“The benefits of our EHS program exceed its costs.”
That’s a statement that 54% of participants in a recent survey agreed with. And that’s great news for safety professionals. But there’s room for improvement.
KPA partnered with EHS Today to survey EHS professionals in October 2019, and we wrote a State of the Industry report that discusses in depth the differences between high and low performing companies.
You can find that report here.
We dug deeper into the data to uncover insights about EHS Professionals and their use of software. We’ve found some interesting ones.
Let’s explore some key differences between companies that use software to manage their EHS program and those that don’t. And we’ll learn how that can speak to the ROI of your EHS program.
ROI Trends
Going back to that first statistic, let’s look at it based on software use.
There’s a 10% difference between companies who use third-party software and those that don’t. 61% of companies who use third-party software find their program benefits outweigh its costs – compared to only 51% of organizations who don’t use EHS software at all.
You can see this trend again by looking at leadership attitude toward EHS programs.
Leadership teams in companies without EHS software (28%) are far more likely to see their EHS program as a necessary evil (compared to only 17% EHS software users). On the other hand, 53% of leadership teams in companies with EHS software view their program as delivering a proven ROI.
Tone from the top – be that the top of your organization or the top of your team – is essential to building and maintaining your safety culture. When your senior management sees your EHS program as a necessary evil, they’re likely to challenge you to do more with less than when they see EHS programs as a strategic way to save time, money, and preserve their reputation.
Program Results
On top of demonstrating positive ROI, software based EHS programs see better overall results. We asked, “how well does your EHS program perform in the following areas”, and this is what we found:
Software helps you see better results in key areas of your EHS program.
From data collection and analysis, with a 16% difference in very good and excellent responses, to communication and reporting, with a 9% difference, software helped yield better performance ratings across the
spectrum.
Many of these elements are critical pieces of the puzzle when it comes to making a case for the ROI of your EHS program. Data collect and analysis is especially important. Boards, owners, and executives expect to see data to back up your program – especially when the budget is in question.
“Proving” what 54% of us already know – that the benefits of our EHS programs outweigh their costs – often comes down to having the right numbers in front of the right person at the right time.
And a great EHS software solution can help you accomplish just that.
