SEPTEMBER 2021HR TECH OUTLOOK 19Occupational Health and Wellness: A World of ChangeOccupational Health is such a broad topic, but the journey through history has shown a very reactive approach to managing workers' health and well-being to a more proactive approach. When I think about occupational health, I often reflect on my career, which started in the US Navy. I began working on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. To think about going from that to now leading the human resources for a large service-oriented, for-profit organization is a dynamic shift in thought process. I think about the standards for which sailors were held accountable from a safety-perspective and how in today's working environment, the focus is on holistic well-being. Sure, there is still the focus on doing the job right, in the safest and most efficient manner, but it's how we live our life that affects an organization as a whole that affects occupational health and wellness the most. Moving the approach from reactive to proactive took time, but the benefits have been well documented. There has been a lot researched and written about it. The fact is that organizations have to adapt to build a workforce that is living well to meet the increasingly competitive demands on business today. In the past, the thought of occupational health seemed to be about injury and illness prevention while on the job. Organizations implemented reactive policies, or as I've heard in the Navy, written in blood. This meant that once it happened to someone, they would write a policy to prevent it from occurring again. In the Navy and many other organizations, the approach became much more proactive in safety prevention approaches. Companies realized that prevention is the key to organizational success. Companies realized that there is a whole world outside of work, and employees need to be living well outside of the organization to influence what goes on inside.CXOInsightsBrent Hollenbaugh, HR Director, US AutoLogistics (a Friedkin Group Affiliate Company)By
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