In a year in which safety and health have become prime considerations, it comes as little surprise that companies are realising the value and importance of deploying an Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) software platform.

Whether your aim is to create a safer workplace for your employees, leverage automation to increase productivity and lower costs or improve oversights, the benefits of the right EHS platform speak for themselves. However, execution can seem to be an intimidating venture. As with all projects, good planning can make a significant difference to ease of implementation. With that in mind, there are some key points you should consider ahead of time.

Choose well from the start

The first of these is picking the right software vendor and solution.

These typically fall into two camps – vendors who are well established with a legacy product that may not boast the latest and greatest features, and newer providers who have focused on modern software and innovative features.

In your planning, we suggest considering the features and flexibility that you require, and whether the vendor of your choice enables your business to adapt to the changes in their industry. Another prime consideration is whether your chosen vendor offers flexible pricing plans that meets your needs. And finally, consider how intuitive the EHS system you are considering is to use, as this will play a role in the time needed for training, discussed a bit further on.

Specify your time frame

The second key is to consider the time frame for your project. Do you need to start reaping the benefits of an EHS system right away, in which case a configurable out of the box solution would serve you best, or can you afford to wait for a custom solution to be implemented? In either scenario, consider how many personnel would need to have access to the system, as this would affect your overall cost. With EHSCloud’s pricing, you can scale up usage with different pricing plans as you need more access or as your business grows. This can mitigate against finding yourself spending more than you need.

Bear in mind that the timeframe for the implementation of a custom solution will depend on the size of the organisation. A general rule of thumb is that projects for larger enterprises will require more time than those done for a small or medium-sized business.

Ready your personnel

Any software system is only as effective as the people using it. With that in mind, key to successfully implementing an EHS system is preparing your relevant employees from the outset. Some approaches that are worth paying attention to include offering employees the chance to test the system, gathering feedback from users and acting on that feedback by making the appropriate changes, and then do another cycle of all of the above.

Once you are close to your go-live date, you will likely also need to provide your employees with training on the system. The time taken on this can vary, depending on the complexity of the software you are deploying and how intuitive it is – which is where choosing well from the outset proves its importance.

Decide the right pace of deployment

The final step is to deploy the new software. The key in this is to ensure that your users regard it as a solution that brings benefit rather than a duty to be done grudgingly. Along with determining how quickly you deploy the software, you need to ensure that all users are comfortable with it. How much work that requires will depend on whether you are deploying it to select departments or across the whole organization. Either way, it is critical that you remain open to continue receiving feedback from employees on the software and respond accordingly.