EHS Software 101: What is EHS Software? How Does it Help & How Do You Evaluate?

What is EHS?

Let’s start with the very basics. What does EHS stand for? It stands for Environment, Health & Safety. 

An EHS employee/team at any organization is tasked with creating a safe environment for all employees, while ensuring their constant health and safety. 

What is EHS Management Software? 

EHS management software is the tool EHS professionals use to build, manage, and monitor their safety program and culture, while ensuring compliance with industry and regulatory standards. 

In some cases, an EHS software helps a company build their safety culture, the right way, from the ground up. In other cases, it can help a company digitize and streamline its existing EHS program. 

How Does EHS Software Help? Why is it Important? 

Using a digital solution is crucial because it can be difficult to manage EHS efforts without the help of EHS software. Far too many companies are still trying to manage their safety programs with paper-based systems, spreadsheets, and/or clipboards and pens. 

This is particularly dangerous when you consider: 

•   Nearly 90% of all spreadsheets contain errors, in at least 1% of all the cells 
•   Roughly 15% of all documents are misplaced and 7.5% are lost altogether 

 These mistakes could lead to preventable incidents. If you want to see what an EHS software can do for your organization, click here. 

Why Use EHS Management Software: What are the Benefits of EHS Software? 

If you’re using the right solution, its benefits should be felt by everyone in the company, from the front-line workers to boardroom executives. 

 One of the most important elements of implementing a digital tool is your solution should encourage safety participation from your front-line employees. By giving them a mobile app, you can now empower the workforce to carry out crucial actions, (i.e. inspections, incident reports, or hazard identifications) in a few quick clicks from any location. This will help boost productivity and efficiency, saving workers from getting lost in administrative tasks and getting them back out into the field faster. 

 Once these tasks are carried out, the data from their actions is collected and propagated upwards in real-time to the management team; without the need for any pens, clipboards, stacks of paper, or clunky spreadsheets. With real-time insights, key players can make data-driven decisions to create a safer work environment. 

Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of EHS software solutions: 

Gain 360-Degree Visibility and Transparency

With the help of a digital solution, all documentation and records can be digitized and centralized in one easily accessible location. This will help streamline all processes and make information available to key players at any time. 

With a clear, 360-view into an organization’s safety program, safety professionals can easily identify gaps or weaknesses. This visibility can help safety leaders work towards mitigating risks and hazards faster and implementing the right corrective actions. 

More visibility can also be granted with the help of automated alerts or notifications to keep EHS professionals aware of duties that need to be fulfilled or key safety metrics. Through robust reporting and dashboards, key players like stakeholders, C-suite executives, and the workforce can stay informed of important safety information. 

This will help your organization move from a reactive safety approach to a more proactive one. 

Streamline and Standardize

If you simplify and streamline safety tasks through EHS software, they won’t be seen as a burden or a waste of time by your employees. Every single employee will be empowered to make an appreciable contribution to the company’s improved safety culture, in a few quick taps. 

Taking out their phones to carry out a paperless inspection, or taking a picture of a would-be hazard, will soon simply become part of the day-to-day activities and part of their muscle memory. 

 At the same time, recent data reveals new and young employees are 400% more likely to be injured on the job during the first month of employment than at any other time. Standardizing safety actions across the company will also make it much easier to train new employees on how to work safely. 

Once you have earned buy-in from senior front-line employees, they will make it a point to convey the importance of safety to the new hires. 

Manage Data & Improve Performance

Safety starts on the frontlines, but it certainly doesn’t end there. Management teams and decision-makers need fresh data to make informed safety decisions. 

It can be nearly impossible to spot emerging issues or trends using a paper-based or spreadsheet-based system. By the time the data trickles from the front-line workforce, to management, to the EHS team, to the C-suite, the odds are very good that the data is now “stale.” The company may miss the chance to make the timely adjustments that can prevent incidents.  

However, an EHS software can collect crucial data in real-time and use it to populate intuitive dashboards. This gives EHS teams a clear line-of-site into the information they need to see where the issues or opportunities may be hidden. It also allows them to generate insightful reports they can present to C-suite executives. 

This added transparency and new insight will help lead to more informed safety decisions and a safer work environment. 

How Do You Evaluate & Find the Right EHS Software? 

This is obviously a very important decision and one you want to have full confidence in. An improved safety program and culture should have a direct impact on your organization’s bottom line, so a return on investment shouldn’t be difficult to calculate. 

When shortlisting your would-be safety partners, start by ensuring they have proven experience in your industry. Do they make vague statements about what they can do? Or do they have detailed case studies from companies just like yours? 

It’s also important to discuss their onboarding process and how they will support you while you roll this solution out across the workforce. What is the typical process like? And when can you expect to see a time-to-value? 

Are you ready to see what the right EHS management software can do to improve your safety program? Speak to one of our safety experts today about our suite of EcoOnline safety solutions!