The leading safety organisations in the UK and the US have come together to launch an initiative to promote the contribution health and safety can make to business sustainability.
The global Center for Safety and Health Sustainability (CSHS) was launched in Chicago this week at the annual conference of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), which has joined forces with IOSH and the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) to bring the project to life.
CSHS aims to raise awareness of the ways health and safety can secure the future of businesses, making them more sustainable for the future. Speaking at its launch, the IOSH president, Steve Granger, said: “IOSH is very pleased to be part of this new centre, which is about our three organisations working together to improve the lives of people who are at, or affected by work.
“Sustainability is now firmly placed on the corporate agenda, and, in fact, we view the protection of the workforce as a key part of what it involves. Achieving high standards for health and safety reduces unnecessary wastage of resources in terms of staff turnover and health, as well as damage or loss to physical assets.”
His counterpart at the ASSE, Darryl C Hill, said: “The case to be made for safety and health as an integral part of organisational sustainability is a compelling one. Every year, more than two million people die worldwide from occupational accidents or work-related diseases, and there are several million more cases of non-fatal occupational accidents and diseases – yet, work safety and health play a relatively small role in defining business sustainability today. We need to act now.”
AIHA executive director Peter O’Neil added: “This collaboration will greatly add to the depth of our industry, promoting businesses to focus on protecting worker health and safety while addressing policies which encompass global sustainability.”
The centre will provide new insights into the measurement, management, and impact of safety and health sustainability, and aims to become a thought-leader on sustainability and corporate social responsibility.
