OSHA, Government Insiders Discuss Workplace Safety and Health ...

Two former OSHA administrators and the director of NIOSH discuss key occupational safety and health challenges during a panel discussion at the America?s Safest Companies Conference in Chicago.

At a Sept. 12 government insiders panel discussion at the America?s Safest Companies Conference in Chicago, former OSHA administrators Ed Foulke and John Henshaw and NIOSH Director Dr. John Howard discussed employee engagement, the cost benefits of safety, the business implications of worker health and additional occupational safety and health challenges.

Moderated by EHS Today Editor-in-Chief Sandy Smith and presented to hundreds of ASC Conference attendees, the panel discussion covered topics including the changing health and wellness landscape for U.S. employees, worker engagement, the cost benefit of safety and the importance of approaching occupational safety and health holistically.

?Safety is a series of destinations, but we?re on a continual path to improve safety. You never get to an end goal,? said Ed Foulke, partner with Fisher & Phillips LLP, who served as the assistant secretary of labor for OSHA from 2006-2008.

Occupational Health Outlook

Foulke launched into a discussion about occupational health during the panel session by highlighting one of the nation?s most prevalent health concerns: obesity. As more teenagers and young people are impacted by obesity, their poor health will subsequently alter the American work force in the future, he suggested.

?This is your incoming work force, the people who are going to be working for you. They?re going to be bringing pre-existing illnesses [related to obesity], which will impact your health care costs,? Foulke said. ?Because of their physical characteristics, they?re going to get injured quicker, more frequently, and recovery time will be longer.?

Employees? sedentary lifestyles and lack of physical fitness will impact more than their own health ? it may also compromise a company?s viability and ability to succeed. Foulke warned that the health problems of the younger generation will ?dramatically impact? companies? workers? compensation costs, and he warned that no company will be exempt.

?Unless companies have a comprehensive safety and health managements system, which includes a wellness program, you?ll be out of business,? Foulke said. ?There?s no middle ground on this issue.?

?Health care costs drive employers in the United States. It?s just the way it is,? added Howard. ?How the health care stuff works out is going to be a very big deal to companies.?

Source: http://ehstoday.com/osha/osha-government-insiders-discuss-workplace-safety-and-health-challenges

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