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Are you working as an EHS manager in 2017? Well, like many others in your position, you’re faced with lots of challenges right now. However, the good news is that there are lots of ways to impress in your role if you’re prepared to embrace those challenges and find solutions. Here are five things you can do to really excel in your role this year:
1. Make the most of high quality EHS software
No matter how hard you work at your job, the fact is you’re only going to be as good as the tools you have at your disposal. That’s why you might need to make a business case for investing in good quality EHS software (be it compliance software, risk assessment software or something else), such as the kind available from Airsweb.
Issues such as compliance, reporting, risk management and incident investigation are all made much more straightforward with good technology supporting you, so consider getting a free trial or asking for a demo on some core functions. That way, you can show your seniors how effectively EHS software allows you to input, monitor and analyse data, track incidents, complete reports and ultimately manage EHS more effectively than you otherwise could.
2. Seek training to develop yourself further
Another way to impress in your role is to seek out new training or qualifications – even if you’ve not been prompted to. ROSPA offers reputable training, and they have lots of good resources on their website if you need to make a case for persuading your seniors to invest in EHS training for you.
Even if you choose not to undertake EHS-specific training, consider doing something like undertaking communication training to ensure the ‘guys on the ground’ feel you understand their day to day issues with EHS. That way, you’ll be able to work effectively with colleagues across the business, making it more likely you’re going to achieve the goals you’re tasked with.
3. Set yourself a challenging goal to eliminate illness and injury
If you’re good at tracking, making sense of and acting on leading indicators for risk assessment, you’ll have a good idea about rates of illness and injury in your organisation.
It’s important to be proactive and set yourself a challenge to use the data to develop methods that reduce or eliminate injury or illness occurring at all. Set yourself a target (one that’s beyond what is expected of you or really challenges what you think you’re capable of), and work towards it all year.
4. Get the balance right
Another way to impress in your role as an EHS manager is to show you’re able to follow procedures, use your initiative and also loop in the relevant people or await instruction… something that can be a difficult balance to achieve.
You’ll need to be including your supervisors and managers in an incident investigation process, but make sure you can handle responsibility on your own and know what to do without too much hand-holding. The key thing is to learn not to be ‘that’ EHS manager who constantly seeks reassurance they’re doing the right thing: instead, own it and take responsibility.
5. Keep up to date with industry news and consider sending a monthly summary email to necessary parties
A final thing you can do to really excel in your role is to become a ‘champion’ for the business, keeping an eye on EHS updates, rules and regulations. Read industry blogs and subscribe to mailing lists so you know what’s going on in this industry.
In fact, better yet, set up your own email newsletter to send to your colleagues and seniors, giving them a brief but engaging overview of what they need to be aware of. Showing yourself as a thought leader in this field is not only going to impress your team & seniors, but it’s also going improve your effectiveness as an EHS manager on a day to day level too.
Will you implement these tips to excel in your role? And is there anything else you plan to do to make sure EHS is as strong as it can be in your organisation?
