Janalee McKnight originally planned on a career in academia before making the move into the world of EHS. For the past four years, she’s worked as Senior Manager, Global Health & Safety Training Programs, for the VF Corporation.
VF Corporation is one of the largest apparel, footwear, and accessories companies connecting people to the lifestyles, activities, and experiences they cherish most through a family of iconic outdoor, active, and workwear brands. VF has 40,000 associates globally in distribution, retail, and offices.
For our latest Faces of EHS profile, we sat down with Janalee to discuss putting research into action, selling the concept of safety to businesses, and the importance of communication.
Q. How did you get your start in the field?
When I was an undergraduate student at Colorado State University, I attended a graduate student seminar on occupational health and safety leadership in the construction industry. This moment was pivotal in my career path because it opened a whole new world, the world of health and safety that I had never known existed and I was excited to lean in. This moment turned into an educational focus on occupational health psychology and later a master’s degree specializing in safety and ergonomics at Colorado State University. I focused my early career on academia at the Colorado School of Public Health Center for Health, Work & Environment, researching and publishing work on wearable technology as a determinant of workload among varying work groups and Total Worker Health. Published work includes Occupational Physical Activity Among Brewery and Office Workers and Total Worker Health: A Small Business Leader Perspective.
The research was exciting but often disappointing because some of the findings and recommendations are never actually put into practice. From this, I wanted to take action and be a part of the actual change by bringing my research background into practical application in the field. I then worked at the City and County of Denver creating, implementing, and evaluating safety programs among Public Works employees.
For the past four years, I have worked at VF Corporation (Vans, The North Face, Timberland, Dickie’s) as the Senior Manager, Global Health & Safety Training Programs where I oversee safety programs for over ~40,000 associates and VF’s 12 subsidiaries.
Q. Who has been your biggest influence in the industry?
I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have had more than one major influence in the industry. In my academic career, Lee Newman (Colorado School of Public Health), Natalie Schwatka (Colorado School of Public Health), John Rosecrance (Colorado State University), and Gwen Fisher (Colorado State University) were invaluable to my success. There was a brief moment during graduate school when I was feeling burned out from research and questioned whether I wanted to continue in the field and Lee and Natalie took me under their wing to rekindle my passion and enthusiasm for safety.
In the practical world and at VF, Kyle Cutsail is a safety leader that I aspire to emulate. He taught me the true importance of building a business case for change and how to bring levity to safety—because sometimes we get too serious with it!
Q. What’s your best mistake and what did you learn from it?
I was very naïve as a young safety researcher and professional in that I thought that by educating employers that this or that initiative is the right thing to do, that they would just have a lightbulb moment and implement these amazing (or what I thought were amazing!) recommendations I had. That is certainly not the case, not because employers and leaders don’t want to do the right thing, I truly believe the vast majority want to do the right thing- but simply having intrinsic motivation isn’t enough when we are talking about making a business case. I learned very quickly that I needed a business plan and ROI in addition to “what the research has demonstrated.” As safety professionals, we are in a sense selling safety. Yes, legal requirements are non-negotiable, but we still have to make the business case for proposed changes and tell a story about how this is going to make the company perform better.
Q. What’s your favorite and least favorite part about working in the industry? Would you change anything?
My favorite part about working in the industry is the connection with people. This is one of the only professions where what you do daily, and it has a profound reach because safety affects everyone and there are no exemptions. I have the privilege of connecting with every level of associate to make safety personal and that is truly special.
Change in itself is challenging! When programs, procedures, or policies need to change, it can be intimidating and hard for folks. This is something that every EHS professional experiences and we just have to continue to do our best to communicate the “why” behind change and make the case relevant to each intended audience.
Q. What are your thoughts on safety culture? How can company leaders make safety a value within their organization?
Safety culture is the golden ticket to a successful safety program but it’s easier said than done. You can’t have culture without first assessing and working on your safety climate, the perception of safety at a given point in time. It takes work—every single day. To have a successful safety culture, we need to foster both a top down and a bottom-up approach. Safety is everyone’s responsibility and if that’s engrained into daily operations, then introducing new initiatives or challenging existing processes is so much easier because you already have a support network built in.
Q. What safety concerns or issues do you think need more prioritization in EHS programs?
Communication, period. The technical reasons behind EHS initiatives are often clear but it’s the ability to adjust the delivery method per audience that is often underestimated or not practiced enough. We all want the same thing: safe, healthy associates, but EHS professionals often fail to gain traction when delivery of the message is not adjusted to best meet the goal. As EHS professionals, we need to make the communication plan (i.e., how am I going to sell this idea to leaders and obtain buy-in from floor-level associates?) part of the program.
Q. What will be the impact of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles on the EHS industry?
ESG is already very impactful in the EHS industry because as EHS professionals, we are asked to provide ESG data and engagement information for publications. With that said, ESG is not necessarily disparate from EHS because there are many similarities like criteria, reporting, and often same responsible parties. At VF, EHS and ESG operate as separate business functions but consistently overlap because many risks overlap. I believe that we will continue to see the intersection of ESG and EHS progress and become more streamlined to align with investor interests.
Q. How will new safety technologies influence the work being done by EHS professionals?
Cutting edge technology continues to challenge safety professionals in new ways. Here’s an example that I believe applicable to any industry: At VF, we have distribution centers that vary in size and age. The older facilities foster an increased frequency of manual material handling and consequently more ergonomic-type injuries. As safety professionals, we try our best to redesign processes to eliminate the risk but sometimes that isn’t possible given the nature of work (i.e., loading/unloading shipment) and we become reliant upon administrative controls.
The newer distribution centers were designed to eliminate or significantly reduce this risk through automation and robotics, which have served the intended purpose of reducing injuries. Yet, there are now other risks introduced with technology. Some of these risks include pedestrian traffic around robots, new lockout tag/out processes and procedures for entering cages with automation, upper extremity injuries from repetitive or fine motor skills (i.e., handling a computer/tablet/pushing buttons vs. unloading/loading trucks).
EHS professionals must continue to adapt to new technology and embrace the changes or we won’t be able to keep up with the mitigation of risk.
Q. What are you most proud of?
I am incredibly proud to work for a company that values health and safety. VF puts in the work every day to create a strong culture of safety among every brand and operation. Our leaders and associates drive safety which has led to major improvements in safety metrics and consequently, a more efficient business because we “Own It” when it comes to health and safety. To know that I have directly contributed to our success is truly an accomplishment. VF was recently recognized by EHS Daily Advisor as a recipient of the Safety Standout Award for Safety Technology and Innovation.
Q. Do you have any advice for people entering the profession?
Gain as much field experience as you can. This is something my faculty advisor, John Rosecrance, made a priority, and it was invaluable. Seek opportunities to accompany faculty mentors, consultants, and professionals on site visits to become more proficient in assessing risk among different industries. Demonstrating that you can practically apply knowledge of risk assessment in varying situations is essential when applying to jobs.