OSHA white paper addresses role of worker safety and health in sustainability

Washington – Responsible organizations that already embrace the “triple bottom line” of people, planet and profit to reach sustainability goals should make the inclusion of occupational safety and health their next step, OSHA suggests in a recently released white paper.

Sustainability in the Workplace: A New Approach for Protecting Worker Safety and Health recommends several strategies. They include:

• Creating new partnerships to support integrated occupational safety and health and sustainability activities
• Enhancing interdisciplinary training and education for employees, the occupational safety and health community, and business professionals
• Acknowledging employers who successfully integrate occupational safety and health into their organizations’ sustainability efforts
• Improving access to safety and health data for sustainability reporting

“It is clear that more and more businesses are building the concept of sustainability into their operations,” OSHA administrator David Michaels said in a Dec. 20 press release. “We believe the next innovation is integrating worker safety and health into these sustainability strategies.”