Editor's Note: Looking ahead

What a tumultuous year 2020 has been. As we approach 2021, I’ve been thinking about some of the changes and challenges the occupational safety and health community will contend with, and the news and trends the Safety+Health team will be following.

A new presidential administration. It’s well known that when a Democrat is in the White House, we see more movement on regulation. With labor advocates pushing for progress, including an emergency temporary standard on infectious diseases, and with the power of the Executive Order in the president’s hands, how quickly will (or can) things happen despite a notoriously slow regulatory process?

Continued adaption to new ways of working, including physical distancing and remote work. An increased focus on mental health in the workplace, as National Safety Council President and CEO Lorraine M. Martin discusses in this month’s “Speaker Spotlight” column.

Also new – and welcome – for the S+H team will be the insights of the experts at ORC HSE Strategies LLC, a “global HSE networking and service firm that has been connecting HSE thought leaders across the globe for more than 45 years” that is now part of NSC. Martin said the council is “delighted to join forces to lead safety into the future in a world undone by a pandemic, help companies advance on their own safety journey, and eliminate preventable workplace deaths and injuries once and for all.” We look forward to tapping into that knowledge and leadership both to educate ourselves and to share it with you. Here’s to a safe new year.

The opinions expressed in “Editor’s Note” do not necessarily reflect those of the National Safety Council or affiliated local Chapters.