Are we the strongest profession? Are we going to survive in this ever changing world of business? Is our message confused or can we seek to find someway of moving the our aims and objectives forward? All relevant questions that I will seek to answer within this paper, I would however contend that we must be responsive that change or as a profession we shall become irrelevant. Change however does not mean abandoning our core values or beliefs, once those are truly identified and understood. It does mean however being adaptable, forward thinking and willing to take on new and exciting challenges. It is useful to ensure that a working definition is made of the term 'safety.' Frank Bird and George Germain, (Practical Loss Control Management 1985), defined safety as being; The Control of Accidental Loss. Such a definition allows for a premise that a safety professional is therefore an individual that is working to control or reduce accident (or unplanned) loss to his employers business. This definition now some twenty plus years old still struggles to be embraced by many safety professionals. Many still believe that we have some altruistic higher calling, to save the employees engaged in the world of work from pain and suffering. As laudable as that may be, in our current and future working environments this is not a justification for undertaking our specific function or even part thereof. As a profession we must embrace the concept of 'safety' being a function of controlling the loss to our employing businesses.
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