Proposed UL sustainability standard for manufacturing leaves out safety
It would appear that the manufacturing industry is about to get a new sustainability standard, but once again safety has been left out of the equation.
UL, Underwriter Laboratories, is a recognized global resource for product safety certification and compliance solutions. UL has partnered with GreenBiz.com (parent organization for Greener World media), a West Coast organization, to develop a standard for assessing corporate policies and procedures. The standard has a very short comment period and some industry groups are scrambling to provide comment.
The standard is ULE 880: Standard for Sustainable Manufacturers and it will be the first, organization-wide sustainability standard used to assess corporate policies and practices. Greener World Media is the producer of GreenBiz.com, the leading source for news, best practices, research, events, and other services related to the greening of mainstream business.
ULE 880 defines core sustainability metrics for manufacturing businesses within the following five domains:
Sustainability Governance: how an organization leads and manages itself in relation to its stakeholders, including its employees, investors, regulatory authorities, customers, and the communities in which it operates.
Environment: an organization’s environmental footprint across its policies, operations, products and services, including its resource use and emissions.
Workforce: issues related to employee working conditions, organization culture, and effectiveness.
Customers and Suppliers: issues related to an organization’s policies and practices on product safety, quality, pricing, and marketing as well as its supply chain policies and practices.
Social and Community Engagement: an organization’s impacts on its community in the areas of social equity, ethical conduct, and human rights.
UL Environment is seeking participation from a broad cross-section of stakeholders, including manufacturers, assessment and standards organizations, regulators, policy makers, procurement officers, sustainability professionals, the socially responsible investing community, and non-profit and for-profit sustainability interest groups.
But once again we find the complete absence of “employee safety.” When you read about sustainability, you will always read about environmental issues, but, rarely, about occupational safety.
It is up to safety professionals to build a bridge with those driving sustainable growth, or we will be left on the sidelines. Who or what group will take the lead?
For an archive of articles about the relationship between safety and sustainability see the Safe, Lean, Sustainable section of this site.