Workers and the environment in which they work are a critical part of that supply chain – and keeping them healthy is a key component in keeping sustainable supply chains running at a time of COVID related shortages and disruption.
Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) is a discipline designed to help organizations minimize harm to workers and the environment. In practice, it’s about ensuring compliance as a baseline, and proactively managing risks. And what poses more workplace risk today than the spread of coronavirus?
If you’re like most organizations that run large plants or facilities, you probably already have an EHS program in place. Ideally, the processes and systems that support your EHS program are robust and flexible enough to accommodate new risks that emerge. Whether your facilities are just coming back online or you’ve been operational throughout the crisis, your EHS program is likely being tested like never before.
The role of wearables and the data they can provide
Critical to success is gaining control over your EHS data. Today’s best practice is to centralize data in the cloud for enterprise-wide visibility and analysis. With proper control over relevant EHS data, your organization can move forward with technology solutions that help advance the EHS agenda.
Take for example, IoT solutions that help to enforce mandated social distancing policies on the shop floor. One leading use case involves the use of wearable sensors that trigger alarms when workers get too close. Another is the use of IoT sensors to continuously monitor air quality throughout worker shifts. These sensors can track temperature, humidity, and particulates in the air that could potentially increase the risk of transmission.
With control over your EHS data, you can also perform the analysis required for continuous improvement. Which policies are working, and which need to be revised to improve EHS performance? You can also apply machine learning algorithms to identify patterns that would otherwise go undetected by the human eye. Not only does this help you improve over time, it can also help you anticipate changes with a fast-moving and unpredictable virus – allowing you to take the actions necessary to minimize infections, ensure worker safe, and keep supply chains humming.
Integration, visibility and PPE
Increasingly, integration with other key business systems is emerging as a critical success factor for EHS. Shop floor systems for EHS need to be integrated with the rest of the enterprise for total visibility. The need for integration is also making itself known as EHS professionals hunt for adequate levels of personal protective equipment (PPE) in many plants and factories today. This requires access to enterprise data – purchase orders, inventory levels, shipments in transit, and more.
In addition, integration – along with adequate data visibility – is important for speedy audits. As EHS is so integrally tied up with compliance, connections to business systems and ready access to data can help your organization demonstrate compliance on demand without requiring days of work from your otherwise busy EHS professionals.
Moving forward
New guidelines are being put forth almost on a daily basis, and many of them will eventually become actual regulations. Complying with these evolving requirements will take flexible processes and agile systems. In the near-term, organizations will need to trust their systems to limit legal liabilities and mitigate risk exposure. A robust EHS system can help.
Over the long-term, it seems obvious that – COVID or not – the EHS risk landscape will continue to evolve. New infectious diseases may emerge, and other risks may present themselves. Indeed, some of these risks may result directly from mitigating policies implemented to address immediate concerns. For example, as masks are mandated in the workplace, some organizations are reporting increased risk of slips and falls as workers attempt to perform their duties with fogged-up eye wear.
The point is that EHS risk can emerge from anywhere. What’s needed are robust systems that capture all relevant data and support the flexibility required to respond to emerging issues.
Learn more about how ensuring the environmental health and safety of all workers is a key enabler to help companies get back to best in the current and post COVID-19 era here.
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