From Local Function to Business Partnership: What Competencies Should an HSE Employee Develop?

From Service Function to Business Partnership

Modern industry is transitioning from automation (Industry 4.0) to human-machine synergy (Industry 5.0). Under these conditions, the role of the Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) specialist is changing dramatically. Dmitry Zubov, HSE Director of the Cherkizovo Group, explains why the classic approach — prescriptions, reports, and control — no longer works, and what competencies are needed to make safety an integral part of the business.

Key Competency Groups of the New HSE Specialist

The presentation details several skill groups without which a qualitative transition to new tasks is impossible:

• Effective communication and stakeholder management. The ability to negotiate with business, contractors, and government agencies, manage conflicts, and attract allies to implement changes.
• Learning and development. The ability to motivate oneself and the team towards self-development, apply mentoring and coaching, and use critical thinking to evaluate established practices.
• Leadership and empathy. Flexibility, adaptability, and care for employees' mental health. Empathy allows a leader to implement changes as effectively and painlessly as possible for people.
• Managerial skills. Strategic thinking, analytics, and the ability to make decisions with limited resources, investing in the most important areas.
• Next-level hard skills. Integration of Lean methodology and the use of artificial intelligence for analytics, forecasting, and risk assessment.

Creating Socio-Economic Value

The speaker emphasizes that for full integration into the business, it is necessary to understand how this business works: its mission, goals, and priorities. Customer focus towards internal clients and inclusivity (adapting workplaces for different categories of employees, including people with PTSD) are becoming critical success factors.

What you will learn from this webinar:

• How to change the image of the HSE function from a "cost center" to a full-fledged business partner?
• What new skills does a safety specialist need in the era of Industry 5.0?
• How to convince line managers and top management of the importance of investing in safety?
• How to assess employees' mental health and manage stress in the workplace?
• Where to start assessing and developing competencies in your team?