With over 300 EHS vendors in the market, how can you be sure you’re choosing software that fits the needs of your team and your organization? Perhaps that’s too overwhelming to start with. So, let’s back up — do you even need EHS software? 

For most EHS professionals we talk to, the answer is “Yes.” Our prospects mention that they’re overwhelmed by the amount of paper, disparate systems, and rogue spreadsheets that have been stitched together in an attempt to track incidents, conduct audits, and submit OSHA reports. Without a central platform for capturing data, EHS professionals must deal with a heavy administrative burden and a lack of insight into safety data — meaning that root causes cannot be identified and incidents and injuries aren’t preventable. Not only can this lead to more incidents and injuries, but it may also result in catastrophic events that impact the livelihood of workers.

Not every organization has the budget — or level of safety culture maturity —  to invest in safety software. EHS professionals at these organizations often find they’re stuck in a catch-22 situation unable to effectively and accurately track the results of their safety program, they are unable to demonstrate program impact and secure more funding for their safety program. 

If that describes your organization, consider using one or more of the following approaches for getting executive buy-in: 

• Partner with your organization’s risk management team to demonstrate financial ROI of your safety program, such as reduction in workers’ compensation claims, OSHA fines, and litigation costs.
• Highlight other benefits, such as better employee retention, efficiency gains, improved productivity, and reduction of human error. 
• Refer those who are “on the fence” to Verdantix’s 2022 Global Survey of over 300 EHS executives across 25 industries which indicated that over 95% of firms with revenues between $250M-$1B in revenue had at least some software usage and that first are continuing to invest in their EHS programs.

If or when there is budget, you can begin evaluating your potential technology investments. An excellent place to start is with reports from industry analysts such as Verdantix’s 2023 Green Quadrant for EHS Software, which profiles 23 of the most prominent EHS vendors. 

In the report, Origami is the only vendor recognized as an “Innovator” and is noted for strengths in EHS Compliance and Risk Management, Control of Work, and Safety Management and Incident Management. Furthermore, Origami is differentiated from other vendors by the fact that we offer a single, integrated platform for EHS, Risk Management Information Systems (RMIS), and Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC). Why does this matter? We’ve seen from both EHS professionals in the 2022 Verdantix survey and in the survey responses and interviews used to put together our State of Risk Report that there is a trend towards moving away from point solutions to a single platform for safety, risk, and compliance. Additionally, our clients have shown efficiency gains as a result of consolidating legacy systems.  

“Organizations can achieve operational efficiencies and improved risk visibility by combining core EHS functionality with a tightly integrated RMIS solution.” Verdantix: Green Quadrant EHS Software 2023

Not every organization is ready for a system. If the maturity of your organization’s safety culture is low, you may need to start there. However, for those organizations that are ready, do your research — not just by reading reports, but also by talking to peers, attending trade shows like ASSP, NSC, SLC, and VPPPA, and reading vendor case studies.

If you are currently assessing EHS software, get a demo of Origami and learn why we were selected by Verdantix as an Innovator!