Using EHS Data & Knowledge Management to Support Health & Safety Program Compliance Assurance

A client with a global presence in over 20 countries with varying operations and facility types requested Antea Group’s support in the development of a dashboard of the current state of the health and safety program as part of a compliance assurance program. The intent of this tool was to create a beta version of a future state dashboard using existing data from all levels throughout the organization. 

Antea Group used a previously developed risk ranking tool that focuses on applicability of environmental, health, and safety (EHS) regulations to facility types in each country using Inogen Alliance resources, complexity of the regulatory program, requirement to notify/permit information to local authorities, as well as the likelihood of regulators focusing on the facility types for inspections/audits.  

Leading and lagging indicator data was received from the client, some of which captured the same data for different years and with different formatting or categorization of information. These files, formats, and categories had to be consolidated and re-categorized based on a list of standardized hazards and program areas.  

Once all datasets were aggregated and compiled, a cohesive solution was needed to determine appropriate scoring, normalization, and weighting to calculate the total leading indicator scores, total lagging indicator scores, and total scores.  The final scores then needed to be visually displayed in a meaningful way in both an Excel-based tool and a Tableau-based tool.  

This project started with a research program on best-in-class leading and lagging indicators. This research allowed Antea Group to validate the use of nontraditional metrics in the beta dashboard design and begin the process of compiling this data from the client’s various processes and data collection systems into one place. 

Antea Group developed an Excel and Tableau tool consisting of the leading and lagging indicator data provided by the client. The Excel file was used as the preliminary data manipulation field where Antea Group and the client spent the first several months evaluating and comparing the data to determine how to bring all dataset together and establish effective scoring mechanisms.   

 Many data sets required manual recategorization based on multiple fields in the data exported from the client’s various reporting and tracking systems. Due to the varying data sources, significant evaluation was needed to align all datasets cohesively into the tool. During this process extensive documentation of the of data preparation was taken and recommendations were provided on how to improve the future collection of this data. This was done to help the client better collect data when they moved to a “live” version of the dashboard. 

Antea Group provided the client with scoring and weighting options with the opportunity for modifications to ensure specific data sets had greater or lesser impact on the total scoring for individual facilities based on the client’s preferences and focus areas related to health and safety.   

Once the beta version was done, a series of workshops were completed with various company stakeholders to evaluate the outcome and the recommendations for the future live dashboard. 

The tool captures large volumes of leading and lagging indicator data for facilities worldwide and calculates scoring for each level of the organization down to the facility level. This tool is used to monitor the current state of risk and regulatory compliance with health and safety related requirements. This allows the client the ability to identify risk and program areas requiring improvement at each organizational level.    

While the dashboard was designed to help with compliance assurance, it also allowed a way for stakeholders to answer critical business questions via Tableau. Questions such as:  

• What is the relationship between incidents and overdue corrective actions as a way to see where to provide more support, tools, and training related to the management of that topic? 
• Which topic(s) should have a higher priority in completing corrective action tasks to lead to a lower incident rate?  
• Is the audit program scoped correctly to help identify potential incidents?  
• Are the auditors identifying similar topics that have the most incidents?  
• Is the self-auditing program properly identifying the improper management of risks? 
• Which programs need more attention and awareness with personnel that could lead to a reduction in incidents at the facility? 

Antea Group was able to provide the client with a way to use a risk ranking tool to determine which locations have the greatest threat to the company, a way to use existing data for a robust set of leading and lagging indicators on overall compliance, and a resource to see which health and safety program needs adjustment at the site to ensure that a safe environment is provided.