The anniversary of the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that spurred workplace safety in 1911 is a time to refocus on steps that help protect workers everywhere.
The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) has published the fourth installment of a corporate safety insight report that contains firsthand views and experiences of business leaders from all industries. Environmental health and safety (EHS) professionals can use these key observations to make strategic decisions that drive improvements at their companies and around the globe.
Valuable feedback and context from seasoned executives is gathered each year through ASSP’s Corporate Listening Tour, an activity that helps inform and direct ASSP as a trusted advisor as well as corporate initiatives that protect worker safety, health and well-being. The project is led by CEO Jennifer McNelly, CAE, who meets with a broad range of safety executives to discover trends impacting their companies and the safety profession.
“Investing in safety is a direct investment in people, business sustainability and long-term success,” McNelly said. “The latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that nearly 5,300 fatal work injuries occurred in 2023, meaning that a worker died every 99 minutes. That’s not acceptable. On-the-job fatalities are preventable.”
ASSP’s 2025 report from its Corporate Listening Tour describes EHS as a business imperative and identifies three interconnected themes that shape workplace safety today:
- Workforce Challenges: The Shifting Labor Market. This theme explores workforce instability and retention; the development of company leaders, and mental health and psychological safety.
- Aligning Safety With Business Strategy. This theme examines leadership commitment and decision-making, risk management and connecting safety to the bottom line, and going beyond legal compliance.
- Safety Leadership and Culture. This theme involves moving from compliance to influence, using safety as a competitive advantage, and strengthening employee engagement.
“The report proposes a set of questions to help spark discussions among safety teams and with their colleagues and corporate leaders,” said ASSP President Pam Walaski, CSP, FASSP. “It’s through proactive conversations about trends and potential risks that we can better integrate program improvements to reduce worker injuries, illnesses and fatalities.”
