PARK RIDGE, Illinois — The Center for Safety and Health Sustainability (CSHS) is encouraging safety and health professionals around the world to let their voices be heard over the next month on a key international standard connected to corporate sustainability. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is seeking feedback on proposed updates to GRI 403: Occupational Health and Safety. The comment period is open through Oct. 9.
The GRI 403 standard – part of the first global standards for sustainability reporting – details reporting practices related to occupational health and safety (OHS) that can be used by any organization wanting to fully report its sustainability impacts.
According to GRI, the standard is being revised to reflect internationally supported best practices as well as to align it with recent developments in OHS management, including the upcoming ISO 45001 standard. Improvements include greater emphasis on hazards and the application of the hierarchy of controls. Also proposed are better methodologies for calculating injury and illness data, and new leading indicators based on how workers are covered by management systems and have access to occupational health services.
"The GRI 403 standard provides a lever for change in corporate reporting practices on OHS globally,” said Kathy A. Seabrook, chair of the CSHS Board of Directors. "Safety and health professionals need to step up, participate and influence the final standard through this public consultation period. It’s a significant development in our profession.”
Safety and health professionals should consider the following questions when reviewing the revised standard:
• Do the performance indicators demonstrate an organization’s true OHS performance?
• Are the performance indicators feasible and practical to implement across all organizations?
• Will the data produced be useful to you and a wide range of stakeholders?
• Do you suggest changes to the proposed disclosures and reporting requirements?
GRI is presenting a webinar on the proposed standard on Sept. 26. Feedback on the update can be shared online.
CSHS, whose member organizations represent more than 100,000 OHS professionals around the world, was a key influence behind GRI's creation of a working group to examine OSH performance indicators. Since its launch in 2011, CSHS has worked extensively to define OHS performance in corporate sustainability reporting. It aims to standardize the corporate disclosure of sustainability data to assist all organizations in protecting the well-being of workers as well as the environment.
About CSHS
The Center for Safety and Health Sustainability (CSHS), established in 2011, is a not-for-profit organization committed to advancing the safety and health sustainability of the global workplace. CSHS engages safety and health partners around the world to work toward minimum standards that help reduce workplace injuries and illnesses. CSHS is a collaborative effort by the American Society of Safety Engineers, American Industrial Hygiene Association, Canadian Society of Safety Engineering, and Institution for Occupational Safety and Health (UK), representing over 100,000 workplace safety and health professionals. For more details, visit www.centershs.org.
Media contact: Blaine Krage, 847.768.3416, bkrage@asse.org