Edition No. 14

Boosting EHS Value Within Your Organization

Environment, health and safety (EHS) programs have traditionally been geared to managing risk and achieving compliance. But recently, there has been a trend in large, global companies to improve EHS performance beyond compliance. This trend has been championed by the customer in a pursuit of quality down through intricate supply chains. As customers demand better EHS performance, this opens the door to boosting the value of the EHS function within the organization. Here are five ways that an EHS individual or function can achieve this enhanced value.

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1. Align the EHS function with your company’s business objectives.

The first task is to identify key business metrics. Once the metrics are defined, align the EHS function to those metrics and learn to “speak the language” of the business objective. For example, a second tier semiconductor fab identified wafer moves as their primary metric. Their goal was to optimize the number of times the wafer moved between production steps during each production day. After careful study, EHS and fab management understood that the number of emergency response team (ERT) events had the greatest negative impact on the wafer moves of any EHS-related activity. The EHS objective became to reduce those ERT events per unit time. The result was a quantifiable increase in productivity that was tied to the overall business goal. Here’s a tip: Look for ways to enhance and measure productivity in your organization and tie as many EHS objectives as you can to that metric.

2. Simplify and make your goals achievable.

Too often EHS professionals have a long laundry list of complicated goals and objectives. Experience shows that by simplifying and concentrating on two or three manageable and achievable objectives within a reasonable time frame, perhaps six months to one year, better results are produced. By focusing on a smaller number of goals, objectives are more often met, therefore, increasing EHS value (especially if you can tie objectives into your ROI model. See 3 below).

3. Create an EHS Return on Investment (ROI) model.

Creating an ROI model for EHS further enhances the value of the EHS function in an organization. You can fashion an EHS ROI model like an income statement or balance sheet, trying to keep as many of the returns quantitative, not just qualitative. Each EHS activity should have an ROI associated with it. Blended learning for EHS training is a good example. Let’s say 100% of your EHS training is now instructor-led and there is an investment cost to reduce that figure to your goal of 50%, with the remainder being web-based training. If your return on that investment is a net improvement/overall operational cost reduction in training costs during the first year (and that can be quantified), then the savings you realized in subsequent years further enhances ROI – and EHS value.

4. Find a C- level or executive champion.

Typically, EHS professionals don’t have dynamic leadership skills or the ear of corporate level executives (CEO, CFO, EVPs, etc.). This is most often due to lack of leadership experience and/or training. But to set EHS objectives that align with overall business objectives and to help push them through the rank and file, EHS professionals need to create strong relationships and establish credibility with executives to help champion those objectives. These relationships can also help further your career, especially if that executive becomes a mentor.

5. Identify an external mentor.

While internal mentors can help build EHS value, external mentors can help build strong leadership skills, perhaps the most glaring chink in the EHS armor. Here are some important criteria to look for when searching for a mentor:

EHS interest (but not necessarily expertise)
An interest in mentoring
Leadership experience and a successful track record
Experience leading staff-type functions in businesses similar to yours

Networking through local trade or industry associations is the best way to find a mentor.

In summary, rather than just looking at the day-to-day activities to manage risk and achieve compliance, learn to take a broader view of the EHS function. Learn the business metrics and the business language of your organization and build alliances within it. It’s a win-win-win scenario for you, the EHS department, and the organization.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the February 2005 issue of The Synergist, the monthly AIHA publication.