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Click 4 the ? of the Week – Video!

24 Comments 23 March 2010

Click 4 the ? of the Week – Video!

Check out the video to see the EHS Question of the Week.  If you can’t wait to see the video, then here is the question – What is the greatest challenge facing EHS Professionals today?  Please leave comments, let’ discuss!

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24 Comments so far

  1. Bill West says:
    March 24, 2010 at 10:51 am

    OK, if you are going to call me out, here it is.

    I would have to say the toughest challenge, right now, is how do I keep my safety training fresh. I don’t mean content, that’s easy. I mean how can I keep eyes open, minds open, people engaged and have them actually know and remember what I just tried to teach them. I am willing to steal any technique or method that works. Let’s face it, what we are required to tell our employers is mostly dry, boring facts. The trick is turning these tasteless tidbits into a gourmet meal that everyone wants to consume. And this is getting harder. As younger workers enter the workplace, I have to find a way to reach them. These are people who e-mail, text, tweet, play video games and listen to music all while doing the everyday things in life. It’s hard to make HazCom training stick at 140 characters or less. Today’s worker is used to multitasking whether they know it or not. They are used to having their senses assaulted most of their waking day. Training must evolve yet not leave the rest of the employees behind. I think the best way is to train in short bursts, more often. I have always done monthly training sessions that would last anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Now I see the need to have smaller groups, shorter sessions and more frequent training. This means more effort on my part but, that’s what I’m here for.

    The question is about challenges. I love challenges. Anyone who does this job for a long time and does it well must thrive on challenges. Soon I will have this challenge figured out and I will bet dollars to donuts another will pop up. It’s why I show up every day.

    I have always liked the quote “To teach is to learn twice”. Now, I believe, “To teach is to learn many times”.

    Reply
  2. Sam Windom says:
    March 25, 2010 at 4:26 am

    Bill great insight! I’m still mulling over this question on how I would answer it…
    Keeping training fresh is definitely challenging. The one technique I have added to training over the last 6 months is to tell stories relating to my life and family that tie to the EHS subject at hand. I have had a good response from the field personnel with this approach. I will be sharing some of these stories on the site to get feedback from other EHS Professionals and hopefully someone finds enough value in them to steal a few…
    Bill thanks for your comments!

    Reply
  3. Ben Ford says:
    March 25, 2010 at 10:34 pm

    Hi Sam – I’m enjoying your site – keep it up!

    My big challenge – asked on behalf of thousands of safety professionals is:

    How can I get my employer to take safety more seriously?

    At DataStation, we are asked this question many times in different regions and states around the world. It is a cultural problem and often linked to enforcement (or lack of).

    Many employers seem to feel that they can employ one (or more individuals) as a manager of health and safety and then remove themselves of any corporate responsibility, while expecting their manager to promote health and safety without rocking the boat too much.

    I’m not sure on the solution – time perhaps?

    Another challenge for you to add to Bill’s training challenge….

    Reply
  4. Sam Windom says:
    March 25, 2010 at 10:50 pm

    Ben,

    I am very fortunate to work for an employer who is on the other end of the spectrum and probably responsible for me creating this site…I’m a part of what can be possible…I work in a workplace that puts EHS and the Safety of their employees first. I agree 100% that it is all about culture but not necessarily ENFORCEMENT. When you have a top leader who cares it can transform a workplace (like mine) through EMPOWERMENT. We have the stats and surveys to document the changes over the years and it is undeniable. It can be done – up next, zero incidents…
    Summary of this solution – all the people asking, “How can I get my employer to take safety more seriously?” need to hire my plant manager! ;)

    Thanks for the comments!

    Reply
  5. Ben Ford says:
    March 26, 2010 at 3:48 am

    I’ll ask you for his name and number and pass it along. He may be a busy guy!

    My comment regarding enforcement was referring to legislative enforcement by an applicable government authority of individual countries/states – I did not mean enforcement within an organisation.

    Businesses in general need to have the legislative guidelines in place to start with to give them the direction to travel in. However, if there is no enforcement of the legislation, then businesses are unlikely to spend the money to empower the health and safety individuals!

    Therein lies the challenge.

    Reply
  6. Bill West says:
    March 26, 2010 at 10:35 am

    I am so glad I don’t have that problem with upper management anymore. The manager I work for now is very safety minded and would always rather be proactive than reactive. I have not always been so lucky. I once had a manager who only created the Safety Manager’s job because his boss told him to. I was already working there and when I heard about the opening, immediately applied to fill it. In a span of five years, I reported to eight different people and none was the top guy. I could not even get the plant manager to sign a statement assuring management’s commitment to safety. We had some renovation work done and the contractors built a fixed ladder that did not conform to standards. I told the facilities manager of the problem when it happened. I told the plant manager in every staff meeting. I told anyone who would listen (and many who wouldn’t). Still the ladder remained unchanged. This went on for more than a year when an employee (also a Safety Committee Member) called Virginia OSH and filed a complaint. Surprised? VOSH inspectors showed up, looked at the ladder, cited us and fined us $4000 negotiated down to $1700. At the next performance review I got a poor review and no pay increase. When I asked the Plant Mgr. why, he said “We have got to pay the safety fine somehow”. Also, when the Vice President who told him to hire a Safety Mgr. retired, I got fired. So I truly feel your pain if you have trouble with unsupportive management.

    Reply
  7. Sam Windom says:
    March 27, 2010 at 12:16 pm

    Ben,
    I know I think too idealistically (that’s a word, right?)…I want to believe businesses do the right thing by providing a safe work environment because it is the socially responsible thing to do. One day! From your global perspective what country has the best culture when it comes to EHS responsibility?

    Bill,
    I would have never survived in that job! I respect your determination, you are the man!

    Reply

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