Environment, health and safety (EHS) leaders can lead transformation of operational risk management programs through more collaboration across organizational functions
Highlands Ranch, Colorado — June 21, 2019 — Many organizations are responding to new pressures to improve operational risk management practices by increasing collaboration across operational functions. For the EHS, that often means being elevated to a more strategic role in the company, according to the latest digital EHS insight published by Arcadis (EURONEXT: ARCAD), the leading global design and consultancy for natural and built assets.
The report, “Risk Central,” shows that enterprise risk and compliance traditionally has been managed by individual departments, and collaboration and coordination among functional groups is limited.
“Organizations that leave EHS and other working teams in silos must accept that their approach comes with an inherent level of risk and inefficiency,” said Ian Achterkirch, vice president of strategic environmental consulting at Arcadis. “By assessing and mitigating threats across departments, leaders can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their overall risk management programs.”
The report indicates that deeper EHS integration into the broader strategic risk management framework can create business benefits outside of the typical EHS scope, and best-in-class organizations are already moving in that direction. An earlier Arcadis survey found that more than 75% of EHS teams are focused on the enterprise value and strategic advantage of the EHS function – a notable shift away from the traditionally narrow focus on environmental and safety compliance.
Arcadis has developed a best-practice methodology that enables companies to initiate and enhance collaboration across their operational risk management functions, resulting in an increased ability to recognize and mitigate multi-dimensional risks while simultaneously reducing the cost of the overall risk management function.
The company’s digitally enabled Strategic Program Integrator takes into consideration the communication and coordination required to implement a more integrated and effective risk management process.
“By enabling increased collaboration and data sharing across the audit, compliance, sustainability, asset, security and other functions, Arcadis has helped global organizations realize up to 25% cost savings,” Achterkirch said. “Through a technology stack called the Digital Powerpack that utilizes advanced data analytics, we’re working to provide a robust and visual understanding of enterprise and facility risks, issues and priorities, while also minimizing facility disruptions and reducing costs.”
The report is the third installment in a series exploring the evolving landscape of the EHS function.