Sarah Ischer
Senior Program Manager III, MSD Solutions Lab & EHS Manager
National Safety Council
The New Value of Safety & Health in an Evolving World
In the past decade the world has seen rapid advancement in technologies, faced crises that have imperiled the health and wellbeing of the global population and economy, and gone through significant demographic and cultural change.
Amid this, definitions of safety and health could not and did not remain static. Even absent this level of external turmoil, the definition of safety had already been transforming in the business community, with the emergence of new thinking around leading indicators, decision making, neuroscience, Serious Injury, Illness & Fatality Prevention (SIIF), and Human and Organizational Performance (HOP).
Yet the models we rely on – philosophical and financial – do little, if anything, to account for this sea change, and metrics like injury and fatality rates have long been insufficient to express the true value and valuation of safety and health. in this fundamentally changed landscape, new models, metrics and guidance are necessary – and so are new tools.
A landmark report published by NSC this summer represents a first step toward redefining safety. Titled “The New Value of Safety & Health,” it offers sample approaches, guidance, insights, metrics and valuation pathways for practitioners to better measure, value and evaluate the financial impact of safety and health efforts in the context of human capital & ESG. This session will explore the model, unpack the tools and metrics suggested for the future, and provide a case study for modelling & action.
Sarah Ischer, MS, CIH, CSP is a Senior Program Manager III at the National Safety Council, where she leads the MSD Solutions Lab and serves as the EHS Manager. With more than 10 years’ experience in health and safety, Sarah focuses on leading employers to promising safety solutions to reduce top workplace injuries and fatalities.
Prior to joining NSC in 2021, Sarah managed industrial hygiene and ergonomics programs within complex manufacturing facilities. She is a Certified Industrial Hygienist and Certified Safety Professional and received her MS degree in Occupational & Environmental Health at the University of Iowa.