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Top 5 Signs It’s Time to Replace Your Spreadsheets with a Modern EHS System


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Overview

Spreadsheets are the most common form of EHS “automation” across most major industrial corporations. Compliance experts estimate that 80 percent of enterprises use spreadsheets to support critical business functions (Mathew Schwartz, itcinstitute.com, 2008). Spreadsheets are powerful and effective in small groups, but quickly break down when collaboration is needed across the company. According to a recent study, 88% of spreadsheets have errors (Wall Street Journal MarketWatch, March 20, 2013).  These errors are caused by disparate data collection efforts, re-keying of data, and complex data input screens few people understand. As regulatory agencies become more sophisticated in tracking, reporting, and compliance enforcement, these spreadsheet errors become easily identifiable and costly to the industry. The risk of non-compliance events caused by outdated data collection methods is unacceptable in today’s corporate world.  The time has come to replace your spreadsheets and install a more efficient EHS solution.

 

1 | Increasing Risk of a Major Incident, Fine or Penalty

EHS departments must comply with more requirements than ever before. Highly regulated industries are scrutinized by Federal and State Regulatory Authorities; they review all reports AEI, HAP Reports, Tier II, TRI, GHG, SWPPP, SPCC, etc. to find discrepancies in reporting to identify areas of concern. In response, these industries must have a robust system in place that is adaptable to new and continuously changing regulatory requirements.

Identifying and mitigating risks can only be done properly with complete and consistent data sets, simple data collection on- or offline, and with real-time report visibility. This includes operations data, calculations, emission factors, inspections, audits, and corrective actions. Mistakes in these data-intensive areas are very costly and are typically where most fines and penalties are levied. 

For most companies, the individual work activities required for each compliance program prove to be extremely difficult to identify, manage, track, and document.

                                                            

2 | Employees Waste 80% of Their Time on Repetitive Activities

Most companies rely on a handful of EHS staff to decipher complex spreadsheets and home-grown databases.  The result is the waste of valuable time resources on manual data manipulation, instead of working on more strategic risk mitigation activities.

Reporting is Time-consuming.  Compiling and generating reports manually from many sources is a strenuous, error-prone process, often resulting in outdated information.  A system that can collect data once and use the information for multiple programs will streamline reporting initiatives.  Reducing redundant data-collection efforts will increase efficiency and reduce risk over time as new complex reporting requirements are promulgated.

Reaction Times are Unacceptable.  In most companies, each site location employs a unique, non-systemized data management process.  Paper- and spreadsheet-based processes dictate.  An issue may not be caught until the formal reporting period (which can mean weeks after the occurrence), further increasing compliance risk.  Companies need to know when an issue occurs immediately to respond rapidly and effectively.

Trouble Closing Issues.  Facilities often have too much to do and the items stemming from audits and assessments can be forgotten or incomplete.  This is especially relevant to actions needing long lead times to complete and close out, where time and other work pressures erode urgency and recollection of the actions needed.

Segregated Business Operations.  When business operations are segregated, the likelihood of NOVs and non-compliance events increase.  A system to systemize and share information across business lines in real time is required to maintain sustainable operations.  Each site typically has unique permit requirements for compliance and reporting.  Process historians and continuous emission monitors (CEMs) record multiple data points in small time increments, but it is near impossible to efficiently analyze this data without a centralized system.  Adding non-automated data from analog meter readings, site walkthroughs, audits, and task execution compounds the issue.

 

3 | The Need to Collect Data Offline

Most environmental managers need access to their data and information outside of the office, so they can make decisions based on current information.  Without a means for collecting data offline, workers create redundant effort by capturing information in the field, then returning to the office to create reports or share the information for others to take action.  The more touch points and separate manual activities exist, the greater the chance of failure.  Ideally, you could collect data at the source, even without Internet connectivity.  Imagine the productivity gains by doing this in less than a minute, using a smartphone or tablet of your choice, and instantly seeing the data in a dashboard after your wireless sync with the central server.  The power of “portable knowledge” is now at your fingertips – it is up to you enterprise to seize the opportunity for your enterprise.

 

 

4 | Management Is Demanding Report Visibility in Real-Time

Need for Instant Visibility to Issues.  The separation of systems or spreadsheets does not provide sufficient visibility to the overall status of activities, trends, analysis of root cause, etc.  Data calls to provide management with status of activities or on specific elements of a program add to the already busy schedules of the need-to-know EHS staff managing the program.  Modern drill-down dashboards provide instant awareness for all employees across the enterprise, providing the visibility managers need to make decisions in real time to reduce risk.

Measuring Performance (KPIs).  Currently, companies that want to track KPIs undertake significant efforts to generate the data and KPI stats—i.e. waste generated, fuel burned, etc.  Centralized programs typically collect this information on an ongoing basis as a means to demonstrate compliance with permits and regulatory conditions.  Utilizing data that was already collected for a different purpose reduces the redundant workload and increases efficiency. 

Work Distribution.  Centralized systems will give managers more transparency through the organization and allow them to quickly see who has the most outstanding tasks, and who is completing their task on time.  For busy professionals, the ability to focus on the exceptions and outstanding issues is invaluable.  With a good centralized compliance system, it also becomes apparent which staff may be overloaded and assignments can be changed to distribute the workload.

 

5| Employee Turnover

When key people retire or change roles, it creates risk that you will lose your institutional knowledge.  Years of experience and knowledge can be embedded in files, spreadsheets, or notes stored in company staffs hard drives, scattered on network servers, or in workstation cabinets.  Most organizations without a centralized system are plagued by specialists with a mentality that everyone knows their own job component very well.  No one sees the big picture or process and there is limited cross-functional knowledge.  When someone leaves, the institutional knowledge goes with them, creating a huge risk of noncompliance or missed reports, tasks, and activities.  It can take a significant amount of time to identify past practices, document known information and tools, and train others to replace vacant and open spots.  In the process, valuable institutional knowledge, key activities, and compliance programs suffer during the rebuilding process.  It can be called the “Memorex effect,” where the copy is just not as good as the original.

Succession Planning and Systemization.  Environmental compliance varies permit-to-permit and plant-to-plant.  Companies are looking for ways to systemize efforts so they can minimize the number of unique site-specific activities and create a consistent process for compliance, training, and operations.  A systemized approach can minimize site-specific activities by creating a comprehensive program, while maintaining the ability to perform unique permit-driven activities.  Efforts such as data collection, task identification and completion, risk identification and mitigation, and compliance reporting can be controlled such that previously nuanced procedures can be systemized.