The emerging role of the safety professional, part 2.

The landscape of your career has changed. Yours and other organizations must increasingly rely on effective leadership at all levels to motivate people in new ways. Safety professionals have long been the mainstay of EHS performance. Even as methodologies evolve, new tools emerge, and thinking changes, organizations have counted on these practitioners to guide the core of EHS functioning. Still, changes in the business landscape are beginning to change that role. Businesses have moved to flatter organizational models, leaders have less discretionary time, and competition is increasingly global. Whether you are working at a plant site or in a corporate office, the new reality is that what made you successful in the past may not be enough for success in the future. This article is the first in a series on the emerging role of the safety professional in today's business landscape. The series will outline how safety professionals can successfully navigate the issues and opportunities of new business realities for personal, professional, and organizational success. We begin with a look at the new landscape safety professionals must work within, the opportunity these circumstances present, and the major pitfalls that can derail a safety professional's credibility and value in this new environment. The Safety Professional in Today's Organization Whether called an industrial hygienist, safety manager, loss prevention engineer, or any of a myriad of other titles, the safety professional's core duty is the prevention of events that cause harm to people, property, or the environment. Traditionally, the safety professional has been viewed as a technical expert who must be proficient in a wide range of methods, controls, and administrative tasks in order to drive safety functioning. There was a time when being a good technician and " safety cop " was sufficient for career success. That is no longer the case. Today, merely applying effective safety controls requires navigating an increasingly complex organizational landscape. To start, safety professionals must contend with threats to people that exist in greater number and variety than ever before, among them pandemics, terrorism, and on-the-job violence. Within the organization, old, reliable landmarks have shifted—beyond recognition, in some cases. Fewer people must do more work faster and with fewer resources. Technology is moving at light speed. Employees work under less supervision, in flatter organizations, and with responsibility for increasingly complex decisions. The workforce is also aging, and years of downsizing have left a declining manufacturing base …