What’s a safety manager to do when a senior decision-maker – perhaps outside of the safety realm – questions their value because EHS software could be used to automate certain tasks they’re responsible for performing?
Rest assured, the good news is that the acquisition of or expansion of EHS software doesn’t equate to job loss within the EHS profession. In fact, implementing and upgrading EHS software presents those in the industry the opportunity to use their skillsets more strategically.
How EHS Software Compliments Career Growth
To be clear, developing safety processes and procedures and crafting a strong organizational safety mindset can’t be accomplished alone by any given EHS software tools. The only way for an organization to fully realize its potential is for there to be a champion—someone driving the process—behind the tool or tools that have been selected. That person is responsible for thinking about the company’s unique challenges, size, industry, and other factors to discern how to leverage a tool or tools to take the company in the direction it wants to go. And that’s where the safety leaders come in.
Those within EHS are in the best position to evaluate which technological tools can be used to mitigate organizational safety risks. They are also the ones who can best identify and articulate what the company is trying to get out of a particular solution. And, they are in the best position to incorporate relevant tools into the larger safety ecosystem.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to integrating technology into a company’s EHS-management processes.
It’s best to think about the software selected as the tools of the trade—like a doctor uses a stethoscope to get a pulse on the inner workings of a patient’s body, EHS software is just a tool in an EHS manager’s arsenal—a tool to help them identify issues and then mitigate risks before they actually occur.
At the end of the day, EHS software, when thoughtfully selected, is there to compliment an EHS professional’s duties and skillsets, by performing essential tasks, such as:
- Managing online employee training
- Conducting mobile inspections
- Tracking incidents and accidents
- Performing corrective and prevention actions
- Monitoring overall EHS program progress
Tools like this can also help companies:
- Provide transparency on safety program performance
- Achieve better employee engagement and more streamlined communications
But, again, these tools need a captain, and there’s no substitute for having dedicated, driven, and knowledgeable EHS professionals at the helm.
If you would like to learn more about how to automate manual processes, reduce total cost of your risks, and better manage safety with all-inclusive tools that can help bolster your career as an EHS professional, please contact KPA.
We can help identify how EHS software can fit without your unique “bigger” picture for safety. We can also provide pointers on how to communicate the total cost of risks your organization and make your case to senior leadership as your organization’s safety champion, so you can get senior leadership’s buy in and show them how your strategic vision can help reduce compliance and injury risks and cut operational costs in the long run.
