Pam Walaski, president of the American Society of Safety Professionals and owner of RiverLure OSH Services, has a long career helping employers ensure their workers come home safely.

Walaski has 30 years of workplace safety and health experience. In July, she became ASSP’s 110th president. She also serves as chair of the ASSP Foundation, the society’s charitable arm.

Walaski is an ASSP Fellow and an adjunct faculty member for Indiana University of Pennsylvania as well as the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has received several honors from the ASSP, including the Charles V. Culbertson Outstanding Volunteer Service Award, Region VIII Safety Professional of the Year, Council on Practices and Standards Safety Professional of the Year and article of the year awards from “Professional Safety” in 2011, 2017 and 2021.

She is the author of “Risk and Crisis Communications: Methods and Messages,” published in 2011; an editor of the “Consultants Business Development Guide” that ASSP published in 2015; a section coordinator for the second and third editions of the “Safety Professionals Handbook;” and a contributing author of “The Wiley Guide to Strategies, Ideas and Applications for Implementing a Total Worker Health Program,” published in September.

Walaski is only the ninth woman to lead ASSP in its 113-year history, but she is the fourth female president in the past six years. The industry veteran shares her journey and her take on the ever-evolving safety profession.

You have quite an impressive history in promoting safety—what interested you in this profession?

I was not originally in this profession. I received undergraduate and graduate degrees in social work and spent 14 years in that field before I realized it wasn’t the right fit for me, so I went back to school and completed another undergraduate degree in environmental protection science.

I was working for an environmental remediation firm when one of the principals said that they wanted me to take on the safety program for the company. I asked them, “Why me? I don’t know anything about safety.” They told me they thought I was a quick learner and really needed someone to take over the role. So I agreed, and here I am 30 years later with a career that has been an incredible gift to me and one that I most likely would never have picked for myself.

Since I’ve been in this field, I’ve felt strongly about promoting the incredibly valuable work that we do, day in and day out. Safety professionals are a very passionate and committed group of people who believe in their mission.

You’re a chapter author in a new book, “The Wiley Guide to Strategies, Ideas, and Applications for Implementing a Total Worker Health Program.” What are some takeaways that safety professionals should consider?

There has been a lot of interest in the past few years on the concept of “total worker health.” Much of what I’ve seen has been theoretical. When my friend and colleague Linda Tapp asked me if I wanted to write a chapter for a book she was editing on how to implement total worker health, I was happy to contribute.

My chapter is on risk management, and the primary theme is that the processes, tools and techniques we use to manage more traditional safety risks associated with physical hazards, like falls and confined spaces, can be adapted for use by an organization that wants to manage the risks to their worker’s well-being. By using a traditional risk management approach, an organization can assess and treat the risks, leading to a stronger focus on total worker health.

What are some best practices to attract and retain safety professionals and help them progress within their careers?

Organizations that want to attract and retain dedicated safety professionals need to focus on two key areas. The first is ensuring that the safety professional is viewed as a trusted advisor in the organization and is provided with opportunities to demonstrate their value in a wide variety of tasks, projects and processes. The leadership of the organization needs to elevate the work they do and make it clear that their contributions are valued throughout the organization.

The second area is to work with the safety professional to craft a professional development plan that includes opportunities for education that will enhance their technical skills along with their essential nontechnical leadership skills. And once the plan is developed, the necessary resources, time and money need to be made available. Organizations will benefit from the investment in the professional safety staff.