BioPharma EHS Podcast #13

Biopharma EHS

In this podcast, Dean Calhoun of Affygility Solutions discusses Social Media and Environmental, Health and Safety

The twitter hashtag for today’s podcast is #socialehs

First, I’ll briefly cover what we talked about last time in episode number 12

Then I will cover our main topic for today, which is the use of Social Media in Environmental, Health and Safety industry.

And finally, I’ll then discuss upcoming events and happenings of importance to environmental, health and safety professionals in the BioPharma Industry.

Last time in Episode 12 we discussed the topic of “Creeping Featurism of Environmental, Health and Safety software." In that episode I shared my four observations regarding the evolution of environmental, health and safety software. Those four observations were, first, everybody seems to want a comprehensive system that is off the shelf. Complete with every bell and whistle, and one that keeps track of every possible requirement, emission, or metric. The problem I have with this is, “in most companies with limited environmental, health and safety staff who is going to enter all this data?” My 2th observation was that an environmental, health and safety management system is not equal to MIS, my 3rd observation was that configuration does not equal customization, and my 4th and final observation is that comprehensive systems are pricey. In episode 12 I also shared some questions that you might want to ask yourself prior to selecting a system. So, if any of that interests you I suggest you go back and listen to episode 12 and listen to the whole thing.

Alright, now before we move into our next topic, I might indicate that it’s going to be slightly different than previous topics that I’ve discussed. For those of you that have been listening in to previous episodes, most of you know that I recently attended South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas. First off South by Southwest was an amazing conference and the speakers were great, and the attendees were awesome – all 19,000 plus of them. Many of the sessions that I attended dealt with social media and that inspired me to talk about today’s main topic, which is the use of Social Media in Environmental, Health and Safety.

· So what exactly is Social Media?

· So why Social Media?

· Who is using Social Media? OSHA, NIOSH, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency all have Facebook pages and twitter feeds. The National Association for Environmental Management (NAEM), American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), American Biological Safety Association (ABSA) and many other professional organizations.

· What’s the value in Social Media?

Who is doing it right?

What are the challenges of social media.

· As a final comment regarding social media, allow the users to have an opinion and to be human. Social media can get a little messy at times with mis-spelled words, the use of slang or jargon, and the occasional use of profanity. As stated before, it will have to be moderated, but again, be careful not to over moderate.

O.k. The does it for the discussion on “Social Media in Environmental, Health and Safety.” If you have any comments or feedback – I loved to hear it. You can call our listener voicemail feedback line at 206-337-4769 and leave an audio comment. You can also stalk us on twitter at twitter.com/Affygility, or follow us on Facebook by just searching for Affygility Solutions and giving us a “Like. You can also email us your comments at podcast at Affygility.com.

Alright, let’s now talk about some upcoming events.

First I should mention, that coming up in April, we have several new webinars starting and you should look at our schedule at Affygility.com. These webinars have been very well attended and we have received a lot of positive feedback on them. In addition to our very popular webinar on Advanced Topics in Potent Compound Safety, we also have a webinar on Dermal Exposure to Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, Global Harmonization System, Hazardous Wastes for Hospitals, Clinics, and Medical Laboratories. Again, if any of that interests you, I would suggest that you go to Affygility.com and look at our full schedule.

Finally, as mentioned in previous podcast, I’ve been working on a podcast about the Young Guns of Environmental, Health and Safety. So far, I’ve had over 100 participants complete the survey. This week I will be working on tallying up the results and will have a free webinar presenting the results this coming Thursday, March 31st. For details on the time and how to register, please go to potent compound safety.com.

O.k. That does it for this week’s show. Remember to submit your questions to our voicemail feedback line at 206-337-4769 and stalk us on twitter at twitter.com/Affygility, on Facebook by searching for Affygility Solutions and giving us a “Like”, and finally on LinkedIn by searching for Affygility Solutions.