As Nicole Wilkinson, executive director of corporate health, safety & environment at CVS Health, takes on a new position as chair of the National Association for Environment, Health & Safety, and Sustainability Management (NAEM) board of directors, she reflects on how EHS professionals’ roles are going beyond compliance.
“Business competitiveness along with the declining condition of our planet is where the importance of sustainability and corporate social responsibility emerged, Wilkinson, said in an NAEM blog. "Our profession is not only reporting our progress to our company’s Board of Directors, but EHS&S professionals are often sitting on boards, and our profession is helping lead and guide companies. Post pandemic our profession is further elevated, and our companies rely more on us now than ever.’
She sees the current state of the profession as providing new opportunities. Here are a couple (excerpted)
There are many new Opportunities in our Evolving Profession:
- EHS&S is going beyond health and safety, towards setting standards for total worker health and wellness. We are not only responsible for keeping our colleagues physically safe but also promoting their overall health and wellness and improving and enhancing their lives with wellness resources and programs such as mindfulness, fitness and stretching programs. We are collaborating with our HR partners to create recognition programs to help promote a safety-first culture. We have also had to learn how to lead effectively in remote or hybrid environments. Moving beyond the basics of safety because we know when we cultivate a psychologically safe environment, we encourage open communication where our workers feel they can share concerns and ideas which leads to improved engagement and safer outcomes. We understand that overall health and wellness allows our workers to bring their best to work every day.
- EHS&S is preventing and addressing workplace violence and supporting Corporate Security teams. Our employee safety programs are evolving to address the increased risk in workplace violence and social unrest. We are focusing on code of conduct policies and de-escalation training programs to meet these increased demands and emerging state level regulations. These new focus areas are needed to cultivate a safe environment.
- EHS&S is delivering value through cutting-edge software management solutions and technology applications that allow our companies to be leaders. Our metrics and dashboards are playing critical roles in supporting our operations partners not only to track compliance but to help them deliver operational excellence and promote a strong EHS culture. Our Management Information Systems are becoming critical tools allowing us to meet both internal and external reporting requirements and demands.
Read the full list here.
Editor's Note: For more recent blogs from Wilkinson and others at NAEM, please visit https://www.naem.org/connect/blog/