OHS as a Helping Profession

Introduction

Walk this journey of inquiry with me. Read how those who work in occupational health and safety (OHS) feel about their work, what it means to them and how they see themselves. Could OHS be a helping profession? How would that explain many of the challenges, even suffering described on these pages? What would that mean to those who design the curriculum to prepare people entering this career? What is the true nature of their contribution and are our workplaces better because of them?

In his book, Holding fast: The struggle to create resilient caregiving, William Kahn (2005) wrote that the increasing pressure to care for more people with fewer resources meant that epidemics, burnout, high staff turnover, dissatisfaction, and internal conflict appeared inevitable. The Covid-19 pandemic converted his prediction into reality. This information was very public for the teaching and healthcare professions. The safety and health occupation crisis was silent and deserves a voice.

In the last 23 years I have known and spoken with hundreds of bright, caring, amazing and hard-working OHS practitioners at all levels of the organization. Throughout this study a picture emerges of a group of individuals who care about people, want to help them and speak up to create a safe place for others. They are individuals that help workers manage their stress. Who stay connected with employees, listening to their concerns and responding, all the while treating people with dignity, respect and empowerment. But many feel their contributions are invisible, even rejected.

I don’t feel that many realize the importance of the safety professional’s role in the workplace. Being present and available is a comfort to workers because they know that you are doing everything in your power to help them. S&H Advisor

Our job can be very thankless, unappreciated, and a day to day grind. We can start to get caught up in feelings that our work doesn’t matter, it is sometimes hard to see tangible results from safety initiatives, and at times it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. EHS Manager

This picture does not describe everyone who works in OHS, but it does for a large number. Yet, descriptions about caring or helping cannot be found in any official definition in professional associations or educational curriculums. In fact it seems that the institutions in the business of shaping OHS are not in touch with the reality of who is attracted to this field.

“Indeed, I have found no evidence anywhere globally where language such as ethic of caring or helping is used. The Occupational Health and Safety Professional Capability Framework (INSHPO), a global framework for practice uses no such language. Similarly, the INSHPO The Value Proposition for the Occupational Health and Safety Professional Literature Review (Borys). In addition the curriculum in OHS has nothing to do with the helping profession. Robert Long, PhD creator of Social Psychology of Risk (SPoR)

Participants revealed that half of them had thought of or were thinking of quitting their job due to stress, lack of recognition and workload. At the same time, 70% would recommend OHS as a career and have no intention of leaving the profession.

It could mean that they work in environments where others do not see the value they add in a way that they see it themselves. Or perhaps there is a mismatch between how practitioners see their role and the functions management expects them to perform. One thing that becomes apparent in the comments shared by practitioners is that the ones who stay in their jobs have found a place where they feel seen and heard. Conversely some of them remain on the job even though they do not feel management understands their value added, but they have learned to cope with those circumstances and feel fulfilled in their job.

This not a new situation. There was a lot of stress during Covid-19. But, even before the pandemic Sam Goodman wrote about a dire situation in the profession in his personal narrative, Safety Sucks.

I am completely done with seeing safety professionals die young of heart attacks, strokes, or suicide. I am tired of watching people lose their relationships because of this job, I am over watching people suffer at work because we refuse to do anything about it, and I’m sick of witnessing the depression that exists within our profession. We simply pretend that the problem does not exist, all the while professionals are suffering.(2020)

Goodman’s book is part of an underground rebellion emerging from the industrial halls of safety engineering. To tell the story of this rebellion one has to go to sources like LinkedIn and Facebook because these voices do not appear in the professional journals, associations and academic institutions. The walls of social media are covered with graffiti shifting the emphasis in safety from engineering, programs and control to supporting people, teaching and influencing. There is a growing emphasis on respect, inclusion, caring, helping, and teaching—right next to system risk. Perhaps the least understood part of this movement is moving the OHS role from fix-it person to teacher, advisor and facilitator.

IT'S A QUESTION OF IDENTITY AND PERSONAL PURPOSE

The question of whether or not OHS is part of the helping profession could be quite important to their personal wellbeing. A sense of self and identity is vital to mental and physical health (Tajfel, 1978). Individuals with a sense of life purpose are less likely to have heart attacks, strokes, and dementia. Purpose contributes to better cognitive function. They also reported greater satisfaction with life and overall wellbeing (Sutin, et.al., 2021).

Interviews in this study revealed the causes of stress as lack of inclusion and recognition as well as a misalignment of purpose. Some practitioners entered the career wanting to make work safer for employees, but found themselves directed to other responsibilities resulting in stress and disillusionment.

I have to remember the purpose of my role. Make front line workers safer, not make board members feel better. Safety manager

Our sense of self, identity and purpose do not exist in a vacuum. If it isn’t supported by those around us it has no meaning. When a person feels their work and contributions aren’t valued it feels like a personal loss. Understanding these dynamics can help OHS practitioners manage their stress, depression and other social issues. It improves decision making, something important to the individual and the organization where they work (Moss, 2019).

The social influences on identity are sometimes called cultural and can overpower an individual’s sense of right and wrong (Milgram, 1974). Since these influences are mostly unconscious, understanding these dynamics can help the practitioner recognize these social pressures so that they can make a conscious decision to follow or not follow group norms that go against their values.??

Overall the identity of OHS professionals is scantly covered (Provan, Dekker & Rae, 2018, 2019). Provan, et.al, interviewed 13 safety professionals in one organization to explore their professional identity. This is different from social identity because it involves outside agencies such as universities and government regulations that determine who can belong.

Some of the themes that emerged from the Provan study that also appeared in this one was that a moral identity makes the safety occupation similar in motive to the more researched caring professions, most notably, nursing and social work. They noted that safety professionals often identify their work as a ‘calling’ beyond merely a career or job, and were more likely to view their work as a reason for being. They postulated that this moral motivation explained why safety professionals feel stressed when their advice is not taken in the work place. That remains to be verified since there are many possible motivators that trigger stress such as loss of status, exclusion or unfairness. The same study also identified self-doubt about their effectiveness and inability to make a difference as a source of stress. The latter did come up in these interviews.

Identity issues and their impact on the practitioners’ mental health as well as their decision to quit or remain in the occupation will come up through our study. There is confusion about their responsibilities, and there is no commonly accepted name for the role or what constitutes a safety and health professional. This confusion comes out strongly in the controversy about adding psychosocial hazards and mental health to safety management systems.

SEVERAL QUESTIONS EMERGED.

·??????If OHS a helping profession what would that mean?

·??????Why does the OHS role have so many names?

·??????Why is it so hard to describe what they do?

·??????What are the demands that misuse the practitioner and add to stress?

·??????When and why do OHS practitioners feel unheard?

·??????Could the mental health of OHS practitioners lower or raise safety performance?

·??????Why isn’t there more research to study the stress levels for OHS personnel and how to alleviate it?

To begin answering these questions data gathered through interviews and correspondence was analyzed to identify common themes. They seemed to fall into questions about:

1.????Social and professional identity and purpose: This includes self-perceptions of OHS as a helping and caring profession. And, concerns about the changing nature of the responsibilities exemplified by adding mental health as an OHS responsibility

2.????Psychosocial work conditions contributing to stress levels: Some of these include exclusion, being blamed, as well as long hours with little recognition.

3.????Why people were thinking of quitting their jobs or the occupation. About 50% of participants had thought of quitting their job. Most would stay in the occupation.

4.????Adaptation of practitioner’s ideal to the reality of working in OHS.

It is hoped that the information shared here will result in practitioners seeking support and employers willing to provide it. It would be mutually beneficial to all concerned. Lowering stress levels and meeting psychological safety needs of all employees results in better problem-solving, awareness, and increased capacity for uncertainty and empathy (Edmondson, 2006; Leroy, et.al., 2012; Hunt, et.al., 2021).