United States Forrest Service successfully deploys ESS software for HSE and EHS as the backbone of Forrest Service Safety program.

1. 2008 ESS EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNER
Government
ESS ● T: 800.999.5009 or 480.346.5500 ● F: 480.346.5599 ● www.ess-home.com
The Challenge
► Assure safety compliance across
nationwide locations of Federal agency.
► Eliminate delays in accident and injury
data collection and aggregation.
► Streamline EH&S information systems
to save time.
The Solution
► Compliance SuiteTM
Safety Management Software
The Results
► Near real-time accident and injury
tracking for safety compliance across
many locations.
► Accident report submissions that used to
take days or weeks are done in minutes.
► Faster, more clear trend analysis and
remedial action with centralized system.
► More efficiencies and collaboration via
closer communication between agencies.
U.S. Forest Service Assures Safety Compliance
Nationwide and Streamlines Accident Reporting
The United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (USDA-FS) is responsible for managing
193 million acres of America’s national forests and grasslands across the United States. The agency has
more than 30,000 full-time employees and a large temporary workforce. Many of the agency’s employees
work hazardous jobs such as fire fighting, forestry, managing avalanches and securing abandoned mines.
The Forest Service is responsible for maintaining a safe environment for its employees and the public who
explore the forest wildernesses of America every year. The agency must ensure that its locations comply
with Federal safety regulations – including those of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA), Department of Labor (DOL) – by properly reporting accidents and maintaining accident records.
Tracking safety injuries and illnesses is paramount in preventing the recurrence of injury and promoting
safety. Several years ago, the Forest Service recognized a need for a better way to collect and manage its
safety information.
“It was a constant challenge to ensure all our locations were reporting their accidents consistently and it was
a huge task to compile their statistics into reports,” said Caroline Deaderick, Safety & Occupational Health
Manager for the U.S. Forest Service. “We have nine regional offices, five stations, and other large offices
across the U.S. These offices manage locations for their units… Before, if somebody asked how many
injuries we had in a particular area, we couldn’t answer that. We just didn’t have good data,” Deaderick said.
The Forest Service had used a workers’ compensation
software program to manage and store incident data but
it was unable to provide the detail necessary for proper
safety compliance management and incident tracking.
Launching SHIPS Project with ESS
When the Forest Service began to explore automated
tools for managing safety data across the entire
organization, they utilized a team of experts from within
the organization to closely assess bids from different
software companies. Bids were judged on a number of
criteria; speed of data retrieval and system security were
at the top of the list. At the end of the process, in
January 2003, ESS was the clear choice.
ESS’ Compliance Suite Safety Management Software
became the core of the Forest Service’s “Safety and
Health Integrated Portal System” (SHIPS) – an accident
and incident reporting system which tracks employee
injuries and illnesses throughout the Forest Service.
ESS software enables fast and easy collection of safety
compliance data and works within SHIPS to facilitate
data communications between the Forest Service and
Department of Labor.
“Every year we are required by DOL to post OSHA logs
in places where employees can view and have the
information in case a DOL inspector shows up, “said
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2. 2008 ESS EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNER
Government
ESS ● T: 800.999.5009 or 480.346.5500 ● F: 480.346.5599 ● www.ess-home.com
Deaderick. “Every year we are required by DOL to
post OSHA logs in places where employees can
view and have the information in case a DOL
inspector shows up, “ said Deaderick. “Thanks to
the ESS system, we can show them how many
injuries we are having just by pressing a few
buttons. We can break down the data into reports
by causes of injury, types of injury, locations, etc.”
The SHIPS portal, which was set up by ESS for
The Forest Service, allows FS employees to
transfer safety data from their computers to DOL
so they can submit accident reports electronically,
get an immediate return receipt and later receive
information back from DOL.
Time Savings, Better Employee Service
Saving time is central to the efficiency of any
operation, and data management via paper
processes can be long and laborious. Since ESS
software allows the Forest Service to submit
accident report forms electronically, what used to
take days or weeks is now accomplished in
minutes. The Forest Service can receive return
receipts from DOL immediately so the employees
get their claims processed faster. This means
less time filling out reports, and more time
executing important tasks.
“There are many thousands of data entries and
now we can extrapolate results almost instantly.
We’re getting reports that show us where our
trends are, where our accidents are happening
and why. Thanks to the ESS system, we’re
getting a much better view of the cause and types
of injuries that our agency is experiencing so we
can take steps to reduce them,” Deaderick said.
Technology Backed by Expertise
“ESS really knows the safety and health
community. In fact, they had already incorporated
a new law into the software so when we ran
OSHA logs and somebody in the field asked if we
knew about the change and asked if we had the
fix in SHIPS, we said, ‘Already done.’ ESS took
care of it for us,” Deaderick said.
ESS has worked closely with the Forest Service to
help assure the success of SHIPS by providing
not only technical support for its software but also
expertise in addressing broader information
technology, compliance and administrative
challenges.
“The implementation process with ESS was very
easy,” she said. “They offered extensive training
and were quick to work out any issues. The help
we have received from ESS has been second to
none. The people care. They respond
immediately. They answer my questions and they
have actually given me ideas for new programs.
“ESS is one of the most credible companies I’ve
ever dealt with. If they say they are going to do
something, they do it and they give it back to you
right away. They practically read your mind,
knowing what you need and helping you with it.
ESS is a great resource. You would be making
the right decision if you used ESS.”
U.S. Forest Service and SHIPS
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