Allergan’s Vice President of Global EHS David Eherts Receives NAEM’s Lifetime Achievement Award
“David’s deep expertise, visionary strategies and contagious enthusiasm for his work demonstrate the impact that EHS&S leaders can have on how companies do business,” said NAEM Executive Director Carol Singer Neuvelt.
Mr. Eherts was one of eight corporate EHS&S leaders recognized at NAEM’s Excellence Awards ceremony, which took place during NAEM’s 2019 Forum, the largest annual gathering for environment, health, and safety, and sustainability decision-makers.
As a recognized thought leader in the profession, Mr. Eherts has more than 35 years of experience, including 12 years in the aerospace industry, where he championed the installation of a “co-generation” facility and worked with an aircraft manufacturer to reduce and eliminate the use of hexavalent chromium on its products. Because of this milestone, the company eliminated the exposure to a significant number of employees and eliminated the need for personal protection equipment.
Most recently in his role at Allergan, he introduced an innovative “good observation” program that has significantly reduced the total recordable incident rate, driven leadership commitment to health and safety and strengthened employee engagement. His leadership has also helped strengthen the company’s visibility as a leader in environmental sustainability: It is listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and FTSE4 Good Index, has been named one of the 20 most sustainable companies in the world by Forbes and has received an honorable mention by CDP.
“His leadership has resulted in a transformational culture change at Allergan leading to increased employee engagement, senior management support, and overall accountability and integration of our environmental, health and safety program,” said Sulaiman Hamidi, Director, Sustainability, Product Stewardship at Allergan, who nominated Mr. Eherts for the honor.
In a letter of recommendation that accompanied Mr. Ehert’s nomination, Robert McCafferty, Director EHS at Allergan, also touted Mr. Eherts academic accomplishments as a Ph.D in Environmental Toxicology and an adjunct professor at New York Medical College and at Tulane University.
“[He] was at the top of my list for the type of industry leader I wanted to work with even before I did,” Mr. McCafferty wrote. “He’s also dedicated to sharing that knowledge with anyone interested and developing the next generation of EHS thought leaders and partnering with regulatory agencies to improve. It is a pleasure working with and learning from Dave who is a fantastic leader in our profession.”
About the NAEM Excellence Awards
The NAEM Excellence Awards recognize outstanding achievements in the field of environment, health, safety and sustainability management. Recipients are nominated by a peer, mentor or colleague and evaluated by an independent panel of judges. Neither NAEM nor its sponsors influence the selection of award recipients. Nomination forms for next year’s NAEM Excellence Awards will be available in spring 2020 at naem.org/awards.
About NAEM
The National Association for environmental, health, safety and sustainability (EHS&S) Management (NAEM) empowers corporate leaders to advance environmental stewardship, create safe and healthy workplaces, and promote global sustainability. As the largest professional community for EHS&S decision-makers, NAEM provides peer-led educational conferences, benchmarking research and an active network for sharing solutions to today's corporate management challenges. For more information, visit naem.org.
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