by Brianna Crandall — December 23, 2016 — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) just released a white paper, Sustainability in the Workplace: A New Approach for Protecting Worker Safety and Health, that highlights the importance of integrating worker safety and health in the growing movement toward sustainability and corporate responsibility.
Sustainability strives to balance social, environmental, and economic considerations to achieve long-term success and viability, explains OSHA. Responsible firms currently embrace the “triple bottom line” of people, planet and profit to achieve sustainability goals. While these efforts have mostly focused on environmental issues, such as resource usage and emissions reductions, attention is now turning to other aspects of sustainability, including occupational safety and health (OSH), notes the agency.
The paper highlights ways in which sustainability can be leveraged to reimagine and identify innovative approaches for advancing worker safety and health, which include:
- Creating new partnerships to support integrated OSH and sustainability activities;
- Enhancing interdisciplinary training and education for workers, the OSH community and business professionals;
- Measuring the impact of safety and health performance on business outcomes;
- Recognizing employers that successfully integrate OSH into sustainability efforts; and
- Improving access to data on worker safety and health for sustainability reporting.
These are only a small fraction of the opportunities that exist, says OSHA. Further engagement between the agency, the OSH community, and the sustainability community can help identify new pathways for promoting a culture of safety and achieving a workplace that is truly sustainable.
For more information or to download the paper, visit the OSHA Sustainability in the Workplace Web site.
