Overview

Green jobs-good for the environment, good for the economy. But how do we assure that green jobs are also good for workers? The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), through the Prevention through Design Program, launched the Going Green: Safe and Healthy Jobs initiative to make sure that green jobs are good for workers by integrating worker safety and health into green jobs and environmental sustainability. Green jobs, which have been defined broadly as jobs that help improve the environment and enhance sustainability, offer opportunities as well as challenges for workers. Examples of green jobs include manufacture, installation, and maintenance of solar panels and generators; construction and maintenance of wind energy turbines; jobs related to recycling; jobs related to the manufacture of green products; and jobs where green products are used in traditional fields such as agriculture, healthcare, and the service sector. In some instances, the hazards to workers may be similar to those in established industries. However, some green and sustainable practices may pose new health concerns for workers. In December, 2009, NIOSH, along with our sponsors, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the National Toxicology Program convened the Making Green Jobs Safe Workshop to gain input from 170 representatives from the occupational safety and health and environmental communities within industry, labor, academia, government agencies, and nongovernment organizations to discuss the occupational hazards and risks associated with green jobs and determine how to emphasize that green jobs should be safe and healthy for workers. This report is a summary of their words and deliberations. The outcomes of the workshop were considered in the development of specific goals to eliminate the hazards and minimize the risks associated with green jobs. These goals have been included in the Prevention through Design Plan for the National Initiative. In the interval, we have continued to work with our partners to advance our shared mission. We hope that the availability of these proceedings will help us collectively to assess the progress we have made since 2009, and to continue to identify and address ongoing needs. The occupational safety and health movement and the environmental movement are interrelated. They reflect a common concern for preserving our vital resources, both human and natural. Environmental advocates and health and safety advocates supported each other in the 1960s and 1970s in building public consensus for the programs that still guide our respective missions. Today, we share the conviction that protecting worker health, safety, and the environment is integral to economic recovery and growth in the 21st Century. The most compelling message from the Workshop is that the environmental concept of sustainability must be enlarged. Although a green job must preserve environmental quality and/or produce green products and services, green jobs currently have no requirement that they be safe for those individuals performing the jobs. Our concept of a green job must be enlarged to one that can be performed safely and result in no impairment to worker health. For a green job to be truly sustainable, the work itself must also be sustainably safe for the person performing the job.

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