The shift of environmental, social, and governance from optional PR reporting to a mandatory requirement has many companies reevaluating how they use data.
Although other industries adapted to the new reality of a data-driven society years ago, the safety industry has lagged. Now, it’s time for the safety industry to embrace data.
In the process industries, poor safety performance has significant business implications. Plants need a comprehensive approach to the safety lifecycle addressing key requirements ranging from HAZOP studies, to operations and maintenance, and finally revalidation with the plant’s historian and maintenance data.
Today, safety professionals face a host of challenges. Generational turnover, regulatory changes, budget constraints, and other factors create distractions, interruptions, and frustration. On top of it all, these same professionals are under significant pressure from their organizations to achieve even more aggressive safety goals.
Manufacturing leaders know that people and processes are most productive when safety, compliance and operational objectives align. Some people used to fear that focusing too much on environment, health and safety would undermine productivity.
Back in 2015 I had a widow-maker heart attack. That near-death event focused attention on my heart health, particularly when I push to physical extremes during mountain backpacking.
Traditionally, safety departments get opinions and guesses thrown at them, says Stinson. There may be a hazard. Equipment doesn’t seem to be working. “Now you have objective data all mapped out. It’s very important that this is objective data, so you know for a fact that a part of plant is leaking. It’s a fact, not a suspicion,” he says.
Glassdoor ranked the position “Safety Manager” among the “50 Best Jobs in America for 2019.”1 The #1 Best Job in America for the past four years, according to Glassdoor, is “Data Scientist.
A recent survey of manufacturing executives indicates many respondents (67 percent) are pressing ahead with plans to invest in data analytics even as they pare back spending in other areas to combat tough business conditions.
