This is why I got out of the EHS field. I could no longer see a way clear to bring the ideals of EHS to benefit the bottom line of the company. Ten years ago being very good at EHS management would lower the cost of doing business for many industries. But around 2004-05 it seemed things started to really turn to nit-pick costly programs being pushed by the 'sustainable' lobby folks. As I said then and still stand by today..."It ain't sustainable if it puts people out of work or eventually shuts down a company due to the cost of execution."
Unfortunately thousands of businesses listened to this lobby and never acted in their company's best interests. And for many companies we can understand why. Just look at the advertisers that opted to bail on Rush Limbaugh. Many of them never realized the people calling, emailing, and railing about them advertising on Limbaugh never considered those same people didn't use their products and never would.
As a retired EHS manager it became grossly apparent that EHS no longer represented doing the right things, it became doing the PR things.
You made the correct observation, EHS has become about PR. It has been reduced to jingoism and cheer leading. Small fortunes are spent on programs that look more like playschool.
EHS goes to ever more cheeky practices such as backing cars into parking spaces. Parking areas are not designed for backing in. I guess with all the SUVs the parking lots have become just another blind alleyway.