Stress-Free Safety and Incident Reporting

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Fulfilling standard compliance and safety incident reporting requirements can be stressful and tedious for anyone, but using generic technology can make the process even worse and the workflow unmanageable. You need to think about regulations, hazards, monitoring change, risk management, complying with jurisdictional requirements, audit … the list goes on. Creating a robust safety culture doesn’t happen without ensuring that you are using an efficient and proactive management system.

Outdated technologies have been inefficiently leveraged to support a paper-based system for reporting injuries and accidents at work. There are simply too many moving pieces and occupational risks that must be taken into consideration to rely on spreadsheets. As organizations grow, processes become more complex and integrated. Antiquated safety management systems are unable to scale and provide your organization with tools for proper reporting workflows and incident management.

What are the dangers of using outdated incident reporting tools?

  • Lack of immediacy
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Building your Organizational Culture of Quality with a QMS

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A strategic culture of quality, one in which every stakeholder shares the pride, passion, and initiative to deliver the highest quality products and services, should be built on a quality management software solution (QMS) that integrates an organization’s people, processes, and tools. The world’s leading quality organizations, such as Toyota, know that implementing a QMS that creates an environment in which all employees can thrive, and which incorporates data-driven decision-making using statistical methods and continuous improvement, will be foundational to innovation and success.

Many industries face fundamental challenges in building a culture of quality. Construction projects often feature diverse teams of architects, designers, engineers, and builders who come together temporarily and bring with them their own unique perspectives on quality culture. In healthcare, rigid hierarchies can hinder effective communication and lead to more frequent instances of infection and negative patient outcomes. In hospitality, tight schedules and difficult physical conditions can … Read more...

How and Why to Adopt Risk-Based Thinking

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Why implement risk-based thinking?

Are  you looking for certification? Undergoing an audit? Just trying to achieve compliance? There are many reasons, but put simply organizations adopt risk-based thinking with the objective of making better decisions — especially when they are operating in a challenging, fast-paced or otherwise uncertain environment. Although the return on investment (ROI) for risk-based thinking is difficult to characterize, most organizations have anecdotes about the (sometimes spectacular) failures and inefficiencies that have come from pretending that nothing unexpected will happen – or by not investing the time or resources required to plan for the unanticipated.

According to Willumsen et al. (2017), this improved decision making can yield many benefits, including:

  • Reducing frequency of losses
  • Reducing likelihood of losses
  • Reducing costs of losses
  • Improving response time to unexpected events
  • Reducing stress
  • Improving communication
  • Enhancing organizational learning
  • Capturing new opportunities for growth and improvement

Risk assessment and risk management … Read more...

Chemical Data Management: Setting the Ball In Motion

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When developing a Chemical Data Management program, it is important to keep in mind common foundational elements that can set up your organization for success.

Written by Matt Adams (Partnerships & Alliances, SiteHawk) and Chris Barfield (Product Marketing Manager, SiteHawk)

Organizations across virtually every industry and themselves navigating the roadmap of Chemical Data Management. While some instances require more intricate processes and procedures, there are common foundational elements that can set your organization up for success. The following high-level guidelines introduce each phase of a well-rounded Chemical Data Management program that can be adaptable for your organization.

Know Where You Stand

Having a good understanding of your current Chemical Data Management situation sets the stage for your organization. Outlining current strengths and weaknesses enables you to set appropriate goals, gain support from management and measure progress.

Have A Plan

Creating a blueprint of what success looks like enables you to … Read more...

EHS Managers: Come to Our Free “Building the Business Case for EHS Software” Workshop!

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You may have heard of the powerful changes EHS Management software is bringing to all kinds of organizations. You may have heard how it’s saved lives, money and reduced insurance premiums, but some things that don’t get the attention they deserve are process automation, workforce engagement and freedom from disparate data sources, to name a few.

As an EHS professional, you already know the impact this software can have on an organization. But getting alignment and convincing executive decision-makers can be tricky. What else should you include in your business case to fast-track their approval? You’ll find out at our workshop!

Why should I attend?

Coming out to a workshop with like-minded professionals and experts in the EHS space offers you a unique advantage. We partnered with Microsoft and Arcadis to design a workshop that helps you:

  • Gain influencer consensus
  • Circumvent objections with a readiness assessment
  • Leverage compelling data to
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What Can We Learn from the Organizational Cultures of Different Industries?

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Many industries have no clear boundary between safety and quality culture. In fact, they are often very closely integrated. Quality failures and nonconformances that require rework have been correlated with increased accidents and recordable injury rates in manufacturing organizations. These injuries are frequently the result of fatigue, workplace pressure, and the pressure from extra work due to quality failures.

Among the important collective of people, processes, and tools, people are the primary point of failure in increasingly automated systems. Unlike machines, we are subject to fatigue, information overload, and stress that can have a serious impact on our ability to work safely and efficiently. However, people are also the place where dynamic sensemaking, decision-making, and situational awareness reside, which are vital ingredients in complex and high-reliability organizations (HRO).

Culture is therefore an integral element of every organization. In the new Intelex Insight Report Integrating Quality and Safety in Organizational Culture: … Read more...

Risk-Based Thinking: Where to Begin

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What is Risk?

Risk can be defined as “the effect of uncertainty on outcomes” (ISO 31000) or, alternatively, as “anything that can prevent an organization from achieving its objectives” (Kendall, 2017). Managing risk means taking responsibility and exploring uncertainty. Successfully addressing risk means making decisions that further an organization’s mission and goals. This framework is fundamental to ensuring effective quality management.

Hazards and threats are sources of risk. Hazards, which are situations with the potential to result in injuries, damage or harm, can be physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, psychological, political or social. Hazards can become threats if (and when) they are activated. For example, a virus (computer or biological) may be a hazard, but it only becomes a threat if you might be impacted by it. The likelihood and severity of that impact on a particular person, place or thing determines the risk.

What you can do to effectively manage

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How Technology is Improving Workplace Safety

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There’s a digital revolution underway in EHS, and it’s helping make workplaces the safest they’ve ever been. Safety professionals today are being asked to not only protect their employees, but also their company’s bottom line.

To improve safety capabilities in all areas, safety leaders are increasingly turning to digital technologies.

A new e-book offers suggestions on how to discover and measure the value of EHS technologies, how to manage their implementation, and how to gain buy-in both from senior management and the employees who will be using and benefiting from the technology.

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Tackling the Evolution of Your EHS Program

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It can be hard to step away from the day-to-day demands of managing an EHS program and take a critical look at what needs to evolve. Often, the people, business and goals of the organization evolve while safety processes remain the same.

Identifying areas for improvement can include leveraging leading and lagging metrics, getting stakeholder and employee feedback, or learning from peers.

Once opportunities for improvement are identified, a structured process to make those changes is required. This will require securing stakeholder improvement for the new ideas, initiatives and tools.

Want to learn more? Access our free webinar to listen to Billy Powell, an EHS Director for Smith & Nephew, talk about the challenges he faces today and how he evolves his EHS processes.

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Are You Ready if an EHS Crisis Happens?

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It is important to have a clear plan should an EHS crisis happen. Your stakeholders, employees, external publications and the public all expect communications to be clear, transparent and timely. Without a plan, misinformation can spread, negatively impacting both your personal and corporate brands.

When creating your plan, it is important to involve stakeholders and executives. All employees should understand the plan, including where to access it in time of a crisis. For example, it is best practice to identify one employee as the official communicator, instead of having multiple individuals communicating with external sources and publications.

A successful plan will reduce the negative brand and financial impact of an EHS crisis. Download our free guide today and learn how to build an executable plan should an EHS crises happen, including:

  • Identifying corporate communicators
  • Avoiding costly misinformation
  • Acting in a timely manner
  • Involving shareholders, executives and the community

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