The objective of my comments today is to lay the groundwork for an interactive discussion on the topic of Integrating Environmental management with Health and Safety. I will briefly introduce the concepts of functional silos, the historical roots of environmental, health and safety integration, present an example of one industry's process that recognizes and builds on the inherent relationship between environmental health and safety management. I will follow that with a short summary focusing on a number of practices and emerging trends that reinforce and promote effort towards integration.
It is 6:30 in the morning and you are just sitting down to review your schedule for the day and the phone rings. You answer it. It is the principal from the elementary school about three-fourths of a mile south east of the plant. He is calling to report a strong smell coming from the direction of your plant. As he graphically goes on about skunks and rotten eggs, the visions he is conjuring up explode as the plant fire alarm goes off and your assurances to him that you will look into his concerns are drowned out by the wail the plant ambulance and fire truck pulling out of the garage.
So, starts yet one more day. Thankfully, there are not many days that start like this, but when they do, how do you characterize what happened and how do you deal with it? Was it an environmental problem, a process safety event, an employee health and safety incident?
Human nature dictates the path of least resistance. Usually that means, integrate the most important actions into the fewest actions. Unfortunately, we live in a very civilized, highly structured society that values individual accomplishment almost above everything else. To get to this point it has taken centuries of concerted effort on the part of many generations of individuals with almost blind single mindedness, focusing on very specific parts of the challenges we face. So at the end of the day, that leaves us bunkered down, for the most part, in functional silos, sitting on our professional pride.
Much has been said over the years about Health and Safety Systems and about Environmental Management Systems. Our presentations today will discuss the historic and current reasons that these management systems have remained, for the most part, separate and isolated from each other. The presentations will also discuss the reasons why it may make sense to integrate these systems, address how one industry has tried to approach the integration, and finally with Mr. Liska's presentation, how one company actually accomplished this effort and the benefits derived from it.
Not all companies or industries have the same complexity and conditions or requirements relating to health, safety and environmental concerns. So that you understand my perspective let me tell you, who are not familiar with ATOFINA Chemicals Inc., who we are.
