EHS professionals are challenged to achieve regulatory compliance and always look for beyond-compliance ways to reduce risk. As organizational models have evolved to push accountability away from corporate functions toward business units and process-specific operations, the role of EHS professionals has also morphed.
The trend has been for EHS professionals to act in the role of consultant or coach within the organization as opposed to an enforcer to be avoided. While this trend makes sense, a significant component of EHS accountability still resides in within the EHS department and its professionals.