EHS on Tap

There's a whole lot of information currently floating around about the COVID-19 pandemic. The trouble for those of you in Environment, Health, and Safety roles is that it can be difficult to hunt through all the noise to find actionable steps you can take now to prepare your organization to safely reopen to your workforce and the public.

On this episode of EHS on Tap, we’re discussing the National Safety Council’s recently launched Safe Actions for Employee Returns (or SAFER) Task Force with none other than the president and CEO of the NSC herself, Lorraine M. Martin.

Every environment, health, and safety professional knows that leading an EHS team can be daunting, requiring you to spread your attention across many different business areas simultaneously. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to dramatically change how we work, and EHS professionals have had to react to those shifts to ensure they meet their organization's needs.

Joining us today on the podcast is Sheryl Corrigan. Sheryl is director of EHS for Koch Industries, Inc., providing oversight of Koch companies’ compliance with regulations and internal policy, and tracking and ensuring follow-up on emerging issues. Before joining Koch, Sheryl was commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, advising the governor and helping set the strategic direction for the state on environmental matters. She has also worked for 3M in a number of positions focusing on EHS operational excellence.

Post-accident drug testing is one of the most persistent problems for occupational health and safety managers. The issue has been complex for some time, but the recent patchwork of state regulations surrounding the legalization of cannabis (or marijuana) adds a whole other level of potential confusion. So for today’s episode, sponsored by OraSure, we’re going to chat with a drug testing expert about what you need to know.

Joining us today on the podcast is Bill Current, President of the Current Consulting Group and a 30-year veteran of the drug testing industry. Bill is the author of 10 books on substance abuse-related issues and a regular presenter at conferences, seminars, workshops, and webinars, and he is widely considered one of the leading experts on drug testing and the drug testing industry. Bill will also be presenting an upcoming free webcast for the EHS Daily Advisor titled “Accidents at Work: Understanding Post-Accident Drug Testing in the Age of Legal Pot Use,” on Tuesday, April 28, at 2 PM Eastern time.

The EHS profession is constantly evolving and these ongoing shifts present both challenges and opportunities. We've all heard that hindsight is 20/20, but today we're looking to provide our listeners with some foresight into what to expect on the safety front as we progress through the year 2020. With that goal in mind, we're talking with a veteran safety professional who can guide us through a little bit of what the future may bring, from the need to develop new professional skills to the influence of technology on safety.

Joining us today on EHS on Tap is Terry L. Mathis, the founder and CEO of ProAct Safety, an international safety and performance excellence firm. Terry is known for his dynamic presentations and writing in the fields of leadership, operational performance, and behavioral and cultural safety, and he is the coauthor of Lean Behavior-Based Safety: BBS for Today's Realities; Forecasting Tomorrow: The Future of Safety Excellence; Steps to Safety Culture Excellence; and Developing a Safety Culture: Successfully Involving the Entire Organization.

Terry will also be presenting the opening keynote address titled What's Next for the Workplace Safety Professional: A 20/20 View on day one of the EHS Daily Advisor's upcoming Safety Summit taking place April 6th through 8th in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Workplace violence prevention should be a priority for every environment, health, and safety professional. Although you may feel certain it could never happen at your organization, planning for the possibility of a violent incident is essential for ensuring that your employees stay as safe as possible. On our latest podcast episode, we’re talking to a violence prevention expert who has the advice you need on everything from red flags to regulation, plus we’ll talk about his own prevention philosophy, called “MOVE.”

Today we are joined by Hector R. Alvarez, the President of Alvarez Associates, LLC. Hector is a Certified Threat Manager specializing in workplace violence prevention, and he holds a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice and a Master of Science in psychology. With prior experience ranging from city police officer to a security director responsible for protecting one of our nation’s most sensitive critical infrastructures, Hector has personally assessed and/or responded to thousands of potentially violent situations, developed numerous violence prevention programs, and trained tens of thousands of employees and managers in the areas of crisis intervention, active shooter response, violence prevention, domestic terrorism, and emergency management.

For those performing tasks in high-risk industries, personal protective equipment, or PPE, is their last line of defense. It’s important to be as informed as possible about all of the PPE necessary to performing a job safely, but you may have some questions about the proper uses of flame resistant (or FR) garments within your PPE program. Fortunately, we have an expert on the podcast today that can provide you with the information you’re looking for.

On today’s episode, we’re joined by Derek Sang, Technical Training Manager for Bulwark FR. Derek has been involved in the flame-resistant clothing industry for over 20 years, taking on a variety of roles in the garment business from service to manufacturing to training. Over the course of his career, Derek has developed and conducted over 250 educational and informational seminars on FR technologies and the hazards of arc flash and flash fire for a variety of organizations. In his current role, Derek has developed over 40 hours of training curriculum for The Bulwark Institute, which focuses on non-commercial training for individuals and companies on thermal hazards and how to properly design and implement an FR clothing program. Along with being a recognized Subject Matter Expert, Derek is also a Qualified Safety Sales Professional; Certified Environmental, Health, and Safety Professional; and a Certified Safety, Health, and Environmental Technician, making him the perfect expert to answer all of your burning FR questions.

There are many organizations out there that promote safety, and one of the most well-known organizations that is deeply committed to promoting safety both at work and at home is the National Safety Council, or NSC. On this very special episode of EHS on Tap, we’re going to talk with the new leader of the Council about her background, her vision for the organization, and what she sees as the biggest emerging trends in workplace safety.

We’re very excited today to be joined by Lorraine M. Martin, the president and CEO of the National Safety Council. Lorraine has served in a variety of leadership roles including U.S. Air Force officer, executive vice president and deputy of Rotary and Mission Systems at Lockheed Martin, and co-founder and president of the nonprofit Pegasus Springs Foundation. As a champion for advancing women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), Lorraine was recently named among STEMConnector’s 100 Corporate Women Leaders, and she joined NSC as its new president and CEO this past June.

In our latest episode, we’re talking about a form of personal protective equipment that is almost synonymous with safety itself: Head protection! Head injuries are incredibly serious, so it makes sense that the hard hat has become the PPE that is particularly emblematic of safety. However, other than a few fit tests or maybe the color occasionally changing from yellow to white, blue, or orange, some may think that there’s little to be changed or improved upon with traditional hard hats—but they would be wrong! Head protection is evolving to be more effective, comfortable, and easy to use, and new solutions are helping to protect the workforce better than ever before. In today’s EHS on Tap episode, sponsored by Ergodyne®, we’re taking a special look at head protection with a couple of experts who are on the cutting edge of the evolution of this important form of PPE.

Joining us today on the podcast are Chris Cota, Product Manager for Ergodyne, and Aaron Skemp, Ergodyne Product Specialist.

There are many initiatives demanding the attention of EHS managers these days, but two things are near the top of every safety professional’s priority list in today’s work environment: One, improving organizational safety culture; and two, leveraging appropriate metrics and data to improve safety performance. What some of these professionals may not fully realize, however, is that the two can overlap—and while you can take steps to measure your company’s safety culture, you have to strategize your approach in a different way than you would while analyzing your other workplace safety metrics. You may feel like you don’t know exactly where to begin, but we have an expert here today with some fantastic ideas to help get you started.

Joining us for today’s episode is Chuck Pettinger, Ph.D., Process Improvement Leader at Predictive Solutions, a fully owned subsidiary of Industrial Scientific Corporation.

As an environment, health, and safety professional, there’s a good chance that you’ve gotten the feeling that you are perceived as a cost center by senior management—however, whenever you try to communicate the value of EHS in a meeting, are you met with blank stares, sideways looks, or just in general feel like you’re speaking a foreign language? It’s a perpetual challenge for professionals in this field, and knowing how to communicate is a must. But how can you learn the lingo you need to convey value across the company? Well, we’re getting some help in today’s episode, sponsored by Cority, as we’re talking to a dedicated EHS veteran who can help you learn the language you need to make an impact within your organization. Joining us today is Pamala Bobbitt, Vice President of Product Marketing at Cority.