NEW ORLEANS – Underscoring its dedication to advance safer, healthier, more equitable workplaces, the National Safety Council presented the inaugural Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Safety Champion awards during the opening session of its 2023 Safety Congress & Expo to recognize stand-out safety professionals who share its commitment to fostering safer environments and outcomes for all.
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Safety Champion recognition includes three award categories:
- Culture, which honors organizations that have excelled in embedding DEI into their organizational culture and demonstrated their commitment to advancing psychological safety.
- People, which recognizes organizations that have effectively identified inequities and successfully promoted diversity across their safety operations and workforce.
- Program Innovations, which awards organizations that have successfully used innovation to address barriers to both physical and psychological safety underrepresented groups may face in the workplace.
“Equitable workplaces are safer workplaces. It’s why a key tenet of the Council’s workplace practice focuses on helping employers adapt safety solutions to their unique environment to support all employees,” said Lorraine Martin, NSC president and CEO. “The National Safety Council is recognizing and celebrating those that have embraced the intersecting nature of safety and equity because everyone deserves to work in an environment where they feel welcome, included and safe. These inaugural winners aren’t just making this a reality for their workers each day, but they have also provided a valuable DEI blueprint we hope other organizations will follow to create safer workplaces for all.”
The 2023 DEI Safety Champions for each category include the following organizations:
- AtkinsRéalis (Culture DEI Safety Champion) – While DEI has been a key component of the AtkinsRéalis’ strategic framework for years, the company deepened its focus on psychological safety in 2022 through the administration of their Psychological Safety Perception Survey. Using this feedback, the company is better equipped to build on its areas of success, like its ongoing work to promote diversity across its talent pipeline and supply chain as well as identify areas of opportunity to empower holistic employee wellbeing.
- Tetra Tech (People DEI Safety Champion) – Since 2018, the company has successfully reduced injury rates by nearly 60%, in part due to the company’s ongoing work to involve employees at every level in the design and implementation of their safety programs. In addition to ensuring safety trainings are disseminated in multiple languages across their global workforce, Tetra Tech has eight Employee Resource Groups it uses to understand and discuss the safety topics most important to its frontline workers.
- L.M. Sessler Excavating & Wrecking, Inc. (Program Innovations DEI Safety Champion) – Understanding that employees are often the first to recognize a potential safety risk, the company successfully streamlined their reporting process to increase employee inclusion and make it easier for workers to notify leadership of potential hazards or near-miss situations through a QR code using their smartphone. Sessler also enhanced their safety inspection process through the use of a safety audit app and adopted new software to more easily manage employee safety trainings and certifications.
Any organization with at least 50 employees that champions DEI may apply or be nominated for the award. Learn more about the DEI Safety Champion Recognition program, and for other awards, visit nsc.org/awards.
About the National Safety Council
The National Safety Council is America’s leading nonprofit safety advocate – and has been for 110 years. As a mission-based organization, we work to eliminate the leading causes of preventable death and injury, focusing our efforts on the workplace and roadways. We create a culture of safety to not only keep people safer at work, but also beyond the workplace so they can live their fullest lives.
