Tag Archives: EHSQ

Frontline Workers Say They Are ‘Seen but not Heard’

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A new research report finds that operations, safety & health and wellbeing are what are most important to employees, though they don’t feel comfortable weighing in.
Operations, safety and health and wellbeing are deemed the most important topics within an organization for most frontline workers.

A new research report finds that operations, safety & health and wellbeing are what are most important to employees, though they don’t feel comfortable weighing in.  

The majority of American, Australian and British frontline workers (67%) say that they are never, rarely or only sometimes listened to on topics that matter to them the most—operations (54%), safety (46%) and health/wellbeing (49%)—according to new research by SafetyCulture. In fact, 66% of American frontline workers said they are rarely, never or only sometimes listened to by management on these important topics. 

SafetyCulture’s new Feedback from the Field research report features the views of American, British and Australian frontline workers, defined as individuals who must “physically show up to their job.” These workers include those in the hospitality, retail, manufacturing … Read more...

Permit to Work Boosts Safety by Design Strategies

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Permit to work is a formal process that identifies, communicates and mitigates risk.
Permit to work is a formal process that identifies, communicates and mitigates risk for workers completing non-routine tasks in potentially hazardous work areas.

As companies pursue more proactive and preventive safety strategies such as Safety by Design, they are looking for new processes and methods such as Permit to Work software, to help make it happen.

Keeping workers healthy, happy and safe should be a strong governance focus within every company’s ESG strategy. In 2019, over 27% of the 5,333 worker fatalities in the U.S. were due to workplace hazards such as getting struck or caught in objects or equipment (14%), exposure to harmful substances or environments (12%) or injury from fire and explosion (2%). And for every hazard-related worker fatality, there were 20 to 60 times as many non-fatal incidents that created costly and disruptive downtime and absences from work. So, despite an increased emphasis on improving worker … Read more...

Brand Damage, Financial Liability, Criminal Charges: The High Cost of Not Meeting Regulatory Compliance Obligations

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AI can reduce the cost of regulatory compliance
ehsAI’s next-wave compliance technology uses a patent-pending artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solution to analyze, organize and summarize complex regulatory documents.

Around the world, organizations in every industry have obligations to follow the requirements outlined in various rules, regulations, permits and directives. These requirements outline the way in which a company operates day-to-day, its interaction with the environment and its obligations to the health and safety of its workers.

Regulations can be mandated by any level of government or can be specific within certain industries, with a few important examples being Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act), the Clean Air Act and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

When organizations don’t meet their regulatory obligations, the result can be brand damage, financial liability and even criminal charges. For example, Volkswagen has paid billions to settle allegations that it used elaborate technology to cheat emissions tests and deceive … Read more...

Data Does not Speak for Itself: You Have to Speak for It

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Letting the data speak for itself can result in unrecognizable insights for many in your organization. Data needs to be interpreted to make sense.

The data will speak for itself. This is a phrase that is commonly thrown around in data analytics circles.

Often the people who say the data will speak for itself are the ones who are closest to the data, and for them, this might be true. EHS analysts, business analysts and other disciplines that focus on data collection, cleaning, preparation and analysis are closest to the data.

However, for employees of departments whose focus is not data analysis, the data can look like it is speaking Italian instead of English. This means that “letting the data speak for itself” can result in unrecognizable insights for many in your organization.

The practice of environmental, health and safety (EHS) is experiencing growing pains when it comes to analysis … Read more...

The New Retool: Pivoting Manufacturing to be Ready for Anything

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Experts say that because of changes forced on the manufacturing industry by the pandemic and a new administration, we’ll begin to see the evolution of manufacturing as an industry that’s more responsive and adaptive to both markets and consumers.

As the COVID-19 pandemic exploded around the globe, it’s not surprising the industry that makes personal protective equipment (PPE) rapidly ramped up production. The demand for N95 respirators and a range of other vital protective equipment like faceshields, gloves, atmosphere-supplying respirators (supplied-air respirators (SARs), self-contained breathing apparatuses (SCBAs) and combination SARs/SCBAs) and protective garments initially overwhelmed supply.

A video from the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA)—“Beyond the Mask”—shows how the PPE industry responded to the unprecedented challenges posed by the worst public-health crisis in a century.

“Beyond the Mask” reveals the behind-the-scenes work involved in getting PPE into the hands of those whose lives depended on it. “In January, … Read more...

Looking Beyond the Dots: Intelex Scores A Leadership Position in the Green Quadrant for EHS Software in 2021

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Green Quadrant

An independent analyst research firm has recognized Intelex for its transformative, connected EHSQ ecosystem approach and core EHS and Quality Management application strengths.  

Intelex Technologies has experienced an uninterrupted leadership position in the Green Quadrant EHS Software since the report’s inception and 2021 is no exception. Since first participating in the Green Quadrant EHS Software Report in 2015, Intelex has consistently maintained a strong foothold in the Leaders quadrant. 

“EHS professionals and the businesses they support are facing a perfect storm of challenges that are forcing EHS programs to evolve faster than ever before,” said Justin McElhattan, president of Intelex. “We are honored by Verdantix’s continued recognition of Intelex’s ability to help customers reimagine what’s possible through the connected, digital interplay of EHSQ technology and ecosystems.”

Of the 22 vendors listed, Intelex had the sole-highest score in Vision & Strategy. Verdantix recognized Intelex for its differentiation in expanding from EHSQ … Read more...

Does Document Management Apply to Fish? The Answer is More Complicated Than You Might Think

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Document Management

In 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled that a fish is not a document. While this might seem like an absurd problem for one of the most powerful legal organizations in the world to consider, the idea behind it is an important one that might have an impact on how you do your job. On August 23, 2007, John Yates, the captain of the fishing boat Miss Katie, was fishing off the coast of Florida when he was found to have caught and kept a number of red grouper fish that were under the legal minimum size limit of 20 inches. The field officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission instructed Yates to return to port and keep the fish for evidence. Instead, Yates threw the fish back into the sea, effectively destroying the evidence against him.

In response, the Department of Justice … Read more...

Connected Safety Q&A: How the Global COVID-19 Pandemic Is Fueling Innovation and Digital Transformation

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Connected Safety at Expert Connect

The outbreak of COVID-19 ushered in dramatic changes to EHSQ management, which, as a result, have propelled leaders to ramp up business continuity efforts, fortify their risk management strategies and improve day-to-day operations to boost efficiency.

In our upcoming Expert Connect Session, Innovating Towards a Future Focused on Connected Safety, Senior Product Marketing Manager Aaron Davis from Intelex Technologies and Tom Henson, Vice President, Global Marketing and Product Management from Industrial Scientific will take you on a journey that will explore how advancements in connected safety and connected worker technologies are changing key areas of EHSQ management, including environmental compliance and hazard monitoring, control of work and lone worker safety.

According to Davis, we’ve reached what he called “an inflection point in innovation” of safety technologies, fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it had not only on business performance and management worldwide but on worker safety. Davis … Read more...

8 Checklists for 2020: A Quick Way to Check In and Level Up Your EHSQ Programs

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These checklists from Intelex offer practical advice about managing aspects of safety like slips and falls and electrical hazards, help you touch base with employees during these stressful times, offer insight into your organization’s preparedness planning, provide guidance on quality issues like voice of customer and 5S, and much more!

Don’t Be Shocked – A Checklist for Electrical Safety – While the objective of protecting the safety of their employees continues to be a strong focus for employers, there still needs to be more checks in place to reduce injuries.

Embrace the New Age of Digital Learning: Training Management in the Age of COVID-19 – Learning and training is more important than ever. When the world moves quickly, sometimes in unexpected ways, we need to make sure our training can keep up and give our teams what they need to survive and thrive.

Back to Work Checklist for Mindful Leaders – While strategic vision … Read more...

How to Sell Your Software Solutions to the C-Suite

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Sell Software to Chief Officers

EHSQ practitioners know the value they bring to an organization. Keeping workers safe, protecting the environment, and meeting customer requirements are elements at which every business wants to excel, so anything we can do to help achieve that should be met with open arms by leadership, right?

Well, not always.


When the Value of EHSQ Software Doesn’t Sell Itself


If there’s anything EHSQ practitioners know as much about as their own value, it’s the feeling of rejection when pitching digital solutions for compliance and EHSQ software to leadership. Even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the benefits of EHSQ should practically sell themselves, it’s not always easy to convince leadership that software is what the organization needs. Even fact-based arguments focusing on benefits like decreasing recall risk, giving leadership access to data, maintaining compliance, and improving audit preparation are not enough to loosen the purse strings for your … Read more...