As the variety and complexity of roles within EHS continue to grow, so will the use cases for robust reporting. The interest in and use of data can bring almost every EHS professional into the fold. The more digitized the world becomes, the more data you’re going to have, and the more things you’re going to be able to do with it. Within EHS, that can mean a lot of things. Think about just how far-reaching the concept of EHS is; a healthcare professional looking over patient data, a health and safety officer keeping track of incidents across several worksites, a lawyer wanting to know how their company is keeping track of and meeting air emissions targets – the list goes on.
All this to say; the use of data has come a long way, resulting in hundreds of use cases within EHS alone – and the fact of the matter is, that list isn’t going to stop growing any time soon. It’s important for organizations to start re-evaluating the way they use data to better understand how data can help them prioritize initiatives, reduce costs, increase worker autonomy and confidence, and so on.
Here are some ways data can help enhance your EHS strategy and set your organization up for success:
1) Fact-Based Support for Prioritization
Perhaps the greatest advantage that data and analytics provide is the ability to drive programs forward with facts. With a powerful analytics or business intelligence tool, you can build specific and complex reporting that empowers leaders to act with certainty. For example, utilizing data to benchmark performance against peer groups by region and industry to ensure lagging indicators and KPIs are met.
2) Identify Actionable Insights & Predict Future Events
Using concrete data can help professionals identify issues and risks and allow them to act accordingly. With predictive analytics, leaders can reduce the costs associated with workplace injuries and illnesses and non-compliant operations. Data models can help predict where the next event is most likely to occur, so you can take preventative action and have better visibility into safety gaps and limitations.
3) Visualize and Inspire
Data is often most impactful when it is presented in a clear and visually appealing way. It is one thing to verbally explain data but displaying data with pleasing visuals can inspire action and increase retention. For example, dashboards and charts help the viewer make connections and understand the data’s importance in ways that would be more difficult to convey in words.
Using an Analytics Tool
EHS professionals can do a lot of amazing things with clean and reliable data. However, data is only useful if you can interpret it and draw valuable conclusions in a manageable way. Utilizing an analytics tool can help you sift through data, create unified data sets, and deliver actionable insights without the need for a dedicated resource. If you’re already utilizing an analytics tool but are looking to re-evaluate its capabilities and performance, check out our blog, “How to Find the Right Analytics Tool for Your EHS Data”.
