In today’s increasingly connected world, companies aiming for successful growth must be able to do business on a global scale in order to stay competitive. Globalization has become a given. But as your business expands, are your risk management practices able to keep up with the growing demands of additional locations, a larger staff, a multilingual workforce, and training diverse teams across time zones and continents? New challenges arise each time the business grows into a new location, and avoiding serious safety incidents can become increasingly complicated as teams become more widespread. Choosing an EHS management system that is able to handle these increased demands can play a vital role in ensuring that your company and your teams are prepared no matter where in the world they are working. As a dedicated EHS professional, you’ll want to make sure that your EHS risk management software provides the tools you need to stay ahead of the curve in order to protect your company’s reputation and peace of mind across the distance.
Smart Growth with EHS Risk Management Software
Equipping your business with the right tools can help create sustainable growth, no matter how many locations you open. For example, deploying a strong EHS management system can play a significant role in supporting the needs and goals of the company throughout continued expansion. The right software empowers your business by strengthening training, risk assessment, and incident management through a centralized technological database that can be accessed any time, from anywhere, and by any device. Handle larger teams and increased risks with ease by automating processes and streamlining the flow of information across each sector of the company by utilizing the latest technology.
Strong company growth can also result in greater vulnerability to potential security breaches. The right software solution can protect you from outside access attempts so that your staff can transmit and share information securely. Protecting your information means protecting the future growth of your business. Technology that is up to date with the latest standards for security, data encryption, and hack-proof performance can help prevent unwelcome breaches. Always look for a provider that is ISO certified and GDPR compliant when choosing software solutions.
Meanwhile, automated record keeping makes regulatory compliance simple, despite juggling multiple standards across international and state lines. Track performance and report out to external and internal stakeholders with confidence through reporting that’s always right at your fingertips. Asset management can also be automated, allowing you to track and monitor equipment performance, maintenance, repairs, and inspection compliance in order to better anticipate costs and optimize the life cycle of your machinery. Growing into multiple locations can make record-keeping more complicated for many businesses – but with the right software solutions, that doesn’t have to hold you back. Instead, simplify your administrative process and make risk management easier than ever!
Addressing the Unique Needs of a Global Business
One common mistake often made by companies new to the international arena? Overlooking the unique challenges to overcome and skills required to be successful in managing a global workforce! Running a business across multiple countries, cultures, languages, and time zones takes more resources, strategic thinking, and dedicated labor than simply having multiple locations within one country. Your business strategy and tools must be able to adapt and keep pace with the increased needs of the company.
For example, many businesses may still be conducting all HR processes, training, and risk management in the native language of the country where the business is headquartered, rather than appropriately adapting their materials to the native languages of their international teams. This can cause numerous issues and lead to serious miscommunication when employees aren’t able to access critical training and safety informational materials in their first language. When it comes to risk prevention, your business can’t afford to leave anything to chance. Properly translating all training and risk management materials for each site and providing OH software access in your staff’s first language are both a key component of assuring that your program is effective across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Today’s advanced EHS risk management systems can help. Don’t wait until there’s a serious incident to make sure that staff are getting the information they need – instead, use your software to help track all training and compliance benchmarks across teams.
And don’t miss out on key information and data because of the distance! EHS management software can help streamline data visibility and access across all of your organization’s locations, helping your teams work strategically and effectively no matter how widespread they may be. Make sure your technology is compatible with any internet browser or operating system. Keep everyone on the same page with mobile apps to improve safety and productivity while on the go. Working globally means that guaranteeing instant access to the latest information, status updates, and incident reports is more important than ever, and the right software can make it easy.
Creating a Proactive Approach to Risk Management
The most effective way to avoid serious incidents in the workplace is to support your staff by providing training and safety management resources even before their first day on the site. Detailed, comprehensive pre-job training should be a required part of your onboarding process for new team members, and your EHS management system must be able to track and record training completions to ensure HR and management compliance. The right software can provide scheduled alerts for key training benchmarks, both before and after an employee is onboarded, ensuring that your staff are kept up to date on the latest procedures, policies, and practices to maintain a safe workplace. Avoid training lapses and manage transitions into new roles by setting up automatic notifications to keep staff on track.
Standardizing processes across all business locations can help optimize your results, ensuring that every team is working up to the same high standard for safety and compliance. Business intelligence tools can highlight data trends to help identify problem areas and opportunities for improvement, empowering leadership to make informed, strategic decisions. Using EHS risk management software helps teams assess risks and controls, track shifting risk factors through process changes, and use data to strengthen performance the smart way.
It’s also possible to use the latest technology to streamline collecting qualitative data! Get insights you can’t get anywhere else by gathering input directly from team members. EHS software can streamline the process by providing detailed, thoughtful behavior-based safety questionnaires that your management can use or adapt to fit your business’ unique needs, or create your own. Providing opportunities for employees to offer direct, anonymous information and feedback can be crucial in spotting current safety blindspots, gaps in training, and previously unidentified risks within your operations.
Finding the Right Technology Solutions for Success
When selecting an EHS management system for a global business, it’s important to consider what features are most important to your workforce and how they’ll be used within the company. One critical feature is mobile-first technology, allowing staff to access the tools and information they need from anywhere in the world, on any mobile device. Don’t leave your staff deskbound – the right risk management tools must be accessible first and foremost in order to keep up with modern productivity and a busy workplace. Your EHS software should be able to go everywhere your employees go – and then some. The ultimate time-saver? Being able to save work while offline, and have it automatically upload once a device is reconnected online.
User-friendliness is also a major concern for businesses implementing new software – what’s the learning curve like? Will team members be able to find and utilize information easily no matter what their role within the company? Choosing a system with an intuitive interface that prioritizes user friendly design can make all the difference in having a successful software implementation. Using the system should be an easy, automatic, and stress-free part of your employees’ regular routine, not an inconvenient hassle. Being able to program automated workflows for various roles allows actions to be assigned and completed in a cinch. And make sure that customer support is readily available for any questions or concerns that do arise through normal use!
It’s also worth considering how a new software will integrate with your existing business tools! Is it compatible with your HR data system? Look for technology that seamlessly integrates with PeopleSoft, SAP, and Microsoft, while giving you the option to export files via comma-delimited or XML import. Other providers that can be key to integrate include RegScan, ENHESA, STP, and Verisk 3E. If you’re conducting clinical and drug testing on a regular basis, look for software that is able to submit results automatically in connection with reputable laboratories such as Labcorp and Questcare – as well as key regulatory agencies such as OSHA. Software compatibility can have a significant impact on reducing the time and money spent on administrative overhead and technical support.
Ready for the Next Step?
Cority’s innovative EHS management system technology goes the extra mile to provide the solutions you need to keep your organization on track, no matter where in the world you’re working. Contact us today for a free demo of our software and to find out more about why our tools could be the right fit for your business.
