The recent OECD economic surveys 2017 report, placed India as the fastest growing economy among G20 nations at a growth rate of 7.5%. This outlook and overall boost has been entailed in the tax reforms and through the ease of doing business. However, India’s organized sector only accounts for about 16% of its total working population.

The case for the rising opportunities for HSE professionals in India has never been much stronger. There are many reasons behind this and some of them might not be as apparent as one might think.

First, as organizations start to grow and add more people, it becomes a statutory requirement for them to inculcate HSE tenets, this can be done by formulating a clear organization wide policy.

Second, within the large organizations in the core sectors, who already follow an HSE policy, a constant need for updating organizational knowledge as well as confirmation to the leading HSE standards, remains a perpetual requirement.

Third, with the rise of public activism and age of social media, the previously unreported or unaddressed harms due to poor HSE standards are now becoming widely publicized.

These three key points will be driving the growing need for HSE professionals in India. Gone are the days when HSE related violations could be glossed over. Its impact, especially in the private sector has huge economic value attached to them. And the private sector in India is increasingly becoming keen on ensuring worker rights based on health and safety.

However, the scope and need isn’t limited to the above mentioned points. Introduction of newer technologies and innovations means that the statutory authorities have to set out a policy based agenda covering their HSE aspects. These policy based decisions require expert panels but its field implementation is mostly overlooked by the HSE professional hired by the organizations.

Another key aspect which interests organizations is the occupational health aspect. These factors directly affects the workers’ productivity and with some of the highest attrition rates in the world, Indian corporates are now ensuring workplace measures which can ensure that their employees stay healthy and safe, while at work.

Last but not the least is the environmental aspect which may or may not be observed by the organizations, but with the calamitous face of climate change rearing its head across the world, it is, but a matter of time that debilitating manifestations of this problem would start affecting the organizations.

Therefore, the need of skilled and qualified HSE professionals is only going to increase with passing time. As we start progressing forward as a nation, the unorganized sector would slowly trickle and make its way into the organized sector. That is the logical move which can be predicted and as this move occurs over time, the relevance of HSE professionals will become ever so important.