The growth of EHS software

The demand to record safety at all stages of a project’s progress is fuelling strong growth in EHS software that creates a ‘data ecosystem’. 

Environment, health and safety (EHS) software is capable of capturing, storing and analysing a host of information relating to OSH, and can now be regarded an integral part of ‘golden thread’ compliance – a phrase coined in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster describing the need to attach an indelible audit trail to all high-risk projects.

Typically, the software records compliance data from incidents and causation, and a range of other safety metrics that it organises into dashboards to give a more complete safety picture. Demand for this software has been booming in the quest to build better safety cultures. Research suggests the market will be worth $2.5bn by 2026, at a compounded yearly growth rate of 11.5% (Verdantix, 2021).

‘What’s been done, by who, and where, are just some of the questions EHS software answers, by geo-tagging which staff with the right training have been allocated to jobs,’ says Luke Allen, managing director of eviFile, a digital evidence platform that serves the construction sector and helps create what he calls a ‘data ecosystem’.

‘Initially, EHS software looked into ops, but it’s increasingly moved to compliance. Two years ago it would have been considered voluntary, but increasingly it is becoming required, as those involved in projects need to 
validate themselves and their subcontractors – everything from creating logs of near misses, to 
daily site diaries and captured health and safety protocols.’  

Among the leading providers are Emex, Perillon, Alcumus and EcoOnline – the last of which works with building contractor John Sisk & Son. ‘The technology helps us make the right decisions and effectively focuses our efforts on delivering zero incidents and zero accidents,’ says Wayne Metcalfe, health and safety director at Sisk.

Perillon CEO John Niemoller – who has seen his business grow by 20% in the last year – says: ‘Not only do OSH professionals want fewer unplanned events, they want a proper audit trail. We find heads of safety want to kick off workflows that take them through a resolution process, be that highlighting who needs training or what on-site processes need changing.’

EHS software is increasingly influential, Luke says. ‘We’re seeing larger contractors mandate that their SME subcontractors also take licences for systems.’ And smaller businesses can use the software harmoniously too, as no heavy IT skills are usually needed for set-up. Both John and Luke also argue that with careful integration, different experience maturities – even those between sites – can be managed. John says: ‘It’s quite easy to configure this software to what we call small or large company status – even within organisations – to take account of different sites’ familiarity, but still create a good overall picture.’

A whole company approach

They also agree on the need for a ‘whole company’ approach: ‘For EHS to be any good, it needs to integrate with existing enterprise resource planning systems,’ says John. ‘You can integrate to an HR system that logs training, absence or illness, or to fleet management systems, so that you can start measuring miles driven without incidents. It’s about mapping interfaces and linking one set of data to another.’

For those investing in EHS software systems, the key requirement is scalability, and ability to link across other organisational departments. Buyers might want to assess whether they need an all-in-one safety and compliance platform, or a specialised solution for a discrete process. Some organisations may prioritise auditing capabilities more than those that spot and suggest corrective or preventative action; for others, it may be more about incident management. Installing the software locally or using a cloud-based solution is a further consideration, although using the cloud is fast becoming the favoured option.

Most providers offer a wide suite of solutions, with some tailored for property and asset management, quality control and supply chain management, so that pick-and-mix integration is easier. Nicola Barker, vice-president of product at Alcumus, says: ‘Firms want cross-organisation consistency and standardisation; this enables high-level trends to be seen and helps firms be transformative rather than reactive.’

Challenging norms

A common barrier to adoption is entrenched cultural norms. ‘Resistance to change from the bottom up is nearly always a problem,’ says Luke. ‘People are used to paper checklists or Excel, so it’s about getting everyone to think about the benefits of seeing workstreams more broadly.’ This certainly chimes with recent research. A survey on the built environment sector’s readiness to deliver digital golden threads found that 75% said industry culture was the biggest blocker. Some of this was due to not knowing who should ‘own’ the data: at the design stage, 30% said clients should own the data, rising to 75% at the operation stage (i3PT and Chartered Institute of Building, 2020).

Timo Kronlöf, managing director of HSE software provider Quentic in Finland, says: ‘More observations tend to flow into fewer accidents over time, and I believe that when employees become part of the reporting process, they become more engaged in the safety culture it creates.’

John adds: ‘It’s vital management is proactive here – configuring templates, asking the right questions and setting up rules for triggering training.’

Smart businesses should be able to bring about cultural change by linking best practice created with the IOSH competency framework. Of note are the framework’s technical competencies, which call for OSH management systems and a ‘plan-do-act’ mentality. It also elevates health and safety auditing – complete with compliance, documentation and gap audits. When buy-in is achieved, John says clients partnering with Perillon report 10% to 20% reductions in incidents and injuries.

And there’s still more to come. John says: ‘Innovations likely to be seen include integrating workflows better, so safety processes chime better with business ones; being augmented with better data-mining tools to be more predictive rather than using lagged data; and better integration with mobile devices.’ Alcumus is pressing ahead with ‘dynamic risk assessment’ functionality that Nicola says will add more predictive elements and a wider number of risk assessment templates. Providers also say there will be better alignment with regulation and standards bodies, to help companies meet their criteria. All of which means EHS software really is coming of age. 

Image credit | Alamy | iStock