9 Reasons Why Your Company Needs an EHS Manager

An Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) manager is a crucial role in any organization. They are responsible for ensuring compliance with environmental, health, and safety regulations, safeguarding employee safety, minimizing the environmental footprint of the company, and managing risks.

They also play a vital role in maintaining the company’s reputation, saving costs, and ensuring regulatory reporting.

In this article, learn about nine key responsibilities of an EHS manager and how their breadth and depth of knowledge can contribute to a prosperous, safe workplace for all.

The Highly Skilled EHS Manager Wears Many Hats in an Organization

1. Compliance: Navigating the Regulatory Landscape

Arguably, the most important role of an EHS manager is to ensure the company is in compliance with relevant laws and regulations. This can be a complex task if it’s a global company, spanning multiple jurisdictions.

The manager creates policies and procedures, implements programs to mitigate risks, and consistently monitors workplace conditions. They also shield the company from costly fines, and legal issues, and prevent reputational damage that non-compliance can cause.

2. Employee Safety: Putting People First

Having an EHS manager on your team helps to ensure workers are safe by taking steps to create a safe work environment. By designing and implementing safety programs that safeguard employees from workplace accidents, injuries, and illnesses, this role contributes directly to lowering your incident rate.

This is a key ingredient to creating the foundation for a strong safety culture throughout all levels of your organization.

3. Environmental Protection: A Greener Tomorrow

Did you know EHS professionals are perfectly positioned to manage your ESG strategy? ESG management and reporting requirements are compatible with how safety professionals function across their value-added organizational support and services.

This has created a new, compatible space for safety professionals to take the next step in influencing overall corporate, shareholder, and investment compliance and public perception risk areas. The EHS manager ensures that the company operates responsibly, reducing its impact on the environment and meeting ambitious environmental objectives.

4. Risk Management: Safeguarding What Matters

An EHS manager plays a critical role in risk management within an organization. They implement various strategies and processes to identify, assess, and mitigate risks. The first step is identifying risks in the workplace including equipment, processes, materials, and general work environments. Regular risk assessments are performed as new projects arise and work environments change. Assessments help in prioritizing risks based on their potential impact on the company and its workers.

Safety protocols are put in place to help manage and mitigate identified risks and are communicated to employees on a regular basis.

5. Reputation and Public Relations: Trust Earned

When an incident occurs on the job site, depending on the circumstances, the company’s reputation is at risk. An EHS manager is well-positioned to protect a company’s reputation and strengthen its brand through the following strategies:

• Complying with regulations
• Ensuring ethical practices
• Fostering a strong safety culture
• Transparency in reporting
• Implementing sustainability initiatives
• Engaging with stakeholders

6. Cost Savings: A Wise Investment

Investing in an EHS expert can significantly lower your costs in many ways including the following:

• Reduction in incidents: Fewer incidents mean reduced costs associated with workers’ compensation claims, legal fees, and potential fines.
• Lower insurance premiums: EHS professionals ensure that you maintain a solid safety record, which eventually leads to lower general liability insurance premiums.
• Worker productivity/downtime: A safer working environment leads to a reduction in incidents, which leads to less time off for injuries.
• Steering clear of expenses associated with medical bills, insurance claims, legal fees, and cleanup costs.
• Sustainable practices: EHS experts who manage a company’s ESG strategy, continuously look for ways to recycle, conserve water, and increase energy efficiency, leading to cost savings.
• Contractor management: EHS managers are responsible for the safety practices of suppliers and contractors. This can reduce the risk of costly accidents and liabilities.

7. Regulatory Reporting: The Watchful Eye

EHS experts have a deep knowledge of local, national and international regulations. And they continuously monitor changes in regulations and ensure the organization complies with new requirements.

They keep accurate records and file the necessary reports with regulatory agencies as required. This helps to ensure the company remains in good standing with authorities, avoiding penalties for non-compliance, which can result in costly fines. They’re also in charge of record keeping, by maintaining accurate and complete records of environmental and safety data as required. These records can be used for regulatory reporting audits.

8. Continual Improvement: Learning from Incidents

When a company is committed to continuous improvement, it demonstrates that it is dedicated to evolving and doing better. Learning from incidents can be a humbling experience but with the right collaboration and support, an EHS manager can lead the way to a safer workplace tomorrow. The process must be meticulous and analytical. This detailed process is the only way to truly identify areas for improvement and implement corrective actions to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

9. Emergency Preparedness: Ready for the Worst

Having a detailed and well-defined emergency response plan can mean the difference between life and death. It can also support the business continuity plan in the face of an unforeseen incident.

Emergency response plans are developed to handle potential disasters, from chemical spills to fires or natural disasters. Being well-prepared in times of crisis minimizes damage and ensures the safety of employees and the surrounding community.

AN EHS MANAGER’S SUCCESS REQUIRES THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB

An EHS manager is a vital asset to any organization. Their dedication to promoting a safe, sustainable, and compliant working environment contributes significantly to the overall success and well-being of the company and its stakeholders. They are the guardians of the company’s future, and their presence is an absolute necessity in today’s corporate landscape.

The effectiveness of this vital role can be greatly enhanced by leveraging a software solution to streamline compliance, improve safety protocols, and drive proactive risk management. An integrated, easy-to-use solution can be an EHS manager’s best friend. It gives them the ability to make decisions, monitor performance, and ensure the highest standards of safety and environmental responsibility. Allow us to customize a solution to meet your needs.

Contact us today to learn more.