Technology plays a pivotal role in our lives – both personally and professionally. More and more organizations continue to embrace digitization as we enter the end of 2021. In fact, the adoption of digital solutions has been expedited by three to four years by companies of all sizes, in a range of industries due to the pandemic.¹

So, what about organizations within high-risk industries like construction or energy? Can going digital help EHS professionals? The answer is a resounding yes!

Join us as we explore how digitization can help drive safety performance and create safer workplaces.

1. Boost Return on Investment

Organizations who have gone digital successfully have seen:

• 18% higher three-year average gross margin²
• 8% higher average operating margin²
• 4% higher average profit margin than companies who are in the bottom quartile²

Going digital can help EHS professionals and teams accelerate their processes and tasks, saving time and increasing efficiency. Rather than filling out the necessary paperwork and manually inputting all the data, which may be time-consuming and prone to human error, it can be completed with a few clicks and sent to all key stakeholders at lightning speed. With such an increase in productivity, more tasks can be completed faster in less time.

With everything easily accessible by all key players in one centralized location, information siloes can also be eliminated, helping to identify gaps in your safety program more easily. Once EHS leaders can pinpoint deficiencies and risks with ease, less incidents and injuries will occur on-site, and hazards will be mitigated quickly resulting in a stronger safety record. With less insurance premiums, workers’ compensation claims, and an increase in productivity, companies can boost their return on investment while keeping people safe.

2. Streamline Communication

Embracing technology and digitization can also help streamline communication and break down siloes, as mentioned earlier. Instead of employees placing their latest hazard assessment or inspection form on a supervisor’s desk that is full of other papers, making it easier to lose, they can simply send it straight to their inbox. Information like this can also be easily accessible by every key player whether they are in the office or out on the field, as everything is centralized in one solution.

What’s more, is digital solutions also provide more accountability as notifications and alerts can be sent straight to all key players to complete a certain task or corrective action. These alerts can be set up when necessary or at a regular cadence which works best for the workforce. This will help create a greater sense of responsibility and streamline mitigating hazards on site quickly.

3. 360 Visibility  

Implementing a digital safety solution at your organization will help grant 360-visibility of your safety program. One of the worst positions an EHS professional can be in is not knowing what the top risks and hazards are on the worksite in addition to key metrics concerning safety performance, because they are relying on a paper-based system. This makes it difficult to analyze the effectiveness of your safety program and can cost lives.

With everything in a digital solution, EHS professionals will be able to easily spot deficiencies and weaknesses, rather than spending hours sifting through files and boxes of paperwork to try to find any outstanding gaps. This visibility can make it much easier to correlate different data sets to spot safety trends and patterns at your organization. A plan of action based on safety data can then be developed and prioritized once these weaknesses are identified, and all relevant EHS professionals can be informed of the necessary steps to help create a safer workplace.

This article was brought to you by Alcumus. The Alcumus suite of safety solutions provides EHS professionals with robust tools to help stay on top of all risks and hazards on-site to keep your people safe. Speak to one of our safety experts today to explore how we can help you drive safety performance and protect your people.  

¹McKinsey & Company, How COVID-19 has pushed companies over the technology tipping point and transformed business forever, Oct. 2020 
² Harvard Business Review, What the Companies on the Right Side of the Digital Business Divide Have in Common, Jan. 2017