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Safety and Health All Year Round
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Safety and Health All Year Round

  • Publish Date: Posted 11 months ago

Helping create a better, safer and more sustainable world.

As today, Friday 28th April, recognises ‘World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2023’ we speak to two of Shirley Parsons Senior Management team from both the UK and US, to find out more about what H&S means to them and, why they are so dedicated to their work in the industry.

Nick Farkas, Director of Project Services at Shirley Parsons says:

“In my opinion, over the years, H&S has developed, grown and improved hugely.  In the past, the traditional approach it would be hazard and risk based – identify the hazards, assess the level of risk and then design and implement mitigations to lower the level of risk and control the hazards. 

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with this approach and, if executed correctly and diligently, it works.  But forward-thinking organisations have now adopted approaches to safety not just based on process, but on the people as well, and have started to consider the human element and how it influences decision making and factor this into their safety programmes making them more holistic and richer in terms of scope and effectiveness. 

“Human elements, for example Humans in Organisational Performance (HOP), Narrative Datasets in Predictive Safety, Collective Mindfulness, Brain Centric Reliability and even aspects of Behavioural Psychology all add to the mix and move safety from reactive to proactive which, in turn, helps to ensure safety is preventative and therefore, ultimately stop the ‘event’ from even taking place in the first hand.”

Shirley Parsons Lead EHS Consultant in North America Tony Militello, P.E., CSP, CQE, CRIS says:

“Health and safety in the workplace has and continues to evolve from being seen as an impeding obligation to an enabling opportunity to enhance not only operational excellence, but also the quality of professional and personal lives of the employees. 

“Further, healthy and safe decisions, behaviours, and environments are no longer expected to be limited or isolated to the workplace, but rather conditions that transcend the workplace to enable people to live their richest and fullest lives at home, at work, and at play. In parallel with organizational evolution, so too are workers growing to expect more from their employer as it relates to a healthy, safe and environmentally conscious workplace.

“As organizational and individual momentum continues to build towards a future where safety is a global core value and, a fundamental human right, health and safety at work will continue to leverage technology solutions, sustainable operations, limitless talents of a diverse and inclusive workforce, and continuous improvements to weave a brighter future into the fabric of a healthy and prosperous society.

Safety and Health at Shirley Parsons

Here at Shirley Parsons, we work in partnership with organisations to solve health, safety, sustainability, wellbeing and quality challenges through the provision of HSEQ & Sustainability expertise in the most efficient and sustainable way.

Taking place on 4th May, the Beyond HSEQ movement will be meeting once again to continue exploring the themes touched on in November, this time with a focus on technological change and human connection.

This year's topics include:

  • Exploring some of your biggest fears and threats to what you do

  • Reconnecting with the very human essence of what you do

  • Developing communication skills to influence at the top level of your organisation

To find out more about Beyond HSEQ or to attend next week's event, register your interest here: