Interview with Allison Montgomery from Harris Corporation

Allison Montgomery is the Global Senior Director of Environmental, Health and Safety for Harris Corporation. She is based at Harris’ Corporate Headquarters in Melbourne, FL and is responsible for developing strategies to improve the company’s overall Environmental, Health and Safety performance. Before joining Harris, Allison worked at Pentair as the Global Director of EHS and Quality and held varying EHS Management roles with Alcoa, Inc. Allison served four years in the United States Marine Corps. She holds a BS degree in Biology from The Ohio State University and a MS degree in Environmental Management from The University of Maryland.

1) What do you feel are the biggest challenges safety leaders are currently faced with within their business?
Although there are many challenges, one of the biggest ones is EHS being operationalized or fully integrated into systems and processes as just “how we accomplish work”. EHS continues to be either an after-thought, extra-work or numerous other roadblock type comments that exist in many industries.

2) As a safety leader, what do you feel businesses continue to get wrong when it comes to their Health and Safety strategy?
Businesses continue to see people as something that impedes business or something they need to fix, mould, correct…..instead of seeing people as their solutions.

3) What are the latest trends and behaviours you predict will be surfacing on the market over the coming 12 months?
I see a continued focus on human performance and safety differently with a shift from the focus on zero injuries to an investment in people.

4) What is the best piece of advice you have received within your job over the years?
Your passion is your strength, don’t let a person or organization take it from you. If you feel like you are losing your passion, move on.

5) What is one key takeaway you hope our OHS audience leaves with after hearing your presentation on site?
I hope I can, by some miracle, make EHS management systems exciting and simple, but ensure the impact and need for EHS managements is properly conveyed and valued.

ABOUT HARRIS CORPORATION
Harris Corporation is a leading technology innovator, solving customers’ toughest mission-critical challenges by providing solutions that connect, inform and protect. Harris supports customers in about 100 countries and has approximately $6 billion in annual revenue. The company is organized into three business segments: Communication Systems, Electronic Systems and Space and Intelligence Systems.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *