BCSP Viewpoints: Leverage corporate sustainability efforts to enhance safety

EHS professionals are a hearty bunch, with the scars to prove it. They do battle every day – fighting for resources, wielding influence, changing minds and playing regulatory defense.

Safety pros: Don’t lose your nerve in 2024 as political rhetoric becomes more boisterous around the subjects of environmental, social and governance, and sustainability. As KPMG reports, most CEOs (62%) plan to allocate at least 6% of their revenue toward initiatives aimed at enhancing organizational sustainability. Let’s take advantage of this moment of C-Suite attention and volunteer our risk mitigation skills when sustainability initiatives are announced. At the end of the day, protecting people – whether they’re our co-workers or members of our communities – is a core value of the safety profession.

Most of us are already aware that our employers and stockholders are reaping the benefits of proactive safety initiatives through reduced workers’ compensation rates and bonuses when construction projects are delivered early and on budget. Now is the time to look outside the walls of our facilities and help our suppliers advance safety, ensure our communities are resilient and protected against the migration of chemical spills and explosions, and ask tough questions about the life cycle of the products we produce and the packaging we use.

Be alert in 2024. If your organization sells a consumer product, sells your product to a publicly traded company, or does business in California or Europe, not only are sustainability efforts on the executive agenda, but regulatory reporting methods are also being debated. Be prepared to proactively engage in discussions about the opportunities that exist for your organization to leverage these opportunities to achieve safety goals.

Retailers such as Target, Walmart and IKEA are reporting that rooftop solar can reduce energy consumption 10% to 40%, depending on the location. At your facilities, you may want to consider the potential impact of solar panels over parking lots. Can they create a safer walkway for employees? Do they add issues for your snow removal contractor?

Does offering onsite bike storage for employees and more electric vehicle charging stations help reduce your organization’s carbon footprint from commuting employees? And where should those be placed just in case a lithium-ion battery overheats and combusts?

These are only a few of the conversations where safety pros can have an impact.

In terms of community impact, changing over a fleet of vehicles to electric or hybrid will probably lower emissions and help reduce climate change, but additional gains can be realized by also scheduling deliveries outside of rush hour and setting timers to charge vehicles during periods of low electricity consumption. Not only can fleet telematics enhance driver accountability and reduce incidents, but it can also reduce fuel consumption by tracking unnecessary idling.

As you’ve probably experienced during previous safety improvement projects, innovations and creative ideas are all around you, tucked away in the minds of your teammates. Don’t attempt to take on sustainability by yourself, but instead include your colleagues. Give them an opportunity to innovate an enhanced, more sustainable future for the company because, in the end, sustainability is just process improvement in a different logoed pullover.