If there is a silver lining in COVID-19's impact on industry, it's that the pandemic has revealed "what sustainability looks like," according to Lorraine Martin, president and CEO of the National Safety Council (NSC).
Moreover, "it's not just about the bottom line from the financial point of view," Martin said. "It's all of the other things, too: your human capital, environmental issues, political issues and mental health issues."
"We can share how to do things right."- Lorraine Martin, National Safety Council
According to Martin, sustainability should be defined more holistically as "everything to do with having a healthy organization and a healthy enterprise."
"Hopefully, a lot of leaders have broadened their perspective on their role in that sustainability challenge for their organization," she said.
Participating in a recent American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) webinar panel composed of safety and health CEOs discussing pandemic recovery, Martin added that she believes the pandemic has provided HS&E and other sustainability-focused professionals with a new platform for "richer dialogue around what sustainability really means for our planet, nation and the enterprises that populate it."
"There are silver linings of awareness," Martin observed about the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on safety professionals. "They are understanding what sustainability really is in an enterprise right now and how connected that can be to other world dynamics, whether it's water supply or health issues."
Martin is a member of the Safe Actions For Employee Returns (SAFER), the first nationwide taskforce geared to help protect employees working through the public health crisis, as well as those resuming work in a post-pandemic environment. Led by NSC, the SAFER initiative is a multifaceted plan to guide all employers through the process of bringing back their workers with minimal risk. In addition to NSC, ASSP and the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), the taskforce includes many other safety organizations, Fortune 500 companies and public health experts.
Fellow webinar panelist and SAFER member Jennifer McNelly, CEO of ASSP, said she fundamentally believes "expectations have changed for everybody, from C-suites and boardrooms to the front-line workforce."
"If basic needs associated with safety and security can't be met, the workforce can't get to a high-performing environment because people are distracted and worried about infection," McNelly said.
McNelly contended that, in order to get industry back to full functionality, a fundamental change in its approach to safety and security is necessary.
"We can no longer just think of workers in isolation of operations," she said. "It clearly has capital gain impact beyond that. How we bring that forward from a company to employee and community response is what strengthens the outcome moving forward."
Safer with SAFER
Martin touted the collaborative work of SAFER, noting that "safety isn't proprietary."
"We can share how to do things right ⦠whether it be a toolbox, playbook, checklist or whatever else ⦠to help with safe operation during COVID-19," she said.
Co-panelist Larry Sloan, CEO of AIHA, said he hopes the post-COVID-19 world achieves "a greater sensitivity from business leaders that you can't put a price on a healthy worker."
"When somebody gets sick or hurt at work, there are negative repercussions at home with their families and their friends, and it affects the entire community," Sloan said.
In his tenure as a SAFER taskforce member, Sloan said the committee heard "stories of employers that are not as mindful as they perhaps need to be. There are examples of folks who are not being given the proper precautions at work and they are getting sick, whether it's from the coronavirus or something else."
Sloan encouraged industry leaders to "put greater emphasis on regard for the worker in terms of how a company is performing as a good corporate citizen."
"We, as a profession, need to do more to assert ourselves as the front-line support to reinforce this message," he concluded.
Blaine Krage, senior media relations specialist for ASSP, moderated the discussion.
