According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), workplace accidents result in 330,000 deaths every year. At the same time, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that fatal work injuries are on the rise in the United States. These unfortunate statistics highlight the need for a robust safety strategy. Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) software has emerged as a promising technology to reduce employee risks. Safety managers in industries such as oil & gas, chemicals, mining, automotive manufacturing, and steel production are especially interested in EHS software solutions, given the hazardous nature of their work environments. These companies require safety-related data to be easily accessible for further analysis. As a result, potential sources of accidents get evaluated, staff are alerted proactively of these dangers, and the overall number of incidents can be reduced.
Technology companies are answering the call for improved workplace safety with innovative offerings. Whether it’s IsoMetrix’s compliance-enabling tracking solution or Magellan X’s SOL-X SmartWatch, EHS has established itself as a must-have for any enterprise aiming to increase the well-being of its employees and meet safety regulations.
Assessing Workplace Safety Risks with Data
Every work-related death is a tragedy, with ripple effects being felt by an individual’s family and employer. A family may lose its primary financial provider, potentially impacting mental health and economic opportunities. Beyond the worker’s family, an enterprise may be sued or fined, experience productivity reductions, and see its brand reputation plummet if enough incidents make the news headlines.
Minimizing workplace safety risks requires significant data collection and analysis capabilities. EHS software can appease this requirement by centralizing vast sums of data from connected devices. From there, it logs safety incidents, sends critical alerts, and provides actionable recommendations.
An automated approach to workplace safety monitoring empowers industrial firms to remedy issues swiftly before anyone is exposed to risk. For example, it eliminates the need for human workers to manually record safety incidents and identify recurring patterns. It should be noted that other use cases do require data entry, such as logging a leak. EHS software digitizes safety reporting, which is preferable to recording issues on paper.
Obtaining a single source of truth makes it easier for organizations to track hazards within their work environment. With better access to workflows, transitioning to a more safety-focused culture will be a smooth process.
ABI Research forecasts spending on EHS software to nearly double from US$1.2 billion in 2024 to US$2.2 billion by 2034.
Table 1: EHS Software Spending by Vertical
World Markets: 2023 to 2034
(Source: ABI Research)
Workplace Safety Improvement in Action
The best way to understand how enterprises can make their workforces safer is by assessing real-world examples. A good place to start is in the oil & gas sector, where some of the most dangerous work environments exist. Employees working at oil refineries are dealing with flammable substances and hazardous chemicals. As if that’s not enough, slippery surfaces can lead to painful slips and falls, and the use of heavy machinery carries the risk of bodily injury. For these reasons, it is imperative that managers can identify trends in workplace safety incidents. However, this is challenging to do if you lack a robust data collection mechanism. Even if you have all these data, manually identifying trends can only go so far with strictly human oversight. This is where an automated approach—through EHS software—can save the day.
For example, BP South Africa partner Masana Petroleum has achieved worker safety gains by collaborating with IsoMetrix. The partnership enables Masana Petroleum to centralize occupational health and safety data, unifying safety tracking, compliance, and risk management processes. Previously reliant on scattered records, the switch to IsoMetrix provided a clear operational view and real-time incident tracking. This consolidation streamlined reporting for compliance officers, risk managers, and auditors, enabling faster report generation and proactive risk mitigation.
Beyond workplace safety improvements, EHS software saves enterprises time and resources. ArcelorMittal Construction, a subsidiary of Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal Group, exemplifies this by automating the thousands of safety audits performed each year. By choosing SafetyCulture’s automated tracking platform, ArcelorMittal has reduced audit times by 50%. The EHS software is a far more efficient way to monitor workplace safety than the paper-based tracking methods used prior to the partnership.
Interweaving Safety into Company Culture
Successfully promoting workplace safety requires a paradigm shift in corporate culture. Each worker must be instilled with a “safety-first” mindset. This means ensuring equipment is disconnected from a power source when not being used, modifying facility layouts for safe robot navigation, or educating workers on ergonomic-friendly posture.
Digital technologies like EHS software are essential in this undertaking. The visibility provided by EHS systems empowers industrial and manufacturing workers to identify potential safety risks and get in the habit of prioritizing safety in daily workflows.
EHS is complemented by other technological solutions such as data analytics and Extended Reality (XR) for training purposes. Whereas data analytics can identify patterns and trends in safety-critical data that humans would otherwise miss, XR provides immersive, hands-free training applications to maximize content retention and minimize risk. Meanwhile, digital twin models and simulation software can optimize work environments for safety. These technologies enable engineers and plant managers to test new operational changes in a virtual environment, which eliminates the risk of real-world side effects.
For a deeper analysis of how industrial firms can benefit from EHS software and investment projections, check out the following ABI Research deliverables:
- Ensuring Worker Safety with EHS Software [Research Report | 3Q 2024 | AN-5853]
- Case Studies of Manufacturing Safety Solutions Matching Customers’ Circumstances [Presentation | 4Q 2024 | PT-3238]
- Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Software [Market Data | 3Q 2024 | MD-SWEE-23]
About the Author
Michael Larner, Distinguished Analyst
Michael Larner, Distinguished Analyst, is part of ABI Research’s End Markets team tracking the development and adoption of emerging technologies within the context of smart manufacturing and industrial solutions. Michael’s research focuses on manufacturing technologies, such as product lifecycle management and simulation software, plus the adoption of data analytics, robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and connectivity technologies on the factory floor and by industrial firms.