The Campbell Institute – the National Safety Council center of excellence for environmental, health and safety management – released a white paper entitled Elevating EHS Leading Indicators: From defining to designing to provide employers with a road map for designing, implementing and evaluating leading indicators.

Opening Session: Building Safer Workplaces with Deborah A. P. Hersman, President and CEO, National Safety Council and Former Chair, National Transportation Safety Board; Michael Abrashoff, Former Navy Commander and Author.

This Workers’ Memorial Day, observed April 28, the National Safety Council is calling on employers to better understand and identify the risks associated with occupational illnesses. Workplace-related illnesses are estimated to result in 53,000 deaths and 427,000 nonfatal illnesses each yearⁱ compared to workplace-related injuries, which are estimated to result in almost 4,000 deaths and 4.8 million injuries requiring medical attention annuallyⁱⁱ.

The number of people overdosing from opioid prescription painkillers is staggering, killing 45 people each day. Twenty-three percent of the workforce has misused prescription painkillers, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, making opioid use a serious threat to employee safety.