The COVID-19 pandemic has left no one unscathed. From factory assemblers to accountants, teachers to funeral home directors, chefs to auto salespeople, practically every job has changed over the past few months. And practically every employer has been forced to make difficult decisions to balance their employees’ safety with the survival of their businesses.
That said, some organizations have adapted far better and faster than others. They haven’t had to choose between staying operational and risking their workers’ lives. Their secret is environment, health, and safety software.
EHS software such as KPA EHS empowers organizations and their workers to do more with less. Software makes it easy to implement the hierarchy of controls, manage remote employees, navigate unforeseen business disruptions, and ensure continued compliance in the midst of this pandemic—all while serving to minimize the spread of the virus and keep people safe and healthy.
As people start to return to work over the coming weeks and months, the same technology will continue to save lives and reduce risk. Here are just a few ways EHS software can help your company navigate the post-COVID world:
1. EHS Software Facilitates Social Distancing
As I’m sure you know by now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people maintain at least 6 feet of distance from each other at all times. That means no touching, no handshakes, and no gathering in groups for activities like training or safety committee meetings. EHS software provides the means to deliver those group functions on demand, in a remote environment. You can deliver training on a variety of safety health topics to all employees via their individual devices, so they can stay informed and up-to-date wherever they’re located.
With EHS software, you can also easily keep track of and record safety committee meeting minutes, and then follow through on the outcomes of that safety committee minutes, assigning corrective actions and directing tasks remotely.
2. EHS Software Allows You to Go Paperless
A paperless process is a more hygienic process. Your physical checklists, safety data sheets, forms, binders, clipboards, and writing implements can be disease vectors—they can contribute to the spread of the virus in the workplace. With EHS software, you can move to electronic forms for conducting inspections, collecting signatures, and completing other key EHS tasks. Your employees can access your policies, procedures, SDS library, fact sheets, self-service training modules, signs, posters, and more from their personal devices.
3. EHS Software Lets You Identify and Remedy Issues Remotely
Through the use of a mobile application, a frontline employee, supervisor, or another team member can walk around a facility identifying issues—and then share that information virtually with their colleagues and organizational leadership. This makes it possible to capture important safety information without forcing everyone together to look at and discuss issues in person. The software gives everyone the means to communicate—in a timely, detailed manner—about workplace issues that need corrective action.
4. EHS Software Delivers Information and Resources Quickly
Finally, one of the greatest benefits of EHS software is speed. Given that many employees have switched job assignments and operations have changed in the wake of COVID-19, it’s imperative that organizations can revise and update their emergency response plans, communicate changes to employees, and train employees on changes as quickly as possible. By using EHS software, you can not only store all that new information, but swiftly update and distribute documents and forms to the workforce, capture e-signatures electronically, and maintain everything in one platform.
Let’s review. EHS software can support you and your businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond by…
- facilitating social distancing through online training,
- mitigating the spread by helping you implement a paperless system,
- allowing you to remotely identify issues and communicate with team members using mobile devices,
and - managing everything as quickly as possible.
The bottom line is that EHS software is a flexible, long-term solution. It isn’t just built for this short-term problem. It will help you run your business during and after the COVID-19 pandemic—as well as any future disruptions and crises that may come your way.
Ready to try out KPA’s leading EHS software for yourself? Our integrated software platform will help you maintain a culture of safety, streamline operations, and manage risk. KPA’s comprehensive, cloud-based workforce and workplace compliance solution makes it easy to remotely perform audits and inspections, respond to incidents, complete OSHA logs, manage safety data sheets, and much more. Click here to schedule a demo.
