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WASHINGTON – The
US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration today
released a white paper, Sustainability in the Workplace: A New
Approach for Protecting Worker Safety and Health, highlighting the
importance of including 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. 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).
“It is clear that more and more businesses are building the
concept of sustainability into their operations,” said Dr. David Michaels,
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. “We believe
the next innovation is integrating worker safety and health into these
sustainability strategies.”
The paper highlights ways in which sustainability can be
leveraged to reimagine and identify innovative approaches for advancing 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 safety and health for sustainability reporting.
These are only a small fraction of the opportunities that
exist. Further engagement between OSHA,
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, to engage with us, and to download the
paper, please visit http://www.osha.gov/sustainability.
For updates and information about OSHA and workplace safety
and health, follow us on Twitter.
@OSHA_DOL
Under the
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for
providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role
is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by
setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and
assistance. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.
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