Retirement has hit a milestone with 6.3 million Americans expected to retire every year for the next four years.
It’s hard to fathom the breadth of contributions that EHS professionals have made over their careers. And it’s an impossible task for all of us who have been protected by these professionals to properly thank them. However, one way is to acknowledge the many improvements to our safety that they have presided over for the past 40 years. With each new OSHA standard covering every industry it was the ingenuity of these professionals to implement these measures, which can be a challenging task. Asking a workforce to embrace a new philosophy, devise communication methods, create procedures and of course the most difficult of all, ensure procedures are followed, requires special talent.
And what is unique to this profession is the talent that has chosen it. All too often people come to their jobs after having seen a horrible injury, or even a fatality. Walking into a career that requires you to face those tough memories on a daily basis is quite courageous. The payoff of course is to create an environment, through a variety of methods, where those accidents will never happen again. But how many people choose to confront such difficult issues and push through to create change?
The changes this generation faced also occurred in terms of different styles of the workforce. This Boomer generation needed to understand and adapt to the different desires and goals of Gen X, Millennials and now Gen Z. They were required to frequently change the entire culture of the organization to accommodate the varying needs of these very different generations. And they did so, with much grace I might add. On a macro level they moved from a singular focus on protecting workers’ physical bodies to the current iteration of safety which has expanded to well-being and mental health.
Along with evolving worker attitudes is the lightning speed of the creation and implementation of new technologies to improve safety outcomes. Can you imagine explaining to someone starting their EHS career 40 years ago, that people would be wearing sensors on their person to measure movement and even fatigue? If you had shown them a photo of someone using augmented reality (AR) to teach ergonomics, would they have believed you? And let’s not even mention the dedication and time necessary to learn these new technologies.
Corporate structure was another area in which this generation had to navigate. Over the years styles have varied and with each new philosophy EHS professionals had to learn a new method of operation. But more than that, they had to incorporate the new ideology into the practices and procedures, all the while having to get buy-in from employees.
Complying with the increasing number of federal and state regulations was all part of the job. And I won’t even mention OSHA inspections, or workers’ compensation, or safety audits, or any of the countless other tasks and roles that “safety people” have taken on over the years.
Throughout their careers, they have not only survived all of these challenges but thrived. When I talk to EHS professionals their enthusiasm at this late stage in their careers never ceases to amaze me. They will explain programs and policies they created or implemented that have made a difference in the lives of their workforce. And the underlying theme of these conversations is the personal commitment they have to the field, revealing to me why they are in this job and what it means to them.
So, for those of us who benefit from the many years of hard work, dedication and genuine concern you have shown for our well-being, I thank you. While we can never repay the debt we owe you, we will honor you by passing along the knowledge and wisdom that you so generously shared with us.
Thank you.
