CSSE- Panelist Discussion on SH&E Competencies for Sr

CSSE- Panelist Discussion on SH&E Competencies for Sr. Level Professionals 9 Sept 2007

Millions of people go to and return home from work safely every day due, in part, to the efforts of you, the occupational safety, health, and environmental professional, who work day in and day out identifying hazards and implementing safety and health advances in all industries and at all workplaces, aimed at eliminating workplace fatalities, injuries, and illnesses;

Occupational safety, health, and environmental professionals and members of the American Society of Safety Engineers work to prevent accidents, injuries, and occupational diseases, create safer work and leisure environments, and develop safer products – they are committed to protecting people, property, and the environment;

Recently workplace fatalities as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for 2006. We remain challenged as even one fatality is too many. "Our members everyday contribute to creating, through prevention efforts, a workplace that is injury and illness free. Business and labor must continue to work together with government to reach the ultimate goal of zero fatalities," Thompson said. "The BLS report noted that 5,703 people lost their lives on-the-job in 2006. The report indicated the number one activity in the workplace that led to fatalities was again transportation incidents.

"Globally our members work everyday in a prevention mode to achieve the goal that everyone goes to and returns home from work safely every day." "They work in every industry and throughout the world. And every day we are looking for and implementing new and innovative ideas aimed at preventing injuries and illnesses in the workplace."

1 The Department of Labor's BLS National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries for 2006 released today show 5,703 people died from on-the-job injuries in 2006 compared with 5,734 in 2005. Fatal highway incidents remained the number one cause of on-the-job deaths claiming 1,329 lives, accounting for nearly one out of four fatal work injuries. Falls ranked second claiming 809 lives with being struck by objects as the third cause of on-the-job fatal injuries with 583 fatalities. Workplace homicides ranked fourth claiming the lives of 516 workers. With this unfortunate information as a backdrop let me turn to why yours and my competencies must be razor-edged sharp…..

(Advance to slide 2)

Today I am very honored to join this distinguished panel to address competencies for senior-level SH&E professionals.

We live and work in a seamless society – yes our cultures, languages and governments may be different, but the desire for excellent SH&E performance transcends these differences -- applying to all people, businesses

As such, professions are facing change and reinventing or adding on to their competencies to address emerging worldwide issues and problems while businesses are doing the same

Today I’d like to share with you a perspective from a US- based professional organization that is transforming to a global organization serving SH&E professionals

ASSE, founded in 1911, is the oldest and largest professional safety society …we are a a global member-driven

2 association providing representation, promotion and support for those engaged in the profession and/or the practice of safety, health and environment. You all know the importance of SH&E or you would not be here – we need to continue to promote safety, health and environmental issues, the SH&E profession and its positive effects. Together we continue to communicate with our members and key stakeholders around the world in our efforts to deliver the service and products professionals need, detect and resolve duplicate efforts and unite our efforts so that we may all achieve our goal.

To do all this we must continue to focus on mutually defining and building competencies for the SH&E profession…..

A safety, health and environment professional through academic preparation, work experience, and accredited certification or licensing has mastered and applies a recognized body of knowledge to prevent injury, illness, property and environmental damage, while adhering to a recognized code of professional conduct.

And so as a sh&e professional we must bring certain competencies to our workplaces

Competencies are the requisite ability or qualities people need to be effective in their jobs and meet the organization's needs

They are a combination of knowledge, skills, behaviors and aptitudes which produces good performance.

3 A common competencies framework promotes a unified profession through mutual agreement of what is required to be proficient

Many professions are facing change and reinventing or adding on to their competencies to address emerging issues and problems.

I want to share a book that you might find useful….In his book… Leading Quietly – An Unorthodox Guide to Doing the Right Thing- Professor Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr. of Harvard Business School stated; …”In today’s fast and fluid business world, nothing is as it seems.”

So as we operate in a more rapidly changing world, without the stability or certainties of the past, SH&E professionals need competencies; that aid us to recognize the different demands and challenges that workers and yes we too face.

The subject of competency is broad. Many experts do their best to define what are competencies…I take a simpler approach and offer this Competency Model as an illustration of the categories of competencies we need as professionals and for the changing needs of our world….I hope this simple model will provide some clarity and consistency to today’s conversations.

Foundation skills - these underpin all other competencies in the model. Consistent application of these skills is required in all parts of a business Core competencies - these have been determined to differentiate between excellence and mediocrity in business performance Technical & professional skills - these are the responsibility of the SH&E discipline to define and address based on the nature of the business

4 Executive competencies - these are also common throughout the business and address those attributes considered vital to world class leadership across the globe

So let me briefly discuss each category; They are organized to allow senior SH&E professionals to baseline their current competencies against this idealized model.

The first category of competency is the Foundation Competencies; these underpin all of what effective SH&E professionals do…..

SH&E - Understanding the part you play in SH&E Management System; Playing your part through personal example in behavior and leadership; Playing your part by managing risk and providing assurance; Playing your part through SH&E communication; Playing your part by managing change; .Playing your part through accident investigation; .Playing your part through emergency preparedness.

Interpersonal - Actively listening to gain understanding of what others mean; .Encourages others to express ideas and opinions; Uses written, spoken language(s) and body language to express ideas and information clearly; .Understands factors affecting communication; .Communicates information so that it is timely and relevant; Uses a range of media (face-to-face, telephone, email, meetings, etc.) appropriately; Able to use personal impact as an aid to influencing others; Able to use and interpret numerical data in ways that aid communication

Digital - Working on the Web; Basic Business and Technical Software; Personal Productivity.; Information Security; Collaboration; Connectivity

5 Financial - External Financial World, Understanding Accounts, Control and Planning, Economic Evaluation Methodology

Project Management - Project Planning, Estimating, Controls, Procurement, and Risk Management

Procurement – the ability to manage needs, source, and purchase in a competitive business world

The debate continues on the need for setting a minimum level of competence for the safety, health and environment professional in the U.S. First published in 2003, ASSE is the Secretariat for the ANSI Z590.2 standard that sets a minimum criteria for safety professionals, practitioners, technicians/technologists which can be and is used by businesses and other organizations when setting the competencies needed of a safety professional and more ASSE’s Scope & Function of the Professional Safety Position/Safety Studies addresses the Technical and Professional Competencies:

This approved American National Standard codifies the scope and functions of an occupational safety, health and environmental (SH&E) professional. The standard is available for free for ASSE members and can be found on the ASSE web page at www.asse.org

I think today we should begin the process of doing so for SH&E professionals worldwide.

The second category of competencies from my model is Technical and Professional

6 ASSE Scope and Function of the SH&E Professional addresses Technical and Professional Competencies

It’s the education and experiences that keep us in demand as subject matter experts and enablers to business. In working together with SH&E professionals from all backgrounds the criteria for establishing the scope and functions of the safety professional were incorporated into ANSI/Z590.2-2003

So let me just add a bit of research associated with competencies…..

Dr. Earl Blair, CSP, of the University of Indiana conducted a study of CSPs and safety educators about core competencies. His study identified these five competencies as being of the highest importance:

The third category of competencies “Core” are: Business Insight - Demonstrates clear understanding of the business context of the company; Displays awareness of the broader impact of actions on colleagues, community, and environment; Understands internal and external customer needs and exceeds their expectations; Takes account of inter-relationships between customers, suppliers, and the organization; Understands the business levers and takes advantage of appropriate financial and IT tools; Aware of competitor's actions and their impact on the business.

7 Innovation - Thinks outside the normal parameters; takes unusual perspectives on situations and challenges; Demonstrates openness to new ideas; Gains new insights by challenging fixed assumptions; Strives for breakthroughs as well as incremental solutions; .Actively seeks know-how & opportunities from the external environment and applies them; Looks for ways to do things better, faster and more efficiently.

Taking the Lead - Paints a picture that inspires others to contribute in a way that ensures alignment; Willingly takes the lead when challenges occur; .Promotes open & effective communication; Coaches others to help their development; Uses a range of styles to influence and gain enrollment; Facilitates others to play to their strengths.

Partnership & Team - Actively promotes a positive team spirit; Builds networks to enhance effectiveness and share knowledge; Actively seeks know how & best practice related to own area of contribution; Demonstrates shared commitment to team success; Demonstrates respect for other people's cultures and perspectives.

Performance Bias - Focuses efforts and prioritizes work to deliver business value; Overcomes obstacles and adapts approach to achieve outstanding results; Exceeds expectations of contribution and performance; Takes responsibility for achieving challenging safety, environment and business goals; Bias for action; Does things before being asked to or forced to by events; Manages the balance of cost and value.

Wise Decisions - Progresses issues - even when only partial information is available; Considers the merits of differing positions or opposing viewpoints; Anticipates future situations and plans ahead to meet them; Clarifies the key issues in complex and ambiguous situations; Uses innovative approaches to understand implications of seemingly

8 unrelated information; Takes appropriate risks and manages the implications of actions.

In addition to what Blair found, to be competitive in the global environment, ASSE members know that the profession must build a sound business case for safety; and this brings me to the fourth category of competencies

At ASSE we continue to enhance those core competencies and trigger creative thinking through many of our professional development programs, our technical books, our updating and development of key standards, providing communication tools for our members, networking, professional and government affairs activities, interaction with the media, common interest groups, partnering with OSHA and the DOT, and much, much more

As we advance in our careers as senior sh&e professionals the fourth category of competencies that determine our effectiveness fall into an “Executive” category of competencies…

(Advance to slide 14) Our members believe that sh&e should be viewed as a profit-center, not as a cost-center

SH&E professionals need the competencies to communicate to corporate management that a sound SH&E management system not only protects workers, the environment and communities where we do business, but also positively impacts the bottom line and preserves brand and reputation value. We simply must be speaking the language of business…

(Advance to slide 15) Here is a one model for all of us to consider…..its an expansion of the typical quality cycle of plan do, check act…..

9 Let me comment on what we are doing at ASSE to help the SH&E Professional in pursuit of their career competencies….

(Advance to slide 16) ASSE has developed this Program. It fills a specific need for our members, the Executive Program in SH&E Management certificate signifies accomplishment of critical moves toward maximizing sh&e program performance.

It is a program for safety, health, or environmental professionals who aspire to a higher level of achievement in SH&E management and need to: demonstrate SH&E system success; gain an advantage in career objectives; and open up opportunities for long-term achievement.

Let me offer this career progression descriptor as a way to show the relationship of the four competency categories to a person that is growing into their SH&E profession.

Here you will see a progression from entry to expert; the young career minded person developing from awareness at the start of their careers to our advanced career professionals who are recognized “experts” in their respective organization or industry.

I do want to change pace a little here and briefly discuss what I believe to be an opportunity for ourselves;

(Advance to slide 18) Setting of competencies for SH&E professionals is influenced and often determined by external forces…..

10 Dr. Blair’s study is a good one, but our ASSE VP of Finance Darryl Hill noted that…… SH&E Professionals MUST be Creative – to seek different ways to accomplish goals and engage the workforce

Hill asks how can the safety function be viewed as a value- added resource when so many suppliers advocate purchasing a safety program?

(Advance to slide 20) Hill notes that although great strides have been made, the SH&E profession continues to be known for inspections and safety glasses and warns SH&E pros cannot continue to operate in a reactive mode…..allowing others to define our profession

To perform the SH&E function well, we must rely upon our competencies as I have described earlier We are challenged to stay current with new technologies, changes in laws and regulations, changes in the workforce, the economy, and the political and social climate We must be good stewards of our allocated resources and funds By acquiring the knowledge and skills of the profession, developing the mindset and wisdom to act responsibly in the employment context while keeping up with changes that affect the sh&e profession, one is able to perform the professional functions with confidence, competence and respected authority

Our profession is growing worldwide. We need to continue to move forward, …we work to meet our members’ needs for a safer today and tomorrow by providing the tools they need to not only do their job, but to think creatively and to help them get beyond the “safety glasses mystique”

11 So I propose that starting today we take this discussion and find ways to develop an international minimum level of competence for the sh&E professional.. After all that will certainly contribute to everyone’s efforts in protecting people, property and the environment.

Thank you very much for being host to such an important discussion at the CSSE conference, it is an honor to participate and I urge you to contact me if you have any questions.

Make this your best conference ever!