Scaling Business with an Effective EHS Solution

A digital EHS solution has allowed Future Industrial Services to standardise procedures and processes across all seven sites,
gain greater visibility into safety metrics, and mitigate risks faster. This has allowed them to create a more proactive approach to safety which helps to
protect their employees and clients effectively. 

Future Industrial Services delivers optimal hazardous waste management and industrial cleaning services to a variety of industries from seven sites in the UK. From the oil and gas
sector to utilities, this organisation offers multiple services to help companies maintain a safe and sustainable work environment.  

Matthew Blake, Technical and Compliance Director at Future Industrial Services, explained how an EHS solution has allowed the organisation to standardise procedures and processes
across all seven sites, gain greater visibility into safety metrics, and mitigate risks faster. This has allowed them to create a more proactive approach to safety which helps to
effectively protect their employees and clients.  

“You can’t manage what you can’t see,” said Matthew. “The biggest benefit of using this system is having the ability to see what people are reporting in real time, which gives
us the ability to intervene when necessary, allowing us to decrease the frequency of adverse events.”  

Augean Ltd., the UK’s leading specialist waste management business, recently completed the acquisition of Future Industrial Services Limited which is now part of the Augean Group. The
Augean Group, headquartered in Wetherby, will now operate from over 21 sites across the UK. This enhanced footprint will allow the company to work more closely with customers to achieve the
best environmental outcomes for their waste, through an increased spectrum of capabilities. 

Following the acquisition of Future Industrial Services, the combined business will offer a more diverse range of recycling, recovery, treatment, and disposal services
for hard-to-handle wastes underpinned by a network of strategically located sites.  

Augean uses robust HSEQ systems; however, it recognises the value of a harmonised system across the Group. Part of the integration of the business will involve the
sharing of the EHS software across the wider Group, which will present a new set of challenges; however, the experience that Future Industrial Services has in using this digital software
will smooth that journey to allow for a consistent way of reporting. 

The Challenge

One of the main challenges the team at Future Industrial Services faced was a lack of standardisation in relation to the approach to managing EH&S
risks. Across the organisation many documents and procedures were in place at a local level, but these
were not standardised across the group for the management of things such as COSHH, PPE, Incident investigation, RAMS and similar.  

In addition, visibility of these systems was only at a local level making it more challenging to make informed decisions and to help scale the business. Before
implementing a digital solution, managers at different sites were doing everything in their own unique way. The same processes and procedures needed to be applied at every site to
establish a singular source of truth and method of working. This would help to provide consistency, where everyone is utilising the same steps to complete job tasks to effectively grow
the business.

Relying on singular people, Excel spreadsheets, and Word Documents also made it difficult to gain visibility at all levels. This made it hard to track safety activities, employee
engagement, trends, safety data, and much more. “It was much more manual before and we couldn’t see the full picture” explained Matthew. “We used to spend about 40-50
hours a week to just maintain the system.” Having to bear this administrative burden made it very challenging for the team to stay proactive.  

Tracking trends and safety metrics to effectively reduce incidents was also a challenge using this method. Reacting to information in real-time was impossible as
each local team was doing things differently. This made it more challenging to mitigate risks or reduce the chance of an incident or injury, as the information was not easily accessible
to senior management.  

 

Why Future Industrial Services Chose EcoOnline’s EHS Solution

“By adopting a single system, it allowed us to push everything into it,” explained
Matthew. “It allows us to tackle something before it becomes a problem, whereas if it’s being tracked on a spreadsheet by local managers, you just don’t see
it.” 

The Solution

Granular data at every level could now be captured with the help of the digital solution. Every manager can now see if their teams
have any outstanding or overdue actions, with a report generated every month for overdue safety engagements. They can even drill down to each geographical business and get insights
into how they are managing safety.   

With the help of automation, Matthew and his team can also stay proactive as everything is maintained for them within the system. After an audit is conducted,
for example, the system automatically reschedules another one to a future time set by the organisation. This allows them to understand their priorities and where they should be
focused to create a safer work environment.  

“It’s an effective system with action tracking and good KPI data that you can drill down into,” said Matthew. “We really needed something that was live and allowed us to
escalate things to who needs to see it. You have to be able to see it quickly to act on it. The reporting ability within the system is also key so we can understand exactly what’s
going on. Now, I can drop into any site digitally and understand if it’s being managed properly. That’s quite a big advantage.” 

62% Reduction in All-Accident Frequency Rate (AAFr)

In the 4 years following implementation, Future Industrial Services can proudly say that they
had gone over a full year without any lost time injuries. They had also reduced their
All-Accident Frequency Rate (AAFr) by 62% and boosted engagement rates with a 61% increase in employee reporting. This is a testament to
the strength of the team’s safety culture, with 270 users across seven sites working within one digital
system.  

Real-time Data

“The biggest benefit for senior management is having the ability to see what people are reporting in real-time, which gives us the ability to intervene, when
necessary,” said Matthew. “We’ve also been able to track rolling 12 months safety stats such as leading
indicators into our KPIs, that allow us to analyse data to see if we can manage things in better ways.” 

61% Increase in Employee Reporting

To keep this momentum going, Future Industrial Services consistently motivates their teams with several rewards. For instance, there are
four monthly “Near Miss of the Month” prizes including two random raffle prizes and two which are awarded
to an employee who has spotted the near misses adding the most value. They also hold regular meetings where
feedback is provided on each near miss and its corresponding corrective actions. This drives further
participation among teams, boosting morale and engagement in safety activities.  

Explore How We Can Help You Strengthen Safety at Your Organisation

When asked what advice Matthew had for people continuing to use traditional manual processes, he said, “Invest in a good management system to allow your business to
scale. Pick one way of doing things so you’re not duplicating efforts across multiple platforms and make sure that the system you choose does everything you need it to
do.” 

From spreadsheets in drawers to a comprehensive EHS software, Future Industrial Services has been on an incredible safety
journey and will continue that journey as part of the integration into the Augean Group. We are honoured to be alongside
Matthew and his team to help create a safer work environment for all employees and clients.  

Curious to learn how we can help you strengthen safety? Speak to an EcoOnline representative today!