Money is behind the hollowness of many companies’ stop work policies. Sure, if you see something, say something. A change in weather conditions. An emergency situation. A near-miss incident. A lack of knowledge as to how to proceed. Unsafe conditions. Equipment used improperly. All legitimate risks. All often ignored by the workers who have the authority to halt work. Why? 

How many safety pros give CEOs a pass when it comes to safety? How many lower their expectations of what CEOs should do for safety? As a rule, the majority of CEOs have no schooling in occupational safety and health. They distance themselves from it, consciously or unconsciously.

Call it the law of unintended consequences: the pandemic — which pros will tell you is still ongoing — has challenged EHS pros to use their people skills perhaps like never before, reaching out, working together, and getting unprecedented national exposure.

A bias exists that white collar workers — more than their blue collar counterparts — are more prone to burn out, anxiety, depression, stress overload, work-life imbalances, emotionally draining work, and have a strong need for rest, gratitude and recognition. But that's not true.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos laid down the gauntlet in his April 2021 farewell letter to shareholders as he stepped down as CEO: "We are going to be Earth’s best employer and Earth’s Safest Place to Work.” OK, Jeff, here’s a question: What makes a company the planet’s safest place to work?

Companies of any size or available resources can start their safety climate improvement journey by using one of the system’s two assessments developed by CPWR (with stakeholder input) to either measure their safety climate maturity or conduct a simple needs assessment of the company’s jobsite safety climate across eight leading indicators.

This year’s National Safety Congress & Expo in San Diego featured a tech hub of approximately 25 vendors that seemed a world away from the usual exhibits of PPE, training services and facility equipment.

ESG ratings, rankings and grades have been around for some years, and the whole “ESG industry” is growing, driven by Wall Street investors, media coverage, consumer and employee demands for responsible corporate behavior, and the need for both public and private companies – though primarily at this point public entities – to be able to access capital by scoring well on ESG scorecards.

A major session at the NSC was introduced by OSHA chief Doug Parker, moderated by NIOSH director Dr John Howard, and had six panelists. The subject? Diversity, equity and inclusion, better known these days as DEI.

How many employees have died, or been seriously incapacitated, trying to rescue a co-worker in a toxic confined space? Without training and awareness, impulses and human nature can take over.