Karen Hamel is a regulatory expert, trainer, and technical writer with more than 27 years of experience helping EHS professionals meet regulatory requirements and industry standards. She has more than 300 articles published on a variety of topics related to EHS.
Karen is a Certified Safety Professional (CSP), a Certified Instructional Trainer (CIT), a Walkway Auditor Certificate Holder (WACH), an OSHA-Authorized Outreach Trainer for General Industry, and a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Trainer and Hazmat Technician. She serves on the Blair County, Penn., Local Emergency Planning Committee.
Currently, she works for HalenHardy, a company that engineers product solutions and services to help clients prevent water pollution and preserve the U.S.’s freshwater resources.
For our latest Faces of EHS profile, we sat down with Karen to discuss the power of curiosity, different generational values in the workplace, and the importance of focusing on ESG in the industry.
Q: How did you get your start in the field?
Insatiable curiosity. My first job after college was working as a customer service representative. The company was young and growing fast. If you were willing to learn, they were willing to teach you or get you the training you needed to succeed.
An opening came up in technical services that required someone to research and learn OSHA, EPA, and DOT regulations. This was in the early ’90s, before you could find anything you ever wanted to know on the internet. I’d have to read hard copies of CFRs and do a lot of research. It was a challenge that I fully embraced.
In college, I had completed an internship with a PR firm that specialized in clients with environmental compliance issues. So, I had at least heard of OSHA, EPA, and DOT. I soon came to realize how much I didn’t know, and how much more there was to learn—which was thrilling to me. I love every minute of diving into laws, regulations, and consensus standards to find answers and help clients find new ways to keep their workforce safe and prevent pollution.
Q: What’s your favorite and least favorite part about working in the industry?
Being able to travel all over the country to meet and help EHS professionals in industries ranging from steel foundries to pharmaceuticals solve problems and make their workplaces safer is one of my favorite things. I also love the fact that no matter how long you’ve been in the field, there is always something more that you can learn.
My least favorite part is the gut-punch of having to deal with managers, supervisors, and C-suite executives who value production over safety. Although I can do it, I don’t enjoy having to “sell” safety and doing cost/benefit analysis to justify getting five minutes for housekeeping or funding to improve work conditions. With companies beginning to focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts, this is becoming a little bit easier. As EHS professionals start to gain more visibility by reporting on the things they’ve been doing for years, I’m hoping that this wall will start to come down.
Q: Where do you see the industry in five years? Are you seeing any trends?
One of the trends that I’m excited about is ESG. At first blush, it can seem like just a bunch of extra reports that will need to be done. However, the reality is that most of us are already tracking a majority of the things they want to see anyway. Now, all of those reports that may have only gotten a token nod or mention will have greater visibility. This, in turn, will hopefully provide a larger arena for EHS professionals to get the resources that they need to provide better, safer workplaces.
In the next five years, we’re also going to continue to see more baby boomers retiring. Capture their knowledge before they’re gone! Start now. Don’t wait until two weeks before the retirement party.
I truly hope that the next five years will bring more reshoring, and with it more jobs and opportunities all over the country. I love the emerging trend of micro-training. I think that it will be a great for onboarding as well as ongoing safety trainings and refreshers.
Q: How has the COVID-19 pandemic complicated or exacerbated problems with safety culture?
The pandemic has caused anxiety on so many different levels. For many people, focus has shifted from continual improvement to just doing what you need to do to make it through today. It’s no secret that everyone has experienced added stress as a result of the pandemic—and this feeds into several aspects of a company’s safety culture.
Focusing on mental health issues and work/life balance has never been more important, not only for workplace safety, but also for everyone’s general well-being. Before the pandemic, I tended to view these topics as human resources issues. But employees who are distracted, angry, exhausted, stressed or anxious can also be a serious safety issue. Our safety cultures need to acknowledge and include these issues so that we can teach everyone to recognize them early and make corrections and reduce risks.
Q: How will safety culture look in the future?
Young employees who are just now entering the workforce don’t tend to root themselves with one company and stay there until retirement, like former generations did. They demand better, more flexible working conditions; and if they don’t get them, they leave.
If our safety cultures smack of inconsistency, or they are simply not present, [young employees] will leave for another organization that has its act together. Safety cultures, like other aspects of business, will need to be transparent and consistent.
Q: Do you have any advice for people entering the profession?
Be passionate. Be curious. Don’t be afraid to go down a few rabbit holes to find the answers you need. Never settle for the way things have always been done. Join professional organizations and network with others who can help you find solutions—and who you can help.
Being a safety professional isn’t always easy, but it is always worth it. There’s always something new to learn and something that can be improved. It’s a magnificent journey!