As we prepare to jump into the new year, EHS Daily Advisor reached out to experts throughout the industry to get their predictions for what will happen in EHS and workplace safety in 2025. Here’s what they had to say.
What are the biggest challenges for EHS leaders in 2025?
Langdon Dement, MS, CSP, Global EHS Advisor, Evotix
There are multiple things to consider here:
- How to continue driving engagement for employees around safe operations (i.e., ensuring employees are actively aware and engaged in EHS matters).
- Balancing mental health, wellness, well-being, and general health and safety all in one. As workplaces become more robust and complicated, employees do as well. That is a lot of for EHS leaders to juggle while maintaining the “typical” workplace health and safety.
- How to think differently about EHS. In other words, looking past the usual incidents we experience, and developing new ways to overcome the “typical” and “atypical.” SIFs (serious injuries and fatalities) are a perfect example of this. As the number of serious incidents and/or fatalities increase, leaders must figure out different methods for preventing them.
- Incorporating new and emerging technology in workplace processes. In many cases, this is vastly different from the previous processes, and leaders must determine how to create a simple alignment for using new technologies effectively and efficiently.
Scott DeBow, Director of Health & Safety, Avetta
Moving their organizations from a compliance framework to a performance framework. Modernizing the knowledge and approach across business functions and technology platforms.
Subena Colligan, CIH, CSP, Principal Coach, S. Colligan Coaching
The geopolitical landscape will continue to drive our decision-making. Regulation will be more relaxed domestically but continue to be more stringent in places like Europe and Australia. This will impact the EHS leaders’ global strategy to make decisions based on best practice, to protect people and the environment. They will need to be aligned to the organization’s strategy and have the ability to influence executive leaders to make the best value decision over the minimally required choice. Not all companies will choose the best value decision. Over the next five to 10 years, we will see the companies that choose the best value to distinguish themselves in the revenue market and the labor market.
How will technology play a role in workplace safety in 2025?
Langdon Dement
More than ever. As technology continues to evolve and play a larger role in everyday life, it will additionally play a large role in the workplace. When used effectively, technology can improve several organizational aspects, such as:
- Creates a clearer understanding of what’s happening in the workplace
- Provides simple processes for employees to be engaged and aware of all things EHS (i.e., training, incident reporting, hazard reporting and identification, etc.)
- Real-time data, insights, and understanding of EHS in the workplace
- Centralized system for EHS management
Scott DeBow
Leading organizations will consider whether singular platforms or multiple platforms, how they complement and inform the organization’s goals and strategies from multiple business perspectives (e.g., legal, HR, procurement, operational, sales).
Subena Colligan
More data centers, semiconductor manufacturing, and mining for natural resources will appear around the world to support the AI boom and the emergence of quantum computing. There are significant industrial hygiene hazards that we will need to prepare for, and that already exist.
What EHS issue has you most concerned?
Langdon Dement
Realistically, a couple of things. One, how can we manage and reduce the number of SIFs which are occurring. If we continue doing the same thing around EHS, yet expect different results, what are we really doing to improve our organizations? Secondly, the workplace is continuing to become complex with various demographics, personalities, challenges, and more. How can we, as EHS leaders, driving continuous improvement and, overall, a greater degree of safe operations while balancing the mental health, wellness, and well-being of workers in the midst of the “normal” health and safety matters?
Scott DeBow
Sociotechnical factors related to the increasing SIF rates, suicide rates in our workforce and the issue of exploiting labor (e.g., forced/slave labor).
Subena Colligan
Economists suspect that there will be more mergers and acquisitions under the Trump administration with fewer red tape barriers expected from his cabinet. Companies are going to get bigger, making multi-state control strategies more important. Also expect to have strategies to integrate cultures. While mergers and acquisitions create great value for shareholders, it will take time to integrate companies and create a new normal. It may be best to have a framework in place to quickly assess risk, areas of opportunity, and justify the resources to make it happen. If possible, the EHS leader should have a seat at the table, preferably with the Board of Directors, for the purpose of M&A to properly prepare for what is coming and work the necessary resources into budgets and any risk assessments into pre-merger/acquisition rather than post/reactive.
What’s an emerging safety issue that EHS managers should start thinking about?
Langdon Dement
Much of what I said above is very applicable here.
Scott DeBow
The increasing importance of improving our business acumen within the safety profession to better communicate and develop strategy alongside adjacent business stakeholders: legal, HR, Procurement, operations. As well as learning to communicate up, laterally, and down the organization.
Subena Colligan
Africa and India are prime markets for multinational companies as their resources and young populations are prime customers and employees. We will likely see more professional EHS organizations serving these groups and a pursuit of the professional certifications like the CIH and CSP.