Finding the Best EHS Software Solutions for Your Team

Choosing the Best EHS Software for Your Unique Needs

EHS, or environmental health & safety, spans a broad range of programs and activities. You could be looking for safety management software, environmental software, or any number of other solutions. Knowing what type of software you’re looking for will ensure that your final selection aligns with your day-to-day EHS management needs.

Health & Safety Management Software

Maintaining workplace safety is a top priority for any business. The right health & safety management software can streamline your H&S programs while maintaining the high standards needed to keep your team safe. There are several key areas that workplace safety software must cover.

Incident reporting is a prime example. Even the most cautious and diligent workplace can experience on-site and off-site accidents. Reporting these incidents to the proper authorities, insurance agencies, and internal review committees can be an additional burden during these stressful times.

Incident reporting software can take some of that pain away by generating all the necessary reports after entering your incident data just once. Some tech-savvy insurance providers have even made it possible to interface with their systems so that your software can directly file a claim report.

There is also a need for inspection management software. If your primary concern is on-site safety, then you might be in the market for inspection software. It can provide you with custom and regulation inspection forms that are easier to fill out and share than the traditional inspection paperwork.

Having a safety management software system in place means that every safety audit will be held to the same standard, and you’ll have a clear audit trail just in case something does go wrong.  

Finding the Best Environmental Software

Environmental reporting software can take a lot of the hassle out of these activities by automating emissions data collection and generating standard environmental compliance reports. Depending on the industry you work in, you may choose to implement air emissions software, waste management software, one for water emissions, or a combination.

Choosing the best environmental software for your company requires taking a look at the specific challenges you face. An environmental management system can provide an excellent foundation for all kinds of reporting and compliance obligations. You can track emissions, waste, and releases to stay on track and accurately report to the EPA and other organizations.

Emissions reporting software can save your team time and money managing reporting obligations. In the US, you can find yourself in need of the right tools for TRI, Tier II, NEI, and other environmental reports. There are also options available for facilities in other regulatory jurisdictions, such as tackling NPRI reporting in Canada or COA compliance in Mexico.

SDS Authoring and Management Software

Any workplace that handles hazardous chemicals will need an effective software solution for safety data sheets (SDSs). SDSs are required under OSHA and other regulators, and they play a key role in keeping your team and others in the supply chain safe.

If your facility uses hazardous chemicals but doesn’t produce or manufacture any chemical products or blends, you still need to have SDSs for all chemicals on-site. Modern SDS management software streamlines this process, avoiding bulky binders and making it easy to access documents anywhere via a mobile app.

Facilities that do produce their own products or blends will have to create new SDSs for these chemicals. This can be a challenging task, but it is greatly streamlined with the right SDS authoring software. EHS software that handles SDS authoring saves your team time while also ensuring accurate chemical data for improved safety and dependable compliance.

Choosing the Best Sustainability Software

Corporate sustainability reporting (CSR) has become an essential task for organizations across a wide range of industries. Many aspects of sustainability reporting are required by regulations, such as greenhouse gas reporting. However, there are also benefits in terms of investor outreach and public perception. Choosing the best sustainability software will help streamline the entire process.

There are many different metrics to manage when addressing sustainability within your organization. Everything from emissions and water use to labor rights and supply chain ethics is included under this umbrella. This means that the best ESG reporting software needs to be highly versatile, with built-in and custom metrics to manage all of your sustainability data.

Finding the best sustainability software for your team will help you keep up with the latest reporting requirements, achieve continuous improvement, and demonstrate your company’s commitment to sustainability.

Finding the Best EHS Software Companies

In your search for environmental software, you will come across a lot of providers to choose from. But should you select a software based solely on product capabilities, or based on whether the software provider can provide the concrete services you’ll need? If you are looking to invest in environmental management software, you need to find the right software and the right software provider. Finding this perfect combination isn’t always so easy.

Assess Your Needs First

First off, you need a clear picture of your business’s needs. Figure out what areas you have expertise in and determine the areas you’ll need some assistance with.

Some software tools come complete with an environmental regulations library, while others are simple calculations and reporting tools. Depending on the expertise you have in-house, your expectations of what your software will have to do will change.

Are you a small business? A large enterprise? Do you have multiple sources of Hazardous Air Pollutants, or just one? How many chemicals do you deal with?

Do you only need to manage air emissions, water emissions, hazardous waste, or all of them? How much environmental data are you producing and tracking?

Do you plan on using environmental software to forecast future projects and perform in-depth analyses, or will you use it primarily for reporting your emissions to regulatory agencies?

It’s important you also determine your expectations for software providers:

• Do you need a software provider who is nearby, or are you comfortable doing everything online?
• How much technical support do you expect to get? Are you a “Pro” with computers, or do you prefer to get people in the know to show you about?
• Can you store all your data locally, or do you need to use a remote server?

Ask the Right Questions

Once you have a clear picture of your own needs, the next step is to ask the right questions to prospective providers. It’s vitally important that anyone you’re considering lives up to your expectations.

The corporate world is littered with failed software implementations because not enough time was spent matching the company’s actual requirements with the provider’s actual capabilities.

Of course, you’ll have to go further than simply asking “what is the best ESG software provider?” You will want to uncover the details that most providers won’t have listed on their software webpage. Some of these things can have a huge impact on your decision, and a good environmental software provider will be up front in answering your questions.

The types of questions you should ask:

• Is the development team outsourced or in-house?
• How secure are your servers?
• What kind of technical support do you offer?
• How long have you been in business? What assurances do I have that you’ll be here tomorrow?
• If I need to get support, will I speak with a representative or an automated system?
• Are you able to make changes to the software if I request them? Is there a cost attached?

Seek Out Flexibility

Just like you don’t want a “catch-all” software program full of features that you never plan on using (and probably had to pay for!) You don’t want an environmental software provider that tries to dictate what you need.

Instead, look for a software provider that understands that your expectations are different from everyone else’s. One way to find flexible solutions is to ask, “What software do environmental consultants use?” Consultants face a wide range of EHS scenarios and tasks, so they need software that can keep up.

When it comes to compliance, your needs can change depending on your industry, the region(s) you do business in, and what types of materials you use.

This means you need to search for a software provider that is willing to customize the software to your specific needs instead of trying to sell you an out-of-the-box solution.

Good environmental software should change itself to suit you, not the other way around! It should also make sure that you do less work, not just a different kind of work.

Get a Demo

Getting a demo or free trial is not only one of the best ways to see if a software program is a good match for your business, but it can also reveal a lot about your potential software provider as well.

• Do they take the time to personalize the demo for your company, or are you just watching a video?
• Do they take time to answer your questions and address your concerns?
• Are they friendly and approachable? Remember, you may have to deal with this software provider for a long time!
• Are they mentioning hidden fees they weren’t upfront about in their marketing materials?

The Best EHS Software Solutions for Your Team

Finding the right solution for your team can be a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be. ERA provides a comprehensive range of EHS software solutions to address all of your environmental, H&S, chemical management, and sustainability needs. Whether you’re looking to meet environmental reporting requirements or author safety data sheets, our software can help.

We’d love the opportunity to show you exactly why our EHS software is the best fit for your team. Schedule a call with one of our project analysts today to discover the unique benefits ERA’s software can offer your company.

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