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EHS Consulting
When it comes to hiring, the question of whom to hire and when is among the many decisions you must make as a business owner. The decision becomes even more important when the services your business requires are those regarding EHS consulting. The Occupation Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 requires all employers to provide a safe and healthy working environment for all employees, visitors, and business owners themselves.
EHS is a specialty that seeks to incorporate the practical aspects of environmental protection and safety in the workplace. From the safety dimension, it involves creating systematic procedures for identifying workplace risks, reducing workplace accidents and exposure to harmful substances and situations. It also includes training your team in taking measures to avoid accidents, respond appropriately, and the proper use of protective clothing and other equipment.
From an environmental standpoint, EHS is creating a systematic approach to conserve the environment through methods like reducing air emissions. These measures will reduce your company’s carbon footprint.
For your business to remain competitive and to boost employee morale, you must provide a safe working environment for all the people who visit your workplace, meaning employees, visitors, or temporary staff. Incidents are just around the corner, especially if you are in the manufacturing, extraction, or construction business. Every business owner knows what a negative safety-related event can do to a business reputation or finances.
You Need to hire an external environmental health and safety consulting firm
Hiring an EHS consultant to handle your environmental health and safety matters is the best decision you can make for your company’s wellbeing as well as that of its employees and everyone that visits your premises. An EHS consulting expert will often be more knowledgeable in all thing’s environmental health and safety, and you will, therefore, reap the benefits of hiring one for your company.
Reasons why EHS is a compulsory consideration for your company:
For compliance purposes
You cannot afford to run your business without complying with the standards and regulations set by various environmental and workplace safety regulatory agencies. Such agencies include:
- Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA)
- Nuclear regulatory commission
- Environmental Protection Agencies
- And many more…
In addition to these national agencies, you need to consider your state and local authorities, for instance, the Safety and Health Council of North Carolina or the Massachusetts Nuclear Regulatory Commission just to name a couple. Failure to observe the standards and guidelines set by these agencies could lead to the closure of your business for an unforeseen period, hefty fines, lawsuits by injured employees and/or other parties, or even jail time. If you do not meet these regulations, you may also find your brand getting a battering from news outlets, consumer and employee rights activists, and social media.
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For Business Reputation
Next up to compliance is business reputation, which goes hand in hand with compliance. Compliant companies are generally regarded well by other stakeholders in business, including customers, employees, distributors, and competitors.
On the other hand, if the news leaked that your business failed to uphold the OSHA and EPA regulations, your reputation would be ruined for a long time if not permanently. Your brand will be dragged through the mud for a long time, and it will take a lot of compensation and effort to convince the world around you that you are worth a second chance. Avoid all this trouble from the beginning by handling your environmental health and safety aspects before any accidents or failed inspections occur. In business, prevention is always better than cure.
To Reduce Workplace stress
Employees today are fully aware of what an unsafe work environment can do to their health. Risks like cancer and organ damage are all too real, and not even the best medical coverage is going to reduce the tension associated with the fear of getting such a dangerous disease. Failure to enhance the safety measures at your company will make it difficult for them to carry out their responsibilities. Fear of terminal diseases plus that of accidents like falls, electrocution, exposure to corrosive chemicals, and falling objects will make your company the last place they want to be, and their productivity will go down.
In the end, you will end up losing your best talent to your competitors, who will provide a safe environment in which they feel out of harm’s way and valued. Your employees are not the only ones that will feel the brunt of an unsafe work environment.
The possibility of an accident happening at any given time will take a toll on you as well and managing your business will only be possible from the edge of your seat. By handling the safety and environmental health of your business, you will maintain your peace of mind, and business management will go uninterrupted. The mention of an EPA audit or inspection will not make you feel uneasy.
You will get access to a unique and growing market share
There is a special group of customers that is rapidly growing that you as a business owner must consider in your strategy: those that are looking to reduce their carbon footprint. This share of customers will not buy anything from companies that do not take part in sustainable practices and instead exploit the environment for business gain. These clients are looking for reusable, recyclable products that are made from recycled materials and made with the least amount of energy possible.
Safe T Professionals, our EHS consultancy firm, provides a wide range of EHS solutions that will suit specific workplaces and industries. By hiring a professional EHS consulting company, your business will enjoy many benefits, which include:
We offer dedicated communication channels to our clients
Consultation is all about communication, and you will agree that adequate communication will facilitate improved services. An environmental health and safety consulting service like ours is available for you to answer any queries you may have regarding HSE as well as any other related problems that may pop up during business operations. As a consulting company, we dedicate our time to ensuring the health and safety of our clients. Through our communication channels, you may also provide feedback or tips on areas that you believe require improvement, so you continue to get the best as time goes on.
Our EHS consultants strive to ensure you are OSHA compliant and that your business operations have no negative impact on the environment. When it comes to communication, you can rely on our channels to be open, clear, and that there will be an assistant ready to help on the other end.
Reduced Overheads
Hiring professional environmental health and safety consulting firm is way more economical than having an in-house EHS professional. While the latter will most likely provide you with what you will require, they will require compensation and benefits, as well as other aspects that they will require to become a full-fledged member of the team.
Hiring a consultant is often the better option as you will hire us on a need-to-need basis, such as when you are installing new machinery or have a construction project going on. You will also have the consultants’ expertise on various EHS-related questions without having to incur the costs of a full-time employee.
Better Expertise
Another disadvantage you may have from hiring a full-time employee is that they may not provide as much expertise for your company. This is especially the case if you hire someone with a different skillset and without a strong background in HSE. What’s more, to justify the resources they will take up, you will most likely provide them with additional tasks, which means that they will be overwhelmed and will most likely give less attention to environmental health and safety.
EHS is just an important a function as any other in your business, which is why you should get the best possible input by hiring a professional environmental health and safety consultant. Such consultation firms specialize exclusively in EHS and have therefore developed and honed their knowledge and skills in the area.
to take the burden off your shoulders
Many small and medium-sized business owners in manufacturing or construction attempt to reduce their overheads by handling as many functions of their business as possible. If you decide to take care of the environmental health and safety function of your business, you will have to handle the following EHS requirements:
The environmental Side:
- Air emissions and ambient air quality
- Wastewater management plus ambient water quality
- Water conservation
- Hazardous materials management
- Noise reduction
- Land and soil contamination
Occupational Health & Safety:
- Communication, training, and feedback
- Radioactive material hazards
- Physical, chemical and biological hazards
- Special hazards
- Falling objects and risk of falling
- Personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Monitoring and evaluation
Community Health & Safety:
- Water quality and availability
- The structural integrity of construction projects
- Life and fire safety (L&FS)
- Disease prevention
- Emergency preparedness and response
- Transport of hazardous materials
- Traffic safety
As you can see, the list is quite long, and if you want an effective environmental health and safety campaign, you will quickly get burned out. Running a small or medium-sized business does not have to be so difficult. Choose to hire a competent EHS services provider for more thorough EHS audits.
Such agencies are able to handle all the above and much more without any strain and at a competitive price. What’s more, hiring an EHS support consultant will allow you to focus on improving your business and focus more on what you and your team do best. The list above will make you forgo product quality and improvement, human resources, inventory and logistics, marketing, or any other aspect of business management, thus putting your business in a delicate position.
Access to an unbiased opinion
Outsourcing your environmental health and safety function will provide you with a fresh set of eyes. Such a professional will notice the smallest of things that an internal employee may not notice during an EHS risk assessment.
These may pose a massive threat to the environment and anyone within the workplace. Delegating environmental health and safety to your employees may result in failure as they have been in the same environment for months and may not notice the shortcomings that would otherwise be obvious to an environmental health and safety consultant.
Also, an external consultant’s judgment will not be biased for or against any persons in your company or influenced by any internal policies. The opinions and recommendations of an external EHS professional will, therefore, provide better value and an honest evaluation for your company.
To Boost employee morale
Hiring an external consultant specializing in environmental health and safety will boost employee morale. Today, more people want to align themselves with an employer that cares about the environment and workplace safety enough to spend additional resources on a dedicated EHS professional. Your company may already have measures in place and a safety department, but this additional measure will show that you value them. This effort will definitely boost employee morale, which will, in turn, boost productivity and profits.
We at Safe T Professionals pride ourselves on our ability to make environmental health and safety a reality for clients from a wide range of industries. Whether you want to reduce your environmental health and safety risk exposure or are overcoming the aftermath of a major accident, you can rely on us for your EHS safety requirements. Our team of able HSE consultants will guide you through the safety and other complexities that accompany these and many other high-risk situations. What’s more, our EHS support services are tailored to suit specific situations.
Our EHS solutions scope includes occupational and environmental health and safety, industrial plant hygiene, OSHAS compliance, EHS auditing, and handling unexpected environmental health and safety risks. We also have a team of EHS recruiters for clients requiring in-house EHS staff. We have a robust team of scientists, engineers, and business professionals; with this diverse range of skills, we develop custom procedures and protocols with your input for your facilities and teams.
Whether you are a small startup or a well-established enterprise, we have EHS solution packages that will suit your requirements and budget so that you get the degree of engagement that will be best for you and your company. Call us today for more information.
