The seeds have been planted and are being cultivated for the development of a global occupational health and safety standard. I am participating as a U.S. delegate and member of the U.S. leadership team on the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to develop the new OH&S standard – ISO 45001.

NTSB names blame in Asiana crash, Europe surveys its aging workforce about hours and the stiffer penalties for texting while driving are favored. These were among the top EHS-related stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

A PtD update, tree trimmer fatalities and the ASSE gets a new president. These were among the EHS-related news stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

Trish Ennis was installed last week as the 100th president of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE). A 23-year veteran of the occupational health and safety profession, Ennis vowed to continue to elevate the safety profession within the business community and work to deliver ASSE’s 36,000 members the programs and benefits they seek.  

Couldn’t make it to Safety 2014? ISHN Editor Dave Johnson brings you Q&A’s with some top Safety 2014 presenters – EHS thought leaders like Kathy Seabrook, Scott Geller, Bob Veazie and John Drebinger. Those were among the top stories of the week on ISHN.com:

Remarks by John Howard, M.D., NIOSH Director, at ASSE Professional Development Conference and Exposition on June 10, 2014: Just over a year ago, on April 24, 2013, Rana Plaza, an eight-story commercial building in Greater Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, collapsed. The death toll has reached more than 1,000.

ISHN conducted an exclusive interview with Kathy Seabrook, ASSE’s outgoing president, who has had her bags packed for a year as she has traveled the country and the globe on safety missions.

On May 7th, representatives of the organizations listed below heard presentations from the Embassy of Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Accord for Fire and Building Safety, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, and the U.S. Department of Labor’s International Labor Affairs Bureau on ongoing efforts to improve safety and health in the 3,600 cut-and-sew factories that make up Bangladesh’s “ready made garment” industry.

Jordan Barab, deputy assistant secretary at OSHA, give a quick, 20-minute snapshot of his agency’s current priorities on Wednesday, May 7 at an event sponsored by ASSE – “Occupational Safety & Health in Global Workforce Sustainability.” The half-day meeting was held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Temp worker safety was at the top of Barab’s list. OSHA is concerned about fatalities among inexperience temps, many who will work numerous “first days on the job” in a year.

Robert G. Eccles, a professor at the Harvard Business School, presented findings from a study he helped conduct on attributes of high sustainability companies on Wednesday, May 7 at an event sponsored by ASSE – “Occupational Safety & Health in Global Workforce Sustainability.” The half-day meeting was held at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.