What's Your Opinion: Will the current push for federal deregulation affect job security in the EHS field?

Although much progress has been made over the years and more employers understand the long term benefits of a robust safety program, they seem to still be the minority. In my experience, many companies are only interested in conforming to safety standards to avoid violations or some form of punishment. With that said, it stands to reason that deregulation will lead to disinterest and ultimately a perceived lack of need for a safety professional within the organization.

After having applied my craft for over 30 years, I have not found this "job security" that I read so much about. Current deregulation or not, it will depend on the company as to whether or not it will affect job security. If the company puts value in a robust and effective safety program then the job security is built in. If however, the company has a safety department in order to keep OSHA at bay, there is no security no matter what the government push is. Unfortunately I have had the misfortune of having tried to work for some of the latter type companies and they do not care what the government says as long as they look good on paper. Their push isn't safety it is risk avoidance and the risk has to do with money spent if they get caught. They are the companies that brag about their safety programs, but that is all it is, is talk. In a way deregulation will out those companies because they will be the first to completely dump their safety departments and you don't want to work there anyway.

It may have an impact on those companies who approach safety from the strict compliance point of view- " we are doing it because we have to"- very often the same companies who do don't understand the intrinsic value of a safe workplace.

Safety is viewed as a necessary (because of regulation) evil by many companies as it is. Many companies, even the big Fortune 500 companies, just do not see the value of it and will gladly get rid of what they see as dead weight. Many more employees will be on their own.

With deregulation you will see some Employers use that as a way to cut their budget and not be 100% on board with Safety. This will become a problem with injuries. And I believe that the statistics will show that. This isn't something I would want to see as a Safety Director.

Right now I believe companies are hiring people to have someone to help keep up with records and scrambling to cover all areas that OSHA will issue fines. There are people who are currently EHS, but are filling a void of not having a true EHS trained employee. I don't think it is as much about quality its more about trying to meet a standard that even the OSHA employees can't or won't explain to you when asked. In speaking with an OSHA employee on one occasion I was informed they "are not there to interpret the rules, but to enforce." If there is some breathing room for companies, I believe trained EHS employees will still have opportunities and it will provide better quality employees for companies in the EHS field. By having qualified people in the right positions is more safe for the industry, company and most of all the employees.

On the flip side, there will always be companies who won't comply unless it is enforced. Deregulation will help smaller companies still strive to meet standards, but certain mindsets will always be that they will do it when they are enforced. It is a double edged sword. Something that is meant to help one company is taken advantaged of by another and in the end the little guy suffers.

While the push for deregulation may result in less recordkeeping and reporting for EHS professionals, I believe we will find we have more time to do those daily activities that actually have an impact in improving workplace safety and/or handling emissions and waste in responsible ways. I am sure there are some companies that made EHS improvements largely or solely because of OSHA and EPA regulations, but I doubt regulatory compliance was the driver for most improvements. In my experience, most of our improvements and savings were realized when we went beyond the regulations. One plant's 75% reduction in our largest waste stream was made because we committed to continuous improvement through ISO 14001 - the pre-reduction process was EPA compliant. Very few of our safety improvements in 2 plants where we enjoyed 70% to 80% reduction in injury rates over 3 to 5 years had anything to do with making OSHA non-compliances into compliances. The drivers in all of our improvements were based in doing the moral and just thing, not hurting employees or the environment, looking good to our customers, and/or reducing work comp and waste disposal costs. You can credit the companies for moral values or take the position that it was all cost avoidance / profit driven, your choice. Regulatory compliance per se is not a huge motivator, but the more tangible downsides are. So, making regulations more clear and concise, and less convoluted and confusing will help EHS professionals by allowing more time to do things that positively impact the moral values or profitability of our employers.

Workers need someone to back them up. As with many parts of our lives it takes the individual directly involved / effected to bring events to the attention of those responsible for correcting / monitoring them. This has to be implemented while performing there duties. Safety is and will always be the first thing adversely affect by daily economics / time conservation. It is the way we roll. It's easy to say that we have a policy in place. Who is going to be effected, they are the ones that need someone to watch there back. By having regulations in place the effected people can hopefully make a difference. They are the only ones that will take the time and make the effort. They want to get rid of the regulations because they do not have the time and or do not want to take the effort needed to keep risks a bay.

Past regulation has driven company's to be compliant but not safer as evidenced by the Serious Injury and Fatality rates. Regulation adds complexity and a false sense that by following the rules (regulations) workers will be safe. Regulation (rules) can't account for upsets and variation in workplace settings.

The safety profession will continue to evolve. 1. Effective E/S programs correlate with more efficient operations. As operations evolve so does innovation toward safety. 2. If the Federal Govt gives states the authority to regulate their own states, E&S professionals will be busy in those states to work a program from the ground up. 3. Construction, public works, and infrastructure projects will more than likely increase and those projects will always need E/S oversight regardless of regulations.

As EHS professionals it is our responsibility to sell the company on the benefits of risk management to the bottom line. Injuries and illnesses cost the company hard and soft dollars and they are becoming aware of it regardless of the regulatory requirements.

It has taken our industrial based society over a hundred 100 years to understand that industrialization is consuming our resources to the extend that some have been brought to extinction, some have 100 years or less but the greatest resource is the worker which through governmental action the employers have been forced to create a safety and healthful work environment; the present administration for corporate profits is destroying a 100 years of advancement in work place safety.

I'm in the safety field because I do not want people to get hurt. However, for example, I know a lot of people who are losing their hearing in their 40s, 50s, 60s etc. I think stressing the importance of hearing protection should be of primary concern. Hearing fades - it doesn't just disappear. However, I am amazed at how loud people play their music in their cars, and I'm appalled at how incredulously loud headphones volumes can be set. Sitting next to someone in an airplane and being able to hear their music throughout the flight baffles me. Kids walking home with their headsets on scare me. So, what is the regulation to prevent people from losing their hearing in their later years because of what they did or are doing in their private lives? Yes, we have regulations and hearing protection in the workplace and yet statistically - deaths have increased as regulations have increased. Maybe we just can't be doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result after all.

I've worked many years in the chemical industry and have seen first hand that the company will disposed of hazardous waste improperly as long as they don't get caught. Actually in the long run if they get away with it long enough the fine is less than disposal fee's. Also with regulations they can not operate the scrubbers out of Safe Operating Parameters. Before regulation they would keep running even if the scrubber and discharge system were not running correctly. I understand that the company has to make money so the employee's can stay employed and also make money but at what cost and where do you draw the line on pollution. That's my opinion on the Environmental part. As far as Safety and Health most companies I've seen lean more toward a strong safety program. That might be because many of them are self-insured and it's costing the company money.

I don't think deregulation will effect job security. The companies that have EHS programs in place know the value of having these programs and are not likely to eliminate them. Most worker compensation insurance companies require that the companies they insure also have EHS programs. The same goes for some businesses who have requirements in place to mandate EHS for anyone they do business with. I work with several businesses that have these requirements and they do annual audits of their vendors EHS programs. If there were to be any impact it would likely be the same people who would not have an EHS program or complied with the regulations anyway.

A look at the presidents budget proposals for 2018 show that there will be a negative impact on EHS careers. With the huge cuts to OSHA, NIOSH and the grant programs, a lot of safety professionals will be out of work. Those same professionals will be competing for jobs in the field.

There are still many employers who don't protect their employees from hazards on the job. In fact, many still do "business as usual" intentionally putting workers in harms way because it is "too expensive" to implement safer procedures. That is, until someone gets seriously injured or dies on the job.

Never conduct business the way Federal Government conducts business. This season of deregulation is only investing in a future which will require more . Safety is a compilation of human behaviors interacting with physics. Human Behavior and physics will continue to receive an outcry for protection . Simple physics and uninformed humans will erode Safety Complaicency. We will need you!