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.
OSHA is old news at this point, especially for companies with mature safety and health programs. For many companies with full-time professionals it is a time of looking inward, internally within the organization.
Opinions are most divisive over a risk-related question: will climate change harm you personally? A 2021 Yale poll found a split (47 percent yes – 45 percent no). OK, so maybe baby boomers and older adults get a pass. But their kids?
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are so-called “forever chemicals” because they don’t easily break down in the environment and can remain indefinitely in air, soil and water, including sources of drinking water.
Critics argue diversity, equity and inclusion and associated values and programs are simply superficial, trendy attempts to look good. Nothing more than social issues greenwashing. But the more I researched into diversity in the business world, the more I realized there’s nothing trendy or new about it.
ISHN interviewed former ASSP President Mark Hansen at the Safety 2022 conference in Chicago, and Mark highly recommends reading the book, “Deep Work,” by Cal Newport and published in 2017. “Deep Work” does not directly address workplace safety, but its application is obvious.