"The findings in this report should be a call to action because with stagnant budgets, EH&S employees are unable to focus on new initiatives that move the needle in regards to sustainability, innovation and growth."
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Triumvirate Environmental today released its first annual "State of EH&S" report analyzing the direction of the environmental health and safety industry. Triumvirate Environmental surveyed close to 200 EH&S professionals across multiple verticals to gain insight on the direction of the industry for 2016 and beyond.
Four Trends from the Survey
1. Safety Is Number One
Safety was the most important trend and biggest challenge of 2016 across industries and experience levels.
One respondent elaborated that the most important concern is, "maintaining EH&S visibility and the critical importance of safety and environmental compliance to the Senior/Executive Leadership. EH&S and its functions are taking a backseat to many other programs, and is becoming dispersed and diluted."
2. Understaffing is Rampant
Over 72% of EH&S professionals feel their department is currently understaffed and 79% of EH&S departments won't be growing in 2016. Of all industries, educational institutions had the highest percentage of respondents who felt their EH&S department was understaffed at 82%.
3. Regulatory Updates Are A Focus
Regulatory compliance was a close second to safety for most industries when asked about trends and challenges (aside from life sciences that put sustainability in the second spot). The majority of respondents cited constantly changing regulations and increasing fines as the reason.
4. Sustainability Isn't Quite There Yet
Sustainability ranked least important out of seven possible initiatives for 2016 (including safety, regulatory compliance, training, waste management & disposal, cost savings and plan improvement).
"The 2016 State of EH&S report shows that organizations are hard-pressed to expand their environmental health and safety staff with possible negative outlook for many of the topics we care about," said Warren Sukernek, director of marketing at Triumvirate Environmental. "Our analysis shows that a lack of staffing and resources can limit the ability to adopt programs like sustainability and affect operational efficiency. If organizations were allocating more funding, I think we'd see a greater focus on sustainability and using technology to streamline existing processes. Simply focusing on regulatory requirements to avoid fines and preserve job security is not enough to drive future success and innovation in our industry."
"Building a safe and compliant workspace is the central function of most EH&S departments. However, perspectives around environmental wellness are not being taken into account when EH&S departments are developing goals and priorities for their organizations," said Sasha Laferte, research lead for "State of EH&S" at Triumvirate. "The findings in this report should be a call to action because with stagnant budgets, EH&S employees are unable to focus on new initiatives that move the needle in regards to sustainability, innovation and growth."
Access the full report: bit.ly/EHSreport
Triumvirate will detail findings and implications of the 2016 State of EH&S Survey in a webinar on January 28, 2 p.m. ET. Registration is open at: bit.ly/EHSwebinar
Methodology:
Triumvirate's report is the first report of this depth and breadth in the EH&S industry. During December 2015, Triumvirate surveyed close to 200 EH&S professionals. Experience level of respondents ranged from associate to C-level and their locations spanned from Florida to Maine and out to Illinois.
Please read full from link source at: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160127005808/en/Major-Environmental-Health-Safety-Survey-Finds-Staffing
