, to enter the industry at all.

Both Visual Literacy and Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) emphasize slowing down with purpose.

Employee safety is an important factor in every industry. According to the International Labor Organization, more than 2.78 million people die as a result of occupational accidents or work-related diseases each year.

Cleanliness is a foundational element to any successful safety culture. In today’s environment, it’s also a topic of many discussions and the emphasis of new protocols across industries – and the world. 

Who takes the blame when construction projects get behind schedule or over budget? Is it the project manager? The front line worker? The subcontractor? The answer would be no to all three. The likely scapegoat when things goes wrong is usually Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS). And why is this true?  It’s because too often the safety of the worker is sacrificed for the sake of speed and production.