Issues ranging from social sustainability to the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence are broadening the definition of workplace health and safety, and making it a strategic concern for business.
Vanessa Harwood-Whitcher is Chief Executive of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health. Listen as she explains how IOSH is equipping employers and health-and-safety professionals to deal with their ever-widening remit, on this episode of The Purposeful Strategist.
IOSH, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, is the Chartered body for health and safety professionals. Founded in 1945, it is a charity with a simple vision – a safe and healthy world of work for everyone. With more than 50,000 members in over 130 countries, it’s the world’s largest professional health and safety organisation.
Its training and consultancy solutions help businesses solve real health and safety problems in the workplace using practical and effective tools, processes and knowledge.
Working with global bodies such as the UN and the Commonwealth, it provides expert analysis on safety and health and raises awareness of OSH issues at a global level.
Previously to IOSH, Vanessa held executive positions as a Director, Chief Operating Officer and Interim CEO.
Vanessa’s career began leading learning and skills initiatives in disadvantaged communities in the UK. Her expertise and motivation lie in empowering adults to thrive in their careers, a specialism that she has focussed on for the last 20 years within the professional body sector.
Working with professions as diverse as teaching, finance, banking, procurement, leadership, IT and health and safety has taken Vanessa all over the globe. She’s designed and led commercial learning programmes for many of the world's biggest organisations, at one time working with around 80% of the FTSE 100. She’s set the occupational standards for several professions and has headed ground-breaking capacity building programmes with governments and NGOs across South Asia and Africa. She’s won accolades from the Federation of Awarding Bodies, Association Excellence Awards and Memcom for her work in education and membership.
Having gained her first degree in Business Studies and German from Hull University, Vanessa was awarded distinction for her executive MBA from Loughborough University in 2000.
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Vanessa Harwood-Whitcher