PARK RIDGE, Ill. - (Jan.11, 2017)– This statement is attributable to ASSE President Tom Cecich, CSP, CIH:

“The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) applauds the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for recognizing, in its white paper, “Sustainability in the Workplace:  A New Approach for Advancing Worker Safety and Health,” the great opportunity the corporate sustainability movement provides to encourage better commitment to worker safety and health. 

In 2011, ASSE and other concerned organizations established the Center for Safety and Health Sustainability (CSHS) to advocate for inclusion of worker safety and health in the efforts of corporations and other organizations to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability.  Too often, the Center found, a corporation succeeded in raising attention to environmental successes but overlooked unacceptable levels of injuries, illnesses and even fatalities among its workers. 

OSHA’s white paper helps raise awareness of the need for organizations to include workplace safety and health risks in any measurement of sustainability. 

ASSE and the Center look forward to working with OSHA to help disseminate this report and to continue to work towards inclusion of occupational safety and health in the sustainability movement. 

 A company cannot be sustainable if its workers face risks that make their wellbeing unsustainable.”   

The member organizations of the Center are ASSE, the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), the Canadian Society of Safety Engineers (CSSE) and the Institution for Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).  More information on CSHS can be found at http://www.centershs.org/index.php

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Founded in 1911, the Park Ridge, Illinois-based ASSE is the oldest professional safety organization and is committed to protecting people, property and the environment. Its more than 37,000 occupational safety, health and environmental professional members lead, manage, supervise, research and consult on safety, health, transportation and environmental issues in all industries, government, labor, health care and education. For more information please go to www.asse.org.