A New Voice is Creating Value For the Board
Real-time access to data is driving organizational efficiencies and therefore elevating the ability of health and safety professionals to create value. According to the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), workplace safety is evolving from being compliance-driven to a strategic return on investment and competitive advantage.
A health and Safety professional’s primary focus is on reducing threats to people and eliminating incidents. The Board is focused on reducing risk and creating shareholder value. Board Members understand the transformative effect of data directly from the field in helping them meet their goals. This sets the stage for safety professionals to create even more value for Boards.
More and more, health and safety professionals are being asked to share their data and provide an expert opinion on the trends the data is surfacing. These can include an increase in incidents or a rise in equipment maintenance costs, etc.
The Digital Health and Safety Professional
Sean Adair is Manager, Regulatory & Safety with Bonavista Energy Corporation. His experience confirms the greater attention forward-looking companies like Bonavista pay to field worker data. Sean says, “My HSE team is committed to ensuring Bonavista operates in a manner that safeguards the health and safety of employees, contractors, responders, and our communities. Senior management is impressed with the productivity improvements Field Safe’s fast access to field data creates. This allows us to keep our workers safer, but also allows us to quickly respond to emergencies with the mapping capabilities for first responders, thus reducing operating costs and increasing workers’ time on tools instead of on paperwork. I’m being asked more regularly to share intel from our data and provide ideas for other ways to use and share it in other departments.”
Like the Board and senior leadership, the more you understand data and disseminate it effectively, the more value you can create. Ramping up your skillset in this area can have a major effect on your career development. As your health and safety organization transforms, HSE professionals have an excellent opportunity to provide enhanced value for their organization.