ASSP Safety 2023: What We Learned

Key Takeaways:

• Organizations across countless industries are now more invested in workplace safety than ever before.
• Organizations are eager to find and implement new tools to propel their existing EHS programs.
• Visitor security gaps are a pressing issue in workplace safety. Organizations are looking for ways to make it easier to control who has access to a worksite through verified documentation.
• Many safety professionals struggle with efficiently tracking contractor requirements. Automated tools and contractor management softwares are at the forefront of helping workforces manage their contractor credentials to remain compliant.
• Inflexible EHS programs hinder organizations’ ability to scale their processes. As companies grow in size, they must find ways to maintain their health and safety measures across all sites and departments.
• Internal employee compliance is a top priority for safety professionals in highly specialized industries with high turnover rates.
• The use of digital solutions for workplace safety helps workplaces mirror their existing workflows to provide transparent, up to date information about their safety program.

Introduction

In June, we had the privilege of attending the annual Safety23 Conference & Expo organized by ASSP in San Antonio. We had the chance to engage with industry professionals and technology experts, gaining valuable insights into the current state of occupational health and safety. These discussions served as learning experiences that taught us about the pain points that many organizations suffer from, and what safety professionals need to enrich their safety programs. After attending the conference, we figured we’d sum up the key takeaways from our discussions at the event, shedding light on important trends and challenges within the industry.

Tracking Contractor Requirements

One of the main challenges associated with contracted work is the amount of administrative effort it takes to verify contractor requirements and keep track of them. The challenge is even more apparent as organizations scale in the amount of contractors they work with. Based on the conversations we had at the conference, it is clear that safety professionals such as EHS Managers are keen on finding intuitive tools that help them track their contractors’ requirements without the infinite manual legwork it would take to do so otherwise. Organizations are looking for a way to track and display real time data that shows them which of their contractors have valid credentials, and which ones need updating. Over the period of a project from start to finish, contractor requirements may change, require a renewal, or become void. Health and safety professionals need a way to monitor when these things happen in order to implement the appropriate course of action.

Scaling Safety

The process of scaling business operations is especially important to larger organizations that work with a large number of contractors and employees in numerous sites. Consistency in safety measures across all sites can be challenging to achieve. Countless organizations emphasized the adoption of scalable solutions that allow for complete flexibility and processes that can be replicated no matter the size. Organizations often stress the importance of speed to implementation as one of their main concerns. If a solution is complicated to implement and takes a while to fully onboard everyone, decision-makers may be deterred from implementing it at all their other worksites.

Addressing Visitor Security Gaps

A significant issue brought to the forefront was the challenge of visitors slipping through security gaps and bypass the measures put in place for them. As a worksite welcomes more visitors, it becomes crucial to bolster vetting processes and implement fail-proof visitor management systems. Organizations will often rely on workers on site to physically check and verify visitor credentials to ensure that they’re authorized to be there. This creates a delay in productivity since everything needs to be checked manually, additionally, it opens up a wide margin for human error, subsequently granting unauthorized visitors access to a worksite. The primary takeaway from this is that organizations need digital tools to automate visitor sign-systems and enhance security measures.

Digital Control and Transparency

Tying together the aforementioned takeaways, the adoption of digital solutions to enhance control and accuracy before, during, and after projects was an overarching point of discussion. Technological solutions, such as visitor sign-in systems, contractor safety softwares, and automated security measures, can significantly improve key aspects of workplace safety such as contractor management, compliance and employee training. These tools provide accurate and up-to-date information, enhance communication, and reduce administrative time spent on arduous tasks. Perhaps the most important asset in using such tools is the benefit of full control and transparency over your health and safety program.

Closing Remarks

With today’s safety climate, organizations acknowledge that everyone has a stake in safety and should always be involved. The ASSP Safety23 Conference & Expo offered valuable insights into the challenges and hurdles that safety professionals and organizations generally experience in their day-to-day work. By assessing the landscape of health and safety, we can identify areas of opportunity to make workplaces safer for everyone involved.

At Contractor Compliance, we’re dedicated to improving how organizations collect, track, and manage third-party requirements. Our software solution removes the burden of administrative time and allows organizations to scale their efforts to create an accurate, flexible, and transparent contractor safety program. Interested in learning about how you can implement Contractor Compliance to empower your organization’s EHS program? Book a demo with us today!