Do health and safety influencers exist?
Well, you might associate the word 'influencer' with famous pop stars on Instagram, or with those who have made their millions by creating YouTube videos.
However, the definition of 'influencer' is "an individual who has the power to affect purchase decisions of others because of his/her authority, knowledge, position or relationship with his/her audience" or "an individual who has a following in a particular niche, which they actively engage with. The size of the following depends on the size of the niche".
In this sense, of course there are health and safety influencers! You follow them on Twitter or LinkedIn, see them at health and safety summits, and even read their books.
So, in no particular order, here are the top 11 health and safety influencers to look out for in 2019.
Top Health and Safety Influencers of 2019
1. David Cant
1. David CantDavid Cant is a chartered health and safety practitioner with over 20 years' industry experience.
Moreover, he is the Managing Director of UK-based Veritas Consulting, which helps SMEs get to grips with workplace health and safety, including training and asbestos survey management. He has a massive 55.1K Twitter followers, who know him for breaking down EHS jargon.
2. Tamara Parris
Tamara Parris owns the largest EHSQ Professionals online community – over 140,000 members and counting.
Above all, she is an expert at connecting the EHS community online. Currently, Tamara is the Director of Community Development at Safeopedia.
3. Heather Beach
Heather Beach has over 25 years' experience working in the health and safety profession.
She founded the Healthy Work Company, a consultancy and training organisation with the goal of driving the wellbeing agenda. Moreover, Heather founded the Women in Health and Safety network and writes for SHP online.
4. Rebecca Lambert
Rebecca Lambert is the Sales and Marketing Manager at HSE People, the biggest UK online EHS network.
The site is home to the latest EHS news and jobs, and is also an in-depth business directory. Furthermore, HSE People launched an e-magazine, Salus, in early 2019.
5. Dave Johnson
Dave Johnson founded Industrial Safety and Hygiene News (ISHN) magazine.
He launched the magazine in 1980, and the website in 1995. Since then, he has co-written a book on patient safety in healthcare, and has completed over 120 presentations. To top it off, ISHN has 10K Twitter followers.
6. Jamie Young
Jamie Young co-founded Safeopedia in 2010, utilising his 20 years’ experience in the construction industry.
Importantly, he believes ‘everybody has the right to get home safely to their families’. Nine years later, Safeopedia has become the go-to online resource for free health and safety information.
7. Rosa Carrillo
Rosa Carrillo is a leadership expert with a focus on EHS.
She is the president of Carrillo and Associates, a service provider for employee engagement, leadership development and coaching services for companies wanting to boost their health and safety. In 2015, the Safety Institute of Australia invited her as the Wigglesworth Memorial Lecturer. Her book The Relationship Factor in Safety Leadership: Achieving Success through Employee Engagement is out now.
8. Shawn M. Galloway
Shawn M. Galloway is the President and COO of Pro-Act Safety, a safety firm renowned worldwide for delivering safety excellence to organizations.
Moreover, Shawn is a professional safety keynote speaker and is one of the top speakers for American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE).
Additionally, he has co-authored best-selling books, including Inside Strategy: Value Creation from within Your Organization and Forecasting Tomorrow: The Future of Safety Excellence. Check out the blog post Shawn wrote for Pro-Sapien in 2017.
9. John Dony
John Dony is the director of the Campbell Institute, the global environmental, health and safety centre of excellence.
He joined the National Safety Council in 2007, and has since implemented projects with an aim of bringing innovation to workplace health and safety. These include the prestigious Robert W. Campbell Award and the NSC Work to Zero initiative.
Read our 2016 interview with John on hazard observations.
10. Rob Long
Dr. Rob Long is the founder of Human Dymensions, a firm specialising in helping organizations better understand human factors at work.
Rob has 30+ years’ safety experience over a range of sectors, and has designed numerous reviews, consultancies, training programs for large and small organisations.
He is a safety keynote speaker and prolific author -- read his blog post for Pro-Sapien here.
11. Ed Davidson
Ed Davidson is the Health and Safety Director at Long Foundation Drilling Co, and has almost 80,000 LinkedIn followers.
He has over 20 years’ experience in Industrial Health and Safety, and regularly updates his LinkedIn profile with safety videos and advice.
Are we missing any health and safefty influencers? Let us know in the comments below! In the meantime, follow Pro-Sapien on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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