Try one of these strategies to get promoted in EHS

Ultimately, getting promoted in health and safety is as much about performance as it is about perseverance.
At a base level, you need to manage your workload effectively and actively contribute to the team.
To move forward, you must take on responsibilities beyond the scope of your current role.
For that reason, here are six ideas you can use to get promoted as an EHS professional.

Transform an internal EHS process to get promoted in EHS

Compliance variables change constantly, and you need to respond quickly. Factors like employee turnover, process equipment, product lines, quality standards—even politics—directly impact your site’s safety needs. As an EHS professional, you must recognize these changes and adjust your approach accordingly. Improving internal EHS processes gives you a clear path to promotion because it shows leadership and foresight. When your team handles daily responsibilities efficiently, you can respond to unexpected events faster. To get started, consider improving these internal processes:

• Incident reporting
• Recordkeeping of injuries, incidents, and near misses
• Incident investigation and root cause analysis
• Workers’ compensation claims management
• Data management with EHS software
• Requisition of safety supplies like first aid kits, PPE, etc.
• Employee safety training and onboarding

This is an effective promotion strategy because it keeps the scope of your attention within the EHS department. That means you’ll have more control over the outcome of your efforts and your direct supervisor will be able to see your contributions.

Spearhead a sitewide safety initiative

Successful EHS programs keep workers informed and engaged regarding site safety. Lead a sitewide safety initiative to boost engagement and strengthen communication between your department and the rest of the workforce. This can help you get promoted in EHS.

Try a new approach to hazard communication or build an incentives program that supports your path to promotion in EHS. In this case, use creativity to stand out from your peers. However, focus on execution above all. Starting a safety initiative and failing to finish it creates more harm than doing nothing at all.

Therefore, document the entire initiative from start to finish. During your performance evaluation, use that documentation to present clear, measurable results.

Oversee a major EHS project

Indeed, leading a major project helps you earn the recognition you need for an EHS promotion to get promoted in EHS. In addition, it demonstrates your ability to take ownership and manage multiple responsibilities at once. For example, consider these project ideas:

• Expanding women’s PPE access at your site
• Starting a safety committee
• Replacing outdated processes or equipment with an alternative
• Creating a new system for reporting hazards, near misses, etc.
• Coordinate the implementation of a new technology tool

It’s important to pick a project that doesn’t affect your performance in other areas. Ideally, choose one that aligns with the work you’re already doing.

Find a way to cut costs

Traditionally, executive leaders have viewed the safety department as a cost center, although this viewpoint has begun to change over time. One way to impress senior leadership is to find significant cost cutting measures that don’t affect performance. This can get you promoted in EHS.

Examples of areas where you might lower costs include:

• Vendor contracts (PPE, first aid supplies, etc.)
• Time spent processing paperwork
• Regulatory compliance
• Property damage or injury costs

Choose your approach based on the resources you control. If you work as an EHS specialist without budget authority, frame your idea as a recommendation. If you manage the budget as an EHS leader, cut unnecessary costs and highlight the savings to show your impact.

Either way, lowering costs demonstrates your ability to find creative solutions to business problems. It’ll help you stand out to senior leaders so you can get promoted even faster.

Increase the PPE adoption rate to get promoted in EHS

Although PPE is the last line of defense, it still plays a major role in any EHS program. That’s especially true if your team struggles to get workers to wear the gear. Increasing your site’s PPE adoption rate is a great way not only to prevent incidents but also to boost engagement and ultimately get you promoted in EHS.

Do a perception survey with your workers to answer these questions:

• Why don’t workers wear their PPE?
• Are there any issues with the PPE you provide that make workers not want to use it?
• Do employees know the PPE policies you have in place?
• Do supervisors enforce the PPE requirements?

Use the answers to these questions to figure out how to increase PPE use. For example, you may need to find a PPE supplier that has more sizes or styles available. Or maybe you need to do a PPE hazard assessment and redetermine which equipment is required for each process.

Make sure you find a way to track PPE adoption over time. Doing job surveys can help you quantify performance before and after you implement your changes to suppliers, policies, or procedures.

Track, analyze, and reduce near misses

Many companies don’t carefully track near misses which is a HUGE missed opportunity. Near misses offer tons of insight that you can use to improve your entire safety program. If you want to get promoted, consider making this your new mission.

Start reducing near misses by creating a standard reporting process and training workers to use it. Analyze each report to find out which departments, processes, or equipment cause the most risk. Use that information to design specific controls and remove those hazards.

Track near misses consistently to show your proactive approach to safety. When you lower incident rates through your efforts, you clearly demonstrate your value as an EHS leader.