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Why Traditional Environmental Management Systems Don't Work (And What to Do About It)

For years, companies have used paper records, spreadsheets, and homegrown software systems to mange their environmental responsibilities. 

But as regulations change, consumer attitudes shift, and businesses strive for sustainability, these traditional environmental management systems simply don't cut it anymore. 

That's especially true for companies with high volumes of environmental data in highly regulated industries. Oil, gas, mining, and manufacturing companies are in need of a modern environmental management system. So are transportation, construction, and food processing companies, to name a few.

Let's take a look at some of the reasons why traditional environmental management systems don't work anymore, and what to do about it:

Click here to read our full guide to environmental management systems

What's wrong with traditional environmental management systems?

Traditional environmental management systems create data silos

With traditional environmental management systems, each facility or department maintains their own separate set of records. This creates data silos, where information from one location is isolated from the rest of the organization -- much like grain in a silo is closed off from the elements. 

Data silos prevent you from getting the full picture of your environmental performance. They limit your ability to make informed decisions. And they make it difficult to share environmental data across the organization or with senior management. 

Data silos are also a problem when employees leave or retire. When an employee who's been at a facility for years leaves, they take decades of knowledge with them. Those left behind struggle to piece together fragmented data in spreadsheets, paper records, and the occasional sticky note. 

Traditional environmental management systems are time consuming 

Think about a typical workweek. How much time do you spend on administrative tasks like filling out forms, updating spreadsheets, and putting together reports? 

According to a ServiceNow survey, managers say they spend an average of 2 days a week on administrative tasks, and that this prevents them from doing strategic work. Imagine what you could accomplish with an extra 2 days each week! 

Traditional environmental management systems are reactive

The problem with being reactive is that you're always waiting for something bad to happen. And sooner or later, it will. 

With traditional environmental management systems, you find out about missing tasks after the fact. You don't know about permit limits or thresholds exceeded until it's too late. You miss the warning signs leading up to an accident because you're forced to rely on lagging indicators

How much better could your company's environmental performance be if you were proactive instead of reactive? How much easier would it be to maintain your compliance track record if you knew about deadlines and missing tasks before they were due? 

What's the alternative?

Environmental management software solves all these problems. It provides a central platform so you can have all your environmental data and activities in one place. You can see what's going on across the company and, if someone leaves, they don't take crucial EHS knowledge with them.

It's also more proactive. You'll get alerts for compliance tasks and deadlines prior to them being due. You'll be able to see all your data in real-time on dynamic dashboards

Finally, environmental management software saves time. It eliminates redundant data entry, time-consuming QA/QC of data, and lets you create fully formatted regulatory reports in minutes. There are even mobile apps that can be useful when you're out on the plant floor moving around.  

 

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