To All of You, I Say Thanks

This month marks the end of the Society year. In July, a new slate of officers will step in to lead this organization. At Safety 2009 last June in San Antonio, TX, I shared with you my vision for this year. I told you that our first priority would be efficient execution of ASSE’s strategic plan. The Board of Directors spent much time the past 2 years reengaging in the strategic planning process and ensuring that the Society’s strategic plan is focused and provides clear direction for advancing our vision and mission.

I also noted that I would focus on four key areas:
1) Utilize technology to add value for ASSE membership.
2) Raise awareness about the value of SH&E professionals.
3) Leverage our influence by partnering with other organizations to achieve outcomes of mutual interest.
4) Execute and refine the new strategic planning process in which the Board of Directors has engaged.

I am happy to report that the staff and volunteer leaders have far exceeded my expectations in each of these areas. We are more active in social media than ever before and are using it in new ways. It has even provided a tool for us to turn webinars into virtual symposia, which provide tremendous opportunities for networking while learning. We are reaching more of our members in ways that are more cost-effective for them and for the Society.

We continue to communicate the findings from the value of the profession study. Our goal is to help our member SH&E professionals better understand what they need to know in order to effectively demonstrate the value they bring to their organizations.

We have developed closer ties with other SH&E organizations as well. This year, ASSE assumed an international leadership role by becoming the secretariat for the International Network of Safety and Health Practitioner Organizations. We have also improved communication among the informal network of SH&E organizations in the U.S.

And, as noted, the Board of Directors has spent considerable time engaged in strategic planning. We remodeled ASSE’s strategic planning process last year and continue to refine that process. Society leaders will engage the House of Delegates to help us ensure we have a strong strategic plan that supports ASSE’s vision and mission.

This is my last president’s message as my term ends June 30. Serving as ASSE president is the greatest professional honor I could imagine. I have benefited professionally and personally from the opportunity to serve all of you. On a personal note, I have recently started a wonderful new job. I can honestly say that were it not for the leadership experiences I gained through my participation in ASSE, I would not be where I am today.

The success of this great organization is due to the hard work and commitment of many people, from ASSE’s dedicated staff who operate the Society on a day-to-day basis to the hundreds of volunteers who administer our chapters, practice specialties, committees and task forces, groups that are the heart of all the great things we see coming out of ASSE, to the volunteer leaders on the Board of Directors, who are all so passionate about ASSE’s success. To all of you, and to the entire ASSE membership, I say thanks.

Commitment to the Profession

The recent economic strife has caused continued upheaval and uncertainty across industries and throughout the job market. During my 11 months as ASSE president, I have heard many stories relaying the devastating personal effects that the recession has had on many friends, colleagues and fellow ASSE members. I have heard about the impact of extended job searches, the financial strain on families, the stress on spouses and children, and the health issues related to anxiety about the future.

I cannot help but sympathize with the frustration, self-doubt and hopelessness that often accompany joblessness. As a profession and as an organization, I am urging that we come together to do more for those colleagues and friends currently seeking employment. While many job-seeking tools are readily available on the Internet and elsewhere, I encourage each of you make a personal commitment to help fellow SH&E professionals in their job searches. Consider some of the things you can do to help those searching for jobs:
• Help them build their network of contacts. Call your contacts to get leads or other ideas to expand the scope of their job search. Follow up with these contacts. View this as an opportunity to build and strengthen your own networks so you are better prepared should you suddenly find yourself looking for a job.
• Stay in regular contact with the job seekers. Buy them lunch or treat them to a round of golf. Knowing they have support and someone to talk to will lift their spirits.
• Review their resumes and provide constructive comments and encouragement.
• Help them conduct practice interviews. Offer ideas on what questions might be asked and how to best answer them. This helps build confidence.
• Register to be an ASSE networking partner. In this role, you will work with a job seeker to help that person expand networks and develop job leads. This will be a rewarding experience for you and it may be a life-changing experience for the job seeker. For more information on this program, click here.

ASSE also offers several services and tools to help members searching for a job. For example, the Society recently developed a series of training modules that are available free to members. The modules cover general job-seeking advice; resumes and cover letters; networking; interviewing; using job boards; online social networking; and negotiation. To access these modules and other resources, click here.

In addition, ASSE recently launched group pages on LinkedIn for the practice specialties and branches. Through these groups you can participate in the discussions, search jobs, find resources and network with fellow SH&E professionals. To access these resources, visit www.linkedin.com, select the group directory tab and use “ASSE practice specialty” as your search term.

ASSE is also planning to partner with other associations to increase the number of new listings on the Nexsteps job board (found at www.nexsteps.org). And, the Society is developing resources to help chapters improve their networking and job search capabilities. SH&E professionals shine when it comes to doing what’s needed to help people stay safe and well. Many of us know friends and colleagues who now need help to be employed and stay well. Together, let’s commit to make a difference in their lives. Thank you for your ongoing efforts to support and advance our great profession.

“The more I help others to succeed, the more I succeed.”
—Ray Kroc

Promote SH&E During NAOSH Week

Each year, North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week and Occupa­tional Safety and Health Professional Day (OSHP) Day provide great opportunities to tell the world about the benefits of workplace safety and the key role we as SH&E professionals play in everyone’s lives. Not everyone knows that we work tirelessly across all industries and around the world to prevent harm to people, protect property and help our employ­ers be good environmental stewards. We must continue to educate the public and our communities about occupational safety and our great profession. This year, NAOSH Week is May 2-8 and OSHP Day is May 5.

Through ASSE’s work with OSHA’s Alliance program, more than 50 Alliance program participants and the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering, NAOSH Week continues to grow and reach more people each year. In 2009, nearly $4 million in services were donated and ASSE members and OSHA Alliance partners volunteered almost 2 million hours. What a tremendous way to show your passion for occupational safety.

Consider just a few highlights from 2009:
• Lamar Advertising placed 10 outdoor NAOSH Week-themed billboards in the home cities of the kids’ poster contest winners.
• American Red Cross hosted a web expo on OSHP Day.
• Region III members donated funds for and provided a brunch for more than 100 people at the National Zoo in Washington, DC.
• Turner Corp. donated bus transportation in Washington, DC, on May 4, and sponsored a lunch held at the U.S. Capitol.
• KL&P Motivation donated funds for 500 NAOSH T-shirts.
• FabEnCo, in partnership with ASSE member Cindy Lewis, donated tote bags distributed during the Washingon, DC, kickoff events.

A record number of participants attended the 2009 NAOSH Week kickoff events in Wash­ing­ton, DC. Many families of poster contest winners paid their own way, while others were supported by ASSE chapters and their employers. It’s an experience those children and their families will long remember. Take a few moments to view photos from the event here.

ASSE members also helped gather 37 state and city proclamations in support of NAOSH Week and OSHP Day—a new record. In addition, the annual Safety-on-the-Job kids’ poster contest continues to grow, with more than 850 entries received this year. Be sure to check out the 2010 winners here.

To help you support NAOSH?Week and plan activities, ASSE offers several tools, from draft proclamations and fact sheets to brochures, technical articles, presentations and much more, all available for free at www.asse.org/naosh10. No activity is too big or too small. For more information and assistance, contact ASSE’s Diane Hurns at (847) 768-3413 or dhurns@asse.org.

I also invite you to join me and other ASSE members, government leaders, Alliance partners and poster contest winners May 2-3 in Washington, DC. Our slate of activities will include events at the National Zoo, the Smithsonian, the U.S. Capitol and the U.S. Department of Labor. (Rumor even has it that Iron Man will be on hand to discuss superhero workplace safety tips.) Then, on May 5, ASSE Region I will present a major roadway safety event in Portland, OR, with several partners. And those are just a few of the many activities on tap.

By supporting NAOSH Week and OSHP Day you contribute to our profession, and advance our professionals and ASSE. You also make a major difference by providing your friends, colleagues and communities with important information that can help save lives and prevent injuries. Each year, we reach more and more people with the message to work safely. Let’s keep the momentum going in 2010!

An Investment in ASSE & You

As ASSE members, we reap certain benefits from our membership. These benefits vary for each of us as we all have different wants and needs, as well as a myriad of reasons for belonging to ASSE. Some of those benefits are indirect, such as advancing the profession and promoting SH&E professionals. As ASSE members, we also all feel different levels of commitment to the organization.

One thing is certain, however. No matter what you seek from ASSE, it is important that you help choose strong leaders who will advance the Society. March 1 brings us to an important phase in the leadership evolutionary cycle: Society elections. Some of you may be groaning at hearing the annual plea to vote, but history suggests that many of you simply will not vote. I urge you to rethink that. You invest in ASSE—your money, time, resources—and you expect to receive certain benefits in return. Why not help maximize those returns by electing the best possible leadership?

ASSE’s election process is rigorous for the candidates. The Nominations and Elections Committee sorts through all the applications to select the two most qualified potential leaders for each Society position. It is then up to you to decide which individuals will become leaders of ASSE, your regions and your chapters.

ASSE has strict rules about campaigning. This helps protect us from having a process where those with the resources to invest in the campaign have an advantage. Instead, ASSE offers several ways to learn about the candidates. You can read candidates’ biographies in the February 2010 issue of Professional Safety. Candidate bios and platform statements are also posted on ASSE’s website at www.asse.org/elections. Reading this information will help you learn about each candidate and what s/he hopes to accomplish while in office.

Another great way to learn about candidates is to invite them to call in to a chapter meeting. According to the rules, you must invite both candidates and give them both equal opportunities to speak. This creates an opportunity to hear them speak and it generates some dialogue around your members’ interests.

Another way to learn about candidates is to ask around in your network. Most of us look to our networks to find new opportunities or to get guidance on a work challenge, but networks also can be a great source of information about candidates for ASSE office.

Speaking about networks, I encourage you to ask yourself whether you are investing wisely or sufficiently in yours. A network is more than a list of people you can call. Instead, think of your network as a list of people who can, and would, call you. To establish those relationships, you must contribute value to your network. Social networking and electronic media are great ways to achieve this. You also will gain recognition, which will further extend your network.

ASSE has been striving to better utilize available tools to improve communication with and among members. From adding Ning sites to webinars and virtual symposia, and from blogs and social media groups to Twitter, we are finding new, efficient ways to bring members together. As I have said all year, we must continuously seek out and use new, cost-effective ways to serve members’ needs and to reach more of our members with more services.

Whether March is bringing you spring or autumn, this is one of the most obvious seasons of change. Look at it as an opportunity to get motivated and invest in your network and in ASSE. Both investments will produce long-term gains for your career.

Get Involved

If you are active in your ASSE chapter/section, region, area or practice specialty, or at the Society level, you can probably quickly recite a long list of benefits you receive as a result of your ASSE membership. That’s because you have learned firsthand what you gain simply by participating in this fine organization.
Over the years of my involvement, I’ve heard and said many times that the more you participate, the more you gain. Why do you think that is? What is it that ASSE offers its members?

The standard response to that question includes professional development, networking, recognition and leadership opportunities that help our members succeed professionally and personally. And all of those are certainly true. But what is it that causes the response, “the more you give, the more you get”? I think Robert Greenleaf summed it up well in his essay, “The Servant as Leader.” He wrote:
The servant-leader is servant first. . . . Becoming a servant-leader begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first. . . . The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant first to make sure other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and the most difficult to administer, is this: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?

I believe Greenleaf’s philosophy reflects well why we benefit from participating in ASSE. It is because our greatest desire is to contribute to the benefit of the whole organization. ASSE is a member-driven association. Not only does the Society exist for members, but it is run by members. Last June, we held a wonderful discussion in the House of Delegates (HOD) meeting about the role of the HOD and the governance of ASSE. The voice of the membership will direct how the Society changes as we move forward. We, as members, determine the needs of the Society and the direction it will take. This is not to say that every member will agree with each action or activity pursued. In fact, Society leaders must sometimes make tough decisions based on a wide variety of information. But every decision is made with the best interest—and the voice—of members in mind.

Being member-driven carries some challenges, one of which is engaging members to participate. Some parts of our organization struggle to find the volunteers necessary to drive the activities they wish to pursue. As members, we provide the horsepower that drives task forces, committees, chapters, regions and ASSE as a whole. I urge all of you to consider giving some small part of your time this year to contribute to ASSE. In serving the Society, you set an example for others. And, by getting involved, I know you will feel the same sense of gratitude that I do for this wonderful opportunity to contribute to our profession, our professionals, our organization and our society as a whole.

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
—Ghandi

Sustainability & Safety

By integrating ourselves into the CSR movement and by contributing to the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit in all areas, we can demonstrate our value to employers.

Welcome to the start of a new year! I’m sure you have all spent some time reflecting on the past year and planning for the year ahead. New Year’s resolutions are an opportunity to commit to improving our lives, behaviors or priorities. Do your resolutions focus on you, your family, your work?

Helen Keller said, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” One of ASSE’s goals is to promote the SH&E profession. Achieving this requires that we all are engaged in identifying opportunities where we, as professionals, can demonstrate value to employers and show our positive impact on the bottom line.

Most of us think about profits when we mention the bottom line. However, a new definition has emerged thanks to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability movements. If you are not familiar with CSR, it is the vision that companies can self-regulate to conduct business in an ethical manner, balancing profits with the expectations of customers and communities. Measuring success means focusing on the “triple bottom line”: people, planet and profit. This redefines success to include doing the right thing for our employees and our neighbors, protecting the planet and maintaining profitability. Closely tied to CSR is the concept of sustainability. While this typically elicits an environmental focus, it also includes the targets of the triple bottom line.

SH&E professionals have two distinct roles in CSR. One involves an understanding of environmental sustainability issues. Learn the key environmental issues for your organization, competitors and industry in general. Be familiar with your company’s initiatives to address environmental concerns. Look for opportunities to use the company’s environmental performance to competitive advantage. In this context, sustainability means sustaining the planet’s natural resources and protecting people from environmental harm.

Our second role is to understand the safety function from a sustainability standpoint. After all, the triple bottom line includes people and that is what we do. Safety should be viewed as the cornerstone of the people component. In this context, sustainability means implementing and maintaining programs that keep people safe, facilities intact, communities protected, supply chains secure and the organization’s mission uninterrupted. Sustainable organizations are, by definition, safe organizations, and we play a key role in ensuring that safety. We must show business leaders that the base of the sustainability triangle is the social component which incorporates workplace safety.

Why is this so important? By increasing our involvement in the sustainability movement, we could create new safety-related jobs and identify opportunities to integrate occupational safety and health into green and sustainability. For example, in construction, a safety component could be added to the green building certification process.

Many groups are seeking ways to attach themselves to the sustainability movement. To ensure that SH&E professionals have a leading role, we must communicate our value in this area. To ensure that the SH&E profession has a voice in CSR policy setting, ASSE is working to educate the business community about the importance of safety as part of good corporate governance and CSR. In addition, our new Sustainability Task Force is assessing how we can advance our role in CSR and sustainability. This includes integrating safety into the measurements companies use to rate CSR performance. It also includes providing education and information that will help you function in this new arena and demonstrate your value to your employer.

By integrating ourselves into the CSR movement and by contributing to the triple bottom line in all areas, we can demonstrate our value to employers. This will help secure a seat at the table for our profession and that benefits us all. Take another look at your New Year’s resolutions and see how you can help contribute to advancing our great profession.

Promoting Our Value

Employers want to know what you bring to the table. They want to know how you improve their bottom line and what you can do for them. They want value-add employees.

Did you ever wonder why you make the salary you make? Were you ever curious how your employer decided it was necessary to employ an SH&E professional or a team of SH&E professionals? Are you currently wondering how to be more marketable to a prospective employer, get a promotion or even improve your job security by being more valuable to your employer?

Part of ASSE’s vision is to be a global leader of the profession, and one of our goals is to promote the SH&E profession. Being the steward for an entire profession is a big task. As an organization, it is something we are working on diligently. For ASSE to lead this charge and for each of us to promote our profession, we need a clear understanding of the issue from all angles.

To develop this understanding, ASSE undertook a project to examine the value of the profession. You may be thinking, “Gosh, Chris, the value of the profession is the salary I make.” But the real answer is quite the opposite. From your employer’s perspective, your salary is the cost of the profession, not its value. Today, employers want to know what you bring to the table. They want to know how you improve their bottom line and what you can do for them. They want value-add employees.

It used to be enough to come to work and do a good job. By working hard and demonstrating skills, we earned raises, promotions and, hopefully, some respect. But today’s workplaces are different. Globalization has made the market more competitive. We all are being asked to do more with less, and the lines of responsibility for jobs blur more each day. Thus, it is more important than ever for us to define the scope of our responsibilities as a profession. It is critical that we demonstrate the value we deliver. Otherwise, employers may begin to believe that someone else can do our job just as well, making it nothing more than a collateral duty.

Through the value of the profession project, ASSE identified and examined the gaps that exist between our views of how we aid an organization and our employers’ view of our function. Most SH&E professionals would say that the safety function brings value in many ways. Safety helps reduce costs and risks, it enhances a company’s reputation, it improves efficiency, productivity, quality and employee morale. All of these attributes add to a company’s ability to compete globally. But what do senior managers think about the profession? Do they agree with our assessment or do they view the safety function as primarily regulatory in nature?

And what about the value that SH&E professionals bring to their employers? We all hope that management views us as leaders, as knowledgeable contributors who think strategically toward improving the overall organization. But is that truly their view? Or do they think of us as compliance-oriented, technical geeks? More importantly, do they believe that anyone can do safety? To learn more about the study’s findings and ASSE’s plans for the future, read the articles published in Professional Safety in May 2008 (p. 24) and November 2008 (p. 40-42).

So what can you do to help advance the profession? Consider two key insights from the study related to managers’ perceptions. First, managers surveyed felt that SH&E professionals did not meet their expectations regarding business and strategy. We can be better at planning and reacting strategically. We need to develop practical solutions that integrate safety into business productivity. And we need to better understand financial terms and evaluate proposed projects against their projected payoff.

Second, managers felt SH&E professionals were lacking in certain areas of technical expertise. Initially, I found this surprising. Then I realized that managers expect something different from a technical perspective than what most SH&E professionals target. Managers are not talking about our engineering or compliance knowledge. They are talking about our ability to speak in terms of risk to the organization. SH&E professionals could be better at assessing the probability and severity of losses and accidents that may result from hazards. We need to implement programs to evaluate hazard control and program effectiveness.

Understanding these perceptions will help us better fulfill our leaders’ expectations and demonstrate the value we deliver to our organizations. ASSE is using this information to create professional development opportunities. Each of us also must take the time to develop the skills needed to fill the gaps. Promoting a profession is a big job. Together, it’s a job we can accomplish.