Being a business owner comes with many challenges. While you are always working and making adjustments towards the goals of higher profits or larger market shares, one of the most important things is keeping your employees safe and happy. It is vital that you create a safe working environment for your employees in order to keep growing as a business.
Too often, we are stuck focusing on our business outcomes and overlook the conditions that our employees have to work in to achieve them. It is your responsibility as a business owner to ensure that the environment, health, and safety (EHS) of your business are up to par, and this, in turn, will help your business to be successful.
In order to help you achieve a great working environment, this article is a guide to everything you need to know about EHS.
1. Definition of EHS
EHS is short for Environment, Health, and Safety. Still, it is a blanket term for many laws, rules, regulations, professions, programs, and workplace efforts to protect the health and safety of employees, the public, and the environment. Essentially, EHS is all about what your organization does to keep people out of harm’s way while on the job.
- E stands for Environment – which is all about environmental releases and spills.
- H stands for Health – and the factors that can make your employees ill in the workplace.
- S stands for Safety – and the factors that can cause injuries at work.
Although EHS is the most common label for this, it is interchangeable with other terms like HSE (Health, Safety, and environment) or OHS (Occupational Health and Safety). And sometimes, you will also be able to see the addition of a “Q” in SHEQ – which stands for the same thing but adds Quality to the term.
2. EHS Management Software
For years, every business had to take care of EHS manually, but this consumes extensive resources, time, and effort with tasks like inspections, damage assessment manual documentation. The results of inspections and analyzing what changes need to be made are difficult to do manually and are often inefficient at making effective changes. The manual processes take a long time, and by the time they are done, the situation may have changed. As a result, the well-being of people in and out of the organization is put at risk.
Fortunately, doing EHS manually is not the only option nowadays – and along with the constant stream of new technologies, EHS management software has become more sophisticated than ever. There are many software options available, and you can visit this site to see software that could benefit your business’s EHS. By standardizing, simplifying, and automating EHS activities, it gives you the ability to stay on top of everything. With your EHS program data and activities organized to a single location, you can easily check progress, regulatory reference information, and policies, and make adjustments with just a few clicks.
3. The Benefits of EHS Management Software
With the implementation of effective EHS management software, you will be able to:
- Have fewer workplace injuries and illnesses: Since you have the ability to track and address EHS issues before they become incidents effectively, the chances of incidents being repeated is reduced.
- Save money: Fewer incidents also means fewer expenses on associated tasks, which will save you money to spend on your business.
- Improve productivity and efficiency: Fewer injuries and damages will result in fewer disruptions, lost hours, and days off from work. This will allow your employees to focus on their jobs, which will increase their productivity and efficiency.
- Make smarter decisions: With detailed data at your fingertips, you can identify existing issues and correct them before they get serious.
- Avoid compliance headaches: Having to spend time and money to satisfy investigators and regulators all the time is not fun. EHS management software helps to simplify the entire process, which will save you a big headache.
- Gain a competitive edge: Better hiring, retention, reputation, and morale are all results of a good EHS management system. These benefits can be used to improve your products, services, or business processes, which will help you to leapfrog your competition.
4. The Importance of EHS
Neglecting EHS means neglecting people’s safety. This may be the safety of your employees, customers, contractors, vendors, neighbors, or community members. The last thing any business wants to do is put people in danger or leave them vulnerable to incidents that could have been avoided. This is why governmental rules and policies are in place to ensure that you are obligated to look after your people and adhere to workforce environmental regulations and standards. To be on the right side of the law, you have to follow the rules, or you may be liable to fines, claims, lawsuits, losses, and many other serious consequences.
5. Further Benefits of EHS
As well as keeping people safe and protecting your business from legal ramifications, there are many other benefits of ensuring optimum EHS:
- Motivate your employees: By showing your staff that the company truly cares about their well-being, you make your employees feel like they are valued and safe. With fewer incidents happening, your EHS program will have a positive impact on employee’s morale, retention, and productivity.
- Generate positive publicity and improve your reputation: Lawsuits or legal actions being taken out against your company can seriously hurt you, so it is vital to have good EHS so that you are not viewed as a bad organization.
- Increase customer loyalty: Nowadays, many factors are considered when customers are trying to decide which company they should spend their time with and invest their money in– and having an EHS-friendly business is definitely a plus in their eyes.
At the first sight, EHS may seem to be a complicated matter, but it doesn’t have to be, especially when you are equipped with the proper knowledge. By saving time, reducing errors, and creating logical processes, EHS management software can help your business a lot with the process.
With better statistics and data, it is easier for businesses to make adjustments to improve your EHS performance. This guide will give you everything you need to know about EHS. If you have been neglecting your responsibilities or you’re not sure of what to do, right now is the perfect time for you to improve your overall organization by investing in EHS management software.
