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In the last quarter of 2016, I spoke to over 50 EHS managers - all working hard to fight the daily elements of Environmental, Health & Safety issues....here's what they said. [BTW, if you are one of those people I owe you a coffee or pint!]
We know that the EHS landscape is constantly changing and evolving, but we wanted to talk to the people on the ground dealing with this on a daily basis to test our theories. We want to empower our users to be become super-users, with Libryo as their weapon of choice.
ISO management system survey stats
We spoke to a variety of people, in many different roles and industry sectors. Around 60% where in EHS, IOSH, SHEQ covering multiple domains, 25% specialised in Health and Safety, and 15% specialised in Environmental. I found it really interesting to learn how roles had evolved over time, especially to encompass more domains and responsibilities.
But here's where it gets interesting. The overwhelming majority (almost 80%) of the people in the companies I spoke to had the main 3 management system standards [14,001, 18,001, 9001] in place, and 20% of the people I spoke to said that their company didn't. One of the most common reasons, was they did not see the value in it. This was mainly for the food, automotive and chemicals industries. Others were more focused on compliance with regulation apart from formally implemented management systems, but were thinking about, or in the process of getting it done. A few people were also waiting for the new ISO 45,001.
What we call "Legal Registers"
A key part of compliance and ISO audits is making sure your company is able to keep on top of the regulation that applies to your operations. This needs to be kept by a competent person usually either a consultant or internal compliance manager who is responsible for keeping the legal register up to date and also ensuring that the company is compliant with the legislation that applies to them and their operations.
Over 80% of people I spoke to kept a legal register, most of them on spreadsheets with email updates from professional bodies like IEMA, online legal registers and industry press. It seems that overcoming regulatory complexity as part and parcel of operating one's management system, is one area where automated efficiency has not yet reached. The remaining 20% were either in the process of implementing a process and legal register or did not fully understand what a legal register is or the importance of it.
We all need challenges
Life would be boring without out challenges, right? 'Well, yeah, kinda'... I hear you say. The fact is that none of us are exempt from daily challenges in our workplace. You can properly trace yours back to 3 core categories: people, time and money. All software is born out of helping to solve a problem, Libryo is no exception. We have specifically designed our platform for compliance professionals, our aim is to empower our users to simply and easily understand and implement the law within their working environment.
When I first joined Libryo 5 months ago, I asked Garth [one of our co-founders] to give me one reason why he kickstarted Libryo. 'To make the world a better place", was his response. Naturally I laughed in his face [a bit awkward few days into the job]. But now 5 months in and having spoken to over 50 super talented and passionate EHS professionals, I think I get it.
Our Goals
What I found really interesting is that our company aspirations matched the top 3 goals of everyone I spoke to. What we all care about is seeing people thrive though:
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