Page 42 - Occupational Health & Safety, June 2018

SAFETY 2018
“Every generation needs the same things to grow professionally—a great network of people, de- pendable resources to enhance your knowledge, and opportunities to grow as a leader.”
best help you further your career so you can help create safe work environments that prevent injuries, illnesses, and fatalities.
4. What are the biggest challenges you see for today’s new safety professionals?
Many young and new safety professionals struggle because they try to master too many subjects. It is better to first develop a broad base of knowledge, then concentrate on a few topics of interest. They also should know where to go to get guidance on topics outside of their expertise. It’s important for young and new safety professionals to remember that success in the safety field requires a commitment to continuous learning. Don’t ever reach a point where you think you know everything there is to know. Like most fields, the safety profession is always evolving, and bet- ter methods to achieve our objectives will continue to emerge over time.
5. What advantages do newcomers to the profession have that weren’t available when your career began (such as big data and predictive analytics, virtual reality training, better monitor- ing/detection instruments, etc.)?
Where do I start? It’s a completely different world than when I entered the safety field. Today’s young professionals have an in- credible amount of data at their fingertips, including case studies and benchmarking materials. There is now high-tech instrumenta- tion equipment, better-designed personal protective gear for both men and women, and comprehensive management systems like ANSI/ASSE Z10 and ISO 45001. Safety training no longer has to be conducted on site, as we now have virtual reality training sessions, which lead to more training opportunities while better controlling expenses. Access to expert colleagues through personal networks has been made so easy with smartphones and Skype. The end result is occupational safety and health professionals entering the field with more skills and education than industry veterans could have ever imagined.
6. ASSE and the ASSE Foundation have encouraged veter- ans to consider safety careers after their service. Is enough new blood coming into the profession? And if not, what are the solu- tions ASSE is working on?
Bringing new and diverse members into an organization is a constant challenge faced by membership organizations every- where. New faces and new ideas are always welcome, and organiza- tional improvements are necessary to ensure that organizations like ASSP remain relevant, be it for today’s safety and health profession- als or those in the future.
Fortunately for the safety field, surveys report that job satisfac- tion is high, with 90 percent of respondents being “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their jobs. That’s a compelling selling point. But bringing more women, veterans, and Hispanics into the safety profession is needed, and that’s one of our top goals. We’ve already formed several working groups, and we are conducting webinars
and creating targeted web pages1 as part of these efforts. I look for- ward to making significant progress. People are what our profes- sion is all about.
7. For years, there were discussions about merging ASSE and AIHA, combining their big annual conferences, etc. Will that ever happen?
In recent years, ASSE and AIHA have worked closely together on many projects that are mutually beneficial to our respective memberships. One example is the Center for Safety and Health Sustainability in which ASSE and AIHA were founding members. Last year, ASSE and AIHA signed a comprehensive memorandum of understanding (MOU). The new MOU recognizes that both ASSE and AIHA see value in expanding our working relationship. How far that expanded relationship goes is yet to be seen.
“ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems is the result of a five-year process that included input from more than 75 countries across six continents. It’s the first global consensus model for managing safety and health risks, making it one of the most significant devel- opments in workplace safety in the past 50 years.”
8. The new ISO 45001 standard—why is it a big deal? What impact do you believe it will have on U.S. companies, and how will we be able to measure its impact?
ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Sys- tems is the result of a five-year process that included input from more than 75 countries across six continents. It’s the first global consensus model for managing safety and health risks, making it one of the most significant developments in workplace safety over the past 50 years. A widely accepted standard that can help build safety and health management systems anywhere enables our members and the broader occupational safety and health commu- nity to better protect workers everywhere.
U.S. companies not only can adopt the standard themselves, but also push for its implementation in supply chains that circle the globe. The expected outcome over time is fewer work-related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. Better risk management not only protects human capital, but also helps businesses achieve growth and sustainability objectives while improving their bottom line.
9. Let’s talk about millennials. Lots of companies seem to be having some difficulty getting millennial employees involved productively in their culture and workforce. What are your thoughts on overcoming this challenge, and what does it say about the safety profession going forward?
We’re excited about the contributions millennials can make to the safety profession as they bring a productive energy and per- spective that’s different than other generations. It’s so important to embrace diversity because the range of ideas and input can lead to valuable results. Every generation needs the same things to grow professionally—a great network of people, dependable resources to enhance your knowledge, and opportunities to grow as a leader.
38 Occupational Health & Safety | JUNE 2018
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