Many businesses use EHS management system and may never stop to wonder why. EHS management system protocols are important because they prevent a significant number of illnesses, injuries, and environmental hazards. Organizations like OSHA along with worldwide EHS management efforts have made corporations safer for workers. EHS programs are important because they prevent tragedy and protect the health and safety of workers. OSHA has conducted many studies that show the clear benefits of using EHS programs.

Improving environmental health and safety performance within your organization requires an in-depth understanding of management principles and the leadership skills to drive change. A candidate needs to be able to build leadership buy-in for health, safety, and environmental initiatives, lead teams effectively, and create strategies for integrating EHS principles into the culture of any organization, including in a crisis.

In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has called for EHS leaders to take on and delegate many new and non-traditional environmental health and safety duties. From testing how to best disinfect disposable masks using radiation to organizing the collection of PPE from labs for distribution at hospitals, EHS professionals are playing a wide range of roles in responding to the pandemic that call for adept leadership skills.

In documenting the stages of a corporate environment, health and safety, and sustainability (EHS&S) manager’s career, the underlying hypothesis was that distinct changes in responsibilities, knowledge areas and skills would emerge based on the numbers of years of a professional’s experience.

The profiles of each career stage featured later in the report will provide a detailed analysis of how and when these subtle shifts take place, highlighting how professionals at each stage arrived at their current position, the defining characteristics of that stage of their career, their current role and responsibilities, the key knowledge areas and skills for their career stage and what awaits them in the next phase. These profiles represent each of five ‘stages’ of an EHS career, characterized as follows:

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Successful EHS&S leaders are well-rounded professionals

One of the key findings of EHS&S Career Profiles is that it takes more than technical know-how to be a successful EHS&S professional. The most effective EHS&S professionals possess systemic thinking and communications skills to explain technical processes across departments, functions and geographic borders. Additionally, the EHS&S professional’s ability to transition from a manager to a leader to a decision maker rests on business acumen, interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively.

This webinar will provide an overview of developing skills and career as EHS professionals in India.