EHS Training ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT / Summer 2000 / 95© 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Spiderman vs. the Incredible Hulk

Jeff Weinrach

With great power, there must come greatresponsibility.

Spiderman, Marvel Comics

As the new columnist for “EHS Train-ing,” I wanted to start with something alittle on the light side. For those of you whodo not know the story of Spiderman, hereit is: Peter Parker was bitten by a radioac-tive spider when he was a teenager andbegan to exhibit the proportionate powersof a spider (wall-crawling, super strength,spider sense). One day, while Peter wasbasking in the glow of his newfound suc-cess as a stuntman, a crook ran by him,chased by the police. Peter did not botherto stop the crook and told the police thatit was not his business to interfere. Well,later that day, the same crook killed Peter’sUncle Ben who had been raising Peter, andPeter realized that he could have preventedhis uncle’s death if he had only stopped thecriminal when he had the chance. At thatpoint, Peter Parker made the life-alteringdecision to use his newfound powers tofight evildoers as Spiderman—and pro-claimed that with great power, there mustcome great responsibility. The rest, as theysay, is history.

So with that as the preface, we turn to en-vironmental health and safety (EHS) training.

INFORMATION AND RESPONSIBILITYAll of us are realizing that, with the

advent of the Internet, the information ageis upon us. But I also believe that we arein the age of personal responsibility and

EHS Training

stewardship as well. And there is a clearrelationship between information and re-sponsibility. With the Internet, we are man-aging our own stock portfolios, we aremaking our own travel plans, and we areeven designing our own Christmas cards.We prefer this approach not necessarilybecause we are a lazy society, but becausewe believe that we, ourselves, can do thebest job of accomplishing those things thatare important to us. We also know that, attimes, we need help. But at least we are incontrol of our circumstances, and that ispreferable to being at the mercy of others.

Over the last decade, EHS has under-gone a significant shift from complianceand regulation to personal responsibilityand stewardship. More of us realize thebenefits (environmental, economic, andsocietal) to a clean and safe workplace anda healthy environment. More EHS trainingis focusing on awareness and opportunityrather than paperwork and reports. Termsare routinely appearing in EHS literature—such as “performance” and “quality”—thatreflect the evolution in this field. Stan-dards are being viewed more often as goalsand objectives rather than as artificial con-straints. Reports are more commonly usedto document success and track positivetrends, rather than to fill a bureaucrat’sshelf. And this trend is likely to continuefor the foreseeable future.

EHS AND THE BOTTOM LINEThe productivity indicator that is often

used to reflect the health of the economy

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represents the ratio of output to hours oflabor input. According to the U.S. Depart-ment of Labor:

[L]abor productivity measures shouldnot be interpreted as presenting thecontribution of labor to production.Rather, changes over time in the out-put or labor input may reflect the in-fluence of other factors includingvariations in the characteristics andefforts of the work-force, changes inthe managerial skill, changes in theorganization of production, changesin the allocation of resources betweensectors, the direct and indirect effectsof research and development, andnew technology.

According to financial reports, duringthe fourth quarter of 1999, productivity inthe United States grew at its fastest pace inseven years. Due primarily to this signifi-cant increase in productivity, the UnitedStates is more able to compete in the glo-bal marketplace against countries and trad-ing blocs with lower productivity.

Companies now more frequently seeefforts like EHS as positively affecting bot-tom-line efficiency, productivity, and prof-itability, instead of as overhead costcenters. EHS training should be, and to alarge extent is, reflecting this shift in eco-nomic impact.

A NEW ROLE FOR EHS MANAGERSOne of the more awkward outcomes

of this shift in how EHS practices arepromoted and implemented is the re-fined—or, maybe more accurately, rede-fined—role of EHS managers. As EHS isbecoming more integrated into core busi-ness practices, EHS managers must alsobecome more integrated into corporatemanagement structures. They are takingon the natural role of facilitators and co-ordinators instead of managers.

They are still likely to be the mostknowledgeable member of the organization

regarding compliance and new EHS ap-proaches and technologies that may beapplicable. But they need to work moreclosely with process engineers and otherstaff to develop and implement cohesiveEHS programs that embody the principlesof productivity and profitability.

EHS managers need to be more awareof business strategies and how their ef-forts affect the bottom line. They need tobe able to identify costs associated withEHS, as well as the return on invest-ments. They need to have an active rolein strategic planning for the organizationso that long-term EHS goals and objec-tives can be addressed effectively. Theyneed to be viewed by the entire organi-zation as corporate assets. EHS trainingprograms must address this issue clearlyand help EHS managers adapt to theirchanging roles.

LEARNING, DOING—AND CONTINUALLYADJUSTING

Another subtle indication of thisshift is the language that I am detectingmore often in EHS training these days. Iam not hearing “how to do it” as much asI am hearing “how it should be done.”Even this somewhat minor change in in-flection from active to passive voice con-notes the understanding that EHS needsto be implemented under the oversight ofthe organization and not directed by out-side influences.

I have been an environmental con-sultant in New Mexico for the last tenyears, and one of my most vivid memo-ries dates from 1991, when I was partici-pating in a meeting with representativesfrom small manufacturing firms in thestate who were tremendously supportiveof pollution prevention programs. Theirclearly stated message to me and my col-leagues was, “We want help, but we donot want to be told what to do!” NewMexicans, generally speaking, are aproud people, and small business own-ers in the state are especially proud of

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their businesses (many are family ownedand operated).

Their message was received resound-ingly by our group, as well as by other con-sulting organizations and governmentofficials. And, since that meeting, the statehas focused its pollution prevention andenvironmental management programs onthis premise. From those meetings (andmuch planning) grew the innovative NewMexico Green Zia Environmental Excel-lence Program, which is based on theMalcolm Baldrige National Quality Awardprogram. So far, the private sector has ac-cepted Green Zia as the right mix of sup-port and guidance. The program also isbeing viewed as a model for pollution pre-vention training and implementation inother states, and nationally.

When I was in graduate school, myresearch director pulled me aside beforemy dissertation defense and reminded methat a Ph.D. does not simply mean that Idid something; it means that I learned howto do something. I believe that the sameapproach applies to EHS. Until someonecomes along with a zero pollution, zerowaste, and zero accident panacea, we willhave to identify opportunities and ap-proaches that work best for our businesses,our homes, and our communities. We haveto learn, and then we have to apply. Wehave to transform data and information toknowledge. We have to continuously im-prove. We have to be able to look aheadrather than dwell on the past. We have tobe willing to adjust when appropriate byaccepting suggestions and feedback fromstakeholders. We have to be able to look“outside the box” when it comes to inno-vation. As long as there are opportunitiesfor improvement, we should not be satis-fied or complacent.

IDEAS, ANYONE?The editor of Environmental Quality

Management and I have discussed chang-ing the name of this column. We both re-alize that the term “training” might not be

the most appropriate word to reflect howEHS policies and programs should be con-veyed these days. When we hear a lun-cheon speaker discuss economicdevelopment in our communities, or therole of computers and the Internet in ourschools, we do not consider this training,even though we probably have learnedquite a bit about how to proceed in ourown organization as a result.

For the time being, we will continue torefer to this column as “EHS Training”until we come up with a more appropriateterm. Suggestions from readers would behelpful, and are invited.

In this column, we will be exploringnew and innovative approaches to EHStraining and awareness programs. We willexamine the economic, societal, and envi-ronmental implications of these programsand how they are integrated into the corebusiness practices of successful compa-nies. And we will look at data and trendsreflecting the continuing shift in EHS fromcompliance to performance. Some of thetopics to be covered in upcoming columnsinclude environmental psychology andethics, as well as environmental educationand awareness topics.

Before I close, I want to relate the storyof another classic Marvel comics super-hero. Dr. Bruce Banner was a brilliantgamma radiation scientist who was work-ing on a new energy source for the good ofmankind. During some outdoor tests, ateenager unknowingly entered the testarea. Dr. Banner raced outside to save theboy and was inadvertently caught in theexplosion of a gamma bomb. He survivedthe explosion. But when he is put under agreat deal of stress, Dr. Banner transformsinto the monster better known as the In-credible Hulk.

The Hulk’s motto is not quite as el-egant as Spiderman’s: “HULK SMASH!”Why do I mention it here? Just to pointout that it is not a good approach for en-vironmental education. I believe that,when it comes to EHS training, we

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should always try to use the carrot ap-proaches and avoid the sticks. Focus oninternal responsibility and stewardshipinstead of external control.

Jeff Weinrach is Director of Quality and Standards with JCS/Novation, Inc. He can be reached at jbwein@rt66.com.

If you have questions or specific sug-gestions for topics for this column, pleasecontact me, and we will make every effortto address your interests.