Posted on Wed, May 27, 2009 @ 09:22 AM
by Andy Joy, Life Sciences Account Manager
Most seasoned EH&S professionals in the Life Sciences community have set professional goals for their career, be they short-term goals (monthly, quarterly, yearly) or longer-term goals (3-year, 5-year, 10-year). However, many new or mid-career EH&S personnel need guidance in properly planning how to grow their EH&S careers. Below are some example goals which these professionals could use as a template:
1. Develop safety efforts - Safety is the number one EH&S concern; not only for you, but for everyone involved -be the leader in promoting and developing safety efforts.
2. Get researcher / chemist "buy-in" - These are the people generating waste - instill in them how much you need their help in managing waste at the point of generation. Remember - without their help, the workload is almost doubled.
3. Liaise with Senior Managers - You need to be in front of your senior managers as much as possible to raise the profile of EH&S. You also need to share your concerns, find out how they can help, and what their goals are (publicity, etc).
4. Develop program efficiencies - work smarter, not harder!!!
5. Build the people around you - the best way to build the people around you is to educate and train them in everything you do.
6. Be an expert in the field - you can also help yourself through education and training; take advantage of the benefits your company offers.
7. Networking - get to know other people in the industry - people love to talk about what they do, and they might give you some ideas that you could implement at your company.
8. Grow your waste minimization efforts - with the world going "green" (and the reason we are Environmentalists), strive to minimize the amount of waste produced at your company.
9. Be the go-to-guy/gal at your company - be the person that when an issue or problem arises, the first person the leaders of your company turn to for a solution or an idea is you (see "be an expert" above).
10. Advancement - if you want to succeed and advance within the profession- see all of the above!
Am I missing any steps? Comment below or
let me know!