A Journey in Engineering, Safety, and Sustainable Innovation
I started my career as an environmental engineer working primarily on contaminated sites. My early years were spent in the field working on remediation activities at Superfund sites and other state level projects. Some of field projects included removing leaking underground storage tanks, Level B leaking drum removal project, hazardous landfill soil gas survey, and other remedial investigations. My time early in my career out in the field – boots on the ground - has helped me understand the importance of creating easy to implement, robust programs. I have seen the consequences of poor corporate management and how that leaves an expensive legacy full of legal complications. My early years also fueled my passion to continue on finding the balance between managing business needs while meeting environmental legal requirements. My safety education started early in the field learning about exposure to highly hazardous materials which has also helped shape company-wide safety and sustainability practices. Understanding the worst case scenario, knowing that others have made mistakes and what that impact looks like to the environment and a community has provided me with the ability to set up and implement programs with the big picture in mind.
Leading Sustainable Transformation at Scale
Legal compliance always comes first, and increasingly that may include some portions of a corporate sustainability agenda. For example, currently one of Schaeffler’s sustainability key performance indicators is our lost time injury rate. Great safety compliance leads directly to favorable sustainability KPIs. The regulatory landscape is getting more and more complicated and sometimes provides for competing interests.
Driving Safety Transformation with Structured Standards
While ISO certification provides your customers with a certain level of assurance that you have a solid management system (for occupational safety, environmental management or energy management), you can easily have a robust and effective management system without certification. I think that the most transformative impact on an organization’s workplace safety is the behavior of the C-Suite – do they walk the talk? From there getting leader and employee buy-in is easier with simple, straightforward safety programs that are easy to understand and implement. Encouraging proactive behavior, and creating a culture of employees who want to make improvements is really transformative.
Organizations that embed safety and sustainability into core decisions unlock innovation, resilience, and long-term business success
Harnessing Technology to Advance EHS and Sustainability
Technology and digital tools are critical to advancing EHS and sustainability objectives across global operations. With complex supply chains and diverse regulatory landscapes, digital platforms provide the visibility and consistency needed to manage performance at scale. Tools such as real-time environmental monitoring, energy management systems and predictive analytics allow us to identify risks earlier, track progress against key sustainability targets, and make data-driven decisions that drive continuous improvement. Equally important, digital solutions improve transparency and engagement. Mobile reporting apps, dashboards, and cloud-based platforms make it easier for employees at every level to participate in EHS initiatives and for leadership to monitor progress globally.
Emerging technologies such as humanoid robots are also reshaping how we think about safety in manufacturing. Robots can take on repetitive, ergonomically challenging, or high-risk tasks, reducing worker exposure to hazards. This shift not only improves physical safety but also opens opportunities for employees to focus on higher-value tasks such as problem solving, or oversight. By integrating technology into daily operations, we not only reduce environmental impact and improve workplace safety but also build a culture of accountability and innovation that supports long-term sustainable growth.
Regulations and Trends Poised to Transform the Industry
I am hoping for a day when there is some convergence on the number and type of requirements and customer requests. Over the last 8 years the number of “sustainability-related” customer requests at Schaeffler has increased from less than 50 to over 600. This puts an increasing huge demand on the time and expense to fulfill all of these requests.
Integrating Safety and Sustainability: Insights for Emerging Leaders
My advice to emerging business leaders is to view EHS and sustainability not as compliance obligations, but as strategic enablers of long-term business success. The organizations that thrive are those that embed sustainability and safety into their core decision-making—treating them as drivers of innovation, resilience, and competitiveness. When leaders set the tone that protecting people and the planet is inseparable from delivering business results, it unlocks creativity, attracts talent, and builds trust with customers, communities, and investors.
In practical terms, this means asking sustainability and EHS questions at the same level as financial or operational ones: What risks are we avoiding? What opportunities or innovation and increased business are we creating? If leaders move in this direction they not only strengthen performance today but help prepare their organizations for an increasingly sustainability driven marketplace.
