The Predictive Safety Revolution Is Accelerating Safety Management Software Into A New Era

The Predictive Safety Revolution Is Accelerating Safety Management Software Into A New Era

The Verdantix 2020 EHS global survey found that virtually all (98%) of EHS executives consider improving worker safety to be a moderate to high-priority goal over the next two years. Safety management software is an essential tool used to facilitate this goal. The choice of software and how it is configured directly influence firm-wide safety outcomes. However, the safety management software landscape is broad - prospective buyers can choose from 100’s of providers segmented across EHS platforms, safety management specialists and mobile-first providers. Moreover, the number of solutions available on the market is expanding; in the past year alone Linx-AS released its WorkSafe cloud solution, adding to its COVID-19 management and R&D transformation offerings, and Intellect released new safety management functionality to complement their existing QMS solution.

To help buyers navigate the extensive range of solutions, Verdantix has published a buyer’s guide revealing the key platform traits that firms should use to shortlist prospective vendors. The guide analyses 15 prominent safety management providers, global product development news and market transactions, to identify key market trends and developmental focus areas that are set to define safety management software over the next two years.

Our analysis finds that safety management software is undergoing a transition period, which is in part fuelled by EHS managers’ desire to achieve zero incident workplaces. Historically, EHS functions have been driven by the need to maintain compliance. Verdantix finds that firms are seeking to go beyond adhering to regulation by leveraging technology advancements to identify and eliminate risks before they materialise as incidents. As such, a greater emphasis is being placed on predictive safety and risk management. This is being enabled by the development of IoT sensor integration capabilities and AI and machine learning (ML) advancements. For instance, two-thirds of providers featured in the buyer’s guide expect to develop capabilities in AI, ML, natural language processing (NLP) or predictive analytics over the next two years, with some firms already releasing dedicated AI and analytics solutions. For example, in September 2020 Cority released CorInsights, a predictive analytics BI tool.

The next two years represent an exciting period for the safety management software development. Although predictive safety and IoT integrations are still in their infancy, they are major focus areas for providers with potentially huge ramifications for EHS teams seeking to achieve zero incident workplaces.

To learn more about the key platform characteristics buyers should review prior to selecting a safety management software provider, common platform development areas and the capabilities of 15 prominent safety management providers, read the latest safety management software buyer’s guide.