The KEY to Performance: Combine Quality & EHS!

Quality and EHS departments are essential for a company. Difficulties with internal communication, risk management and administrative tasks are commonly known in these 2 departments. Merging the Q & EHS into one department would greatly improve the performance of an organisation.

What are the real benefits of associating the Quality and EHS departments?

Combining the Quality and EHS departments in companies is starting to grow. This merger is becoming logical to achieve as the processes are more and more tied together. This fusion will facilitate internal communication and the continuous improvement processes.

The integration of Quality and EHS processes will help with the risk prevention programs, prevent occupational accidents, enhance the performance and production in companies. In addition, this merger will be a very high added value, especially in the problem solving process, which involves a collaborative working environment. All the processes will thus be thoroughly done, and all the aspects will be completely covered.

Nowadays, with new emerging technologies the challenge for companies is greater to keep a high level of quality and performance along with the best secure and safe working environment for the employees.

Harmonise activities and practices by combining Q & EHS

It is essential to make sure that the right people from different divisions can work together. This will greatly help in harmonising practices and procedures between Quality and EHS and all the related tasks.

Process documentation and archiving

Document management is one of the most tedious and time-consuming administrative tasks. It is even more complicated when each department has to archive its records independently. Especially if they are still using paperforms or office tools, which can sometimes lead to loss of information or other undesirable situations.

Nowadays, companies deal with a very large amount of data and simultaneous operations every day. This is why they should be able to keep all the documentation of the quality management system in one place along with all the old versions and their updates. All the task and mission procedures for customer satisfaction surveys should be centralised and easily accessible (for use & review). This includes the documentation of the EHS department such as all the safety procedures, chemical product uses, the permit to work, etc.

The pooling and centralisation of all the data and information (processes, safety sheets …) on a single platform is a real advantage for all departments, not only for the Q & EHS. Each service will have its information centralised, easily accessible (including all the old versions and history) and available for all parties concerned with customisable accesses. The centralisation of the data will allow a better understanding and collaboration between the Quality and EHS departments.

Certification processes

When it comes to the integrated management system certification process, the quality team is the “go to TEAM” especially, for example, when it comes to complying with the requirements of an ISO standard. Even if getting a certification usually requires a great team effort and close cooperation, the quality department is the one that ensures compliance and normalises forms, procedures, records, etc. 

When an organisation seeks an ISO standard certification or accreditation, a digital platform can greatly enhance the preparations and the compliance with each chapter of the targeted standard. A digital checklist for all the requirements and having an ISO standard mapping table will greatly save time during the implementation of the procedures.

Furthermore, when it comes to ISO standards, some requirements can be transversal between different ISO standards series, which is the case in the ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 standards. Therefore, a single digital platform would be a great asset where it is possible to fulfil each requirement and if it is equivalent to another standard, it will be automatically completed. In addition, when the certification process is at the audit step, a significant amount will be saved thanks to the centralisation on a single platform of all the information and all the conformity proofs. Also, a digital platform, which guarantees regulatory monitoring, will allow you to be always updated with the latest requirements and automatically generates actions integrated into the global action plan.

Field audits and investigations

Audits for both the Quality and EHS departments is an essential and important part of their activities. Their tasks are complementary and thus generate a global and thorough investigation report.

The process of field audits and investigations requires well structured and complete forms. It is a very important management tool, which is used to verify compliance in terms of quality, environment, health and safety at work. Therefore, it is interesting to collect all the data on a single report for all the Quality and EHS audit criteria. This can be easily done thanks to the digitisation of the auditing process.

A digitised audit process will allow the possibility to have personalised digital forms on a tablet or smartphone. All the criteria are predefined and all the inputs, observations and videos can be attached. The results will automatically feed the global action plan, especially if there are some actions to be taken. Each corrective action or non-conformity will automatically generate alerts for all parties concerned.

Dashboards

Dashboards and more interestingly the dynamic dashboards synthesise the information and data of the Quality and EHS services. Harmonising the dashboards will provide a real-time global view of the company’s performance and activities. In addition, the new Quality and EHS department will easily conduct the management review, and all the resulting actions and procedures can be easily integrated and implemented.

Establish the link between Quality, Safety & Performance

Quality is often separated from the safety and security procedures. Sometimes, the impact of safety and security is underestimated on the quality and performance in the workplace. Hence, there is a stronger relationship between Quality and EHS to maintain a high level of performance. The safety and the quality of working life (QWL) of the employees have a great impact on the performance of a division and the whole organisation.

Security must be seen as a priority in companies. Monitoring and having real indicators of occupational accidents and illnesses will allow the evaluation of the protective measures and the risk management process in a company. This will help in the continuous improvement process, the understanding of occurring problems and decision-making. Unfortunate events and undercutting the budget from the EHS processes can have an economic impact on the organisation. This might lead to the interruption of the business operations and will be costly for the organisation (loss of productivity, low quality products …).

Working in a safe and secure environment is a great tool to create high quality products that meet the customer’s needs. High safety standards will lead to safer jobs and more productive workers. Ensuring that your products/services are safe and compliant is a matter of following quality standards and procedures. Building a safety culture requires training processes, where workers will understand the importance of complying with quality and safety criteria in their daily activities.

So, compliance with Quality and EHS standards directly impacts the performance of the company as well as its financial performance and competitiveness.

Taking Q & EHS above and beyond with new challenges ahead

Nowadays, companies must adapt and be responsive to the new challenges ahead. In these conditions, we find the Quality and EHS department at the centre of these transformations.

Moving towards Industry 4.0

In the industrial sector, using IoTs (Internet of Things) and connected objects will facilitate the direct transmission and reception of data (from the field, monitoring equipment, temperature, emissions, etc.). Once the data is collected, it is analysed by the Quality and EHS department.

IoTs and connected objects are tools to minimise human interference and reduce risks in some dangerous working environments. For example, when it comes to the mitigation and monitoring of the Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions from a factory, all the data can be collected thanks to sensors and probes installed in place.

These tools can also be used to prevent unfortunate events and monitor equipment and materials by creating automatic alarms and notifications when dangerous levels are reached (security breaches, malfunctions, etc.).

The CSR approach

Adopting a successful CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) approach puts the Quality and EHS departments at the centre of the strategy. The CSR requirements and the Quality and EHS processes are strongly tied: QWL, safety and security of employees, personnel training, sustainable products/services, reducing the carbon footprint and the company’s performance are one of the mais requirements and objectives of CSR.

Harmonising the Quality and EHS practices along with the use of a dedicated platform will facilitate the issuing of the CSR report. The centralisation of all HR and Q & EHS documentation and information will make this task less time consuming and simply done.

On a daily basis, Quality and EHS management is a real challenge. It is essential to know how to optimise the processes to save time and gain in performance and productivity. Organisations should start to invest more in security processes and they will prove to be more effective and efficient in productivity. Hence it is wrong to think otherwise. Investing in the right tools will reduce unnecessary costs and allow a company to stand out from the competition thanks to high quality and sustainable products/services.

To go further: 

> Successfully integrate your Quality & EHS systems with the Integrated Management System software (available on BueKanGo’s Marketplace)