The document presents the findings of a 2016 survey on the state of environmental, health, and safety (EH&S) departments, revealing that a majority of professionals feel understaffed and do not anticipate growth in budgets or personnel. Key priorities include regulatory compliance, safety, and training, though there's a noted lack of visibility and commitment from leadership towards these concerns. Technology use is increasing, but EH&S remains underappreciated and less prioritized compared to other organizational goals.

1. The State of
EHS 2016
Triumvirate Environmental’s
Warren Sukernek
January 28, 2016
Predictions, priorities and trends for 2016

2. Meet Your Moderator:
James Ciccone

3.  All lines will be muted.
 Communicate via the questions tab in
your webinar panel.
 Unanswered questions will be
responded to after the webinar.
 Webinar recording and slides will be
emailed to you tomorrow.
During This Webinar

4. Meet Your Presenter
Warren Sukernek
Marketing Director
Triumvirate Environmental
• Responsible for all of Triumvirate’s
marketing programs
• Website, branding, lead generation,
events
• Pattern of success in large businesses
and start-up companies

5. About Triumvirate
• Introduction
• EH&S Management & Services
480 people
• Various services performed
• Offices from Maine to Florida
• Focused on four vertical markets
• Life sciences
• Education
• Healthcare
• Industrial
• Our background on innovation

6. Agenda
Survey Description & Demographics
Staffing & Budgets
Priorities & Trends for 2016
Technology in EH&S
Summary/Q&A

7. Research Focused on
2016 Priorities and Budgets
Objective:
First survey of an annual project to provide
EH&S professionals with the knowledge
and insight about upcoming trends and
events impacting the industry.

8. Research Goals
Take a snapshot of the current EH&S
professionals and organizations that they
represent
Identify the trends, regulations, and changes
that will impact their operations
Allow professionals and organizations to
benchmark their priorities and budgets
against similar firms in the EHS field

9. Survey Design
The survey asked
respondents 22 questions:
Role, industry, company size
Budgets, staffing, contractors
Priorities, challenges, trends
Timeframe: Late 2015

10. Who Took the Survey?
• Approximately 200 EH&S
professionals
• Last two weeks of 2015
• 22 questions
• Responses for challenges,
trends, budget and more
were generally the same
across the board
32%
38%
25%
2%
3%
Respondent Experience
Level
Associate
Manager
Director
C-Level
Other/Not Specified
10%
43%
13%
34%
Organization
Industry
Life
sciences
Industrial/Ot
her
Healthcare
Education
17%
31%
12%
19%
21%
Company Size
1-100
101-500
501-1000
1001-5000
5000+

11. Was Environmental,
Health & Safety Your
Original Career Choice?
Poll Question

12. Demographics
Even though EHS may not have been an original career choice, we can infer
it has been a rewarding career as 27% of respondents are Director or
above. Many EH&S professionals were originally in another science or
environmental-related field.
Yes
38%
No
56%
Othe…
Was this your original
career choice?
Yes
No
Other
50%
16%
34%
Department
EHS
Facilities
Other

13. Agenda
Staffing & Budgets
Survey Description & Demographics
Priorities & Trends for 2016
Technology in EH&S
Summary/Q&A

14. Staffing & Budgets
Over 2/3 of EH&S professionals feel their
department is currently understaffed
73% of EH&S departments budgets won’t be
growing in the next year
65% anticipate department size will remain the
same in 2016
90% of respondents anticipate contracting
budget and hiring practices will remain the
same
33%
39%
26%
2%0%
Staffing Evaluation
Very Understaffed
Slightly Understaffed
Appropriately Staffed
Slightly Over Staffed
Very Overstaffed

15. “Whatever you can do to connect with
Engineering and Management disciplines to
understand the benefits and importance of
EHS & sustainability to the bottom line
would go a long way toward making an EHS
professional's job more a part of the
organization's goals and successes rather
than looked on as a cost sucking
enterprise.”

16. You Might Be
Thinking...
If the majority of EH&S professionals
feel their departments are
understaffed and aren’t expected to
grow over the next year, how will
they keep up with the workload?

17. Use of Contractors
Most Popular Reason for Hiring Contractors:
“More cost effective than full-time hires”
Second Biggest Reason:
“Easier approval for short-term/project-based work”
Other Responses:
“Specialized expertise”, “More efficient”, “Simpler”

18. Projects for
Consultants
• Regulatory training which
requires constant focus on
industry updates and agency
directives
• Complex, challenging planning
activities
• Cumbersome, time consuming
and sensitive reporting

19. Agenda
Priorities & Trends for 2016
Survey Description & Demographics
Staffing & Budgets
Technology in EH&S
Summary/Q&A

20. 2016 Priorities

21. Priorities & Trends by Role
Associates/
Managers
Regulatory
Compliance
Safety/ Safety
Culture
Training
Cost Savings
Waste
Management
Sustainability was 7th
Director/C-level
Safety
Regulatory
Compliance
Training
Waste
Management
Cost Savings

22. Focus on Safety
Safety
Leadership
Average
Rating
Average Rating
(Director Level and Above
Are Eliminated)
Explanation
How
committed is
leadership to
safety? 5
being most
committed
3.31 2
This stat suggests company leadership
could make their commitment to
safety more public to their employees.
The opinion on average level of
commitment by leadership is over 30%
lower when leadership is eliminated
from the poll.
How visible
is
management
in safety
leadership? 5
being most
visible
2.7 1.6
This stat supports the idea that
management needs to be more visible
in their commitment to safety. While
the average rating for commitment is
2.7 out of 5 (5 being most committed)
for all respondents, when responses
from those in a leadership role are
removed, the average sinks more than

23. “We are very reactionary
so I expect that trend to
continue.”
Quotes from Respondents

24. “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 EHS
is becoming dispersed and diluted among
other functions.”
Quotes from Respondents

25. A Focus on
Safety & Compliance
Changing regulations and an
increased focus on compliance
Compliance/Regulatory = 41%
Safety is most popular topic at 30%
29% Other Items: Chemical
inventory, sustainability, waste
management
8%
29%
8%
12%
30%
10%
3%
What EHS Topic Are You Most
Interesting In Learning About?
Chemical Inventory
Compliance and
Regulatory
Other
Regulatory Training
Safety
Sustainability
Waste Management

26. Agenda
Technology in EH&S
Survey Description & Demographics
Staffing & Budgets
Priorities & Trends for 2016
Summary/Q&A

27. What’s the Most
Important
Software Tool
that You’re Using?
Poll Question

28. Use of Technology in EHS
9%
6%
34%
17%
34%
Most Important Software Tool You're
Using
Waste Management
Program Management
Other
Compliance and Reporting
Chemical Inventory

29. Use of Technology in EHS
Phones and technology as both a
way to improve and simplify EH&S
tasks as well as a safety hazard

30. Social Media & Communication
At 74%, LinkedIn is the most popular social network for EH&S
professionals
60% of respondents get their updates from webinars, 39%
from LinkedIn
EH&S professionals see the increasing prevalence of tech in
their everyday life

31. Agenda
Summary/Q&A
Survey Description & Demographics
Staffing & Budgets
Priorities & Trends for 2016
Technology in EH&S

32. Summary
EH&S is an often underappreciated and understaffed function
Technology use is growing, but still pales compared to other
departments
Sustainability is on people’s minds, but it is not a priority in terms
of organizational goals
Safety and regulatory compliance continue to be priorities

33. QUESTIONS?

34. Upcoming Webinars

35. Thank You
For Attending!
Warren Sukernek
wsukernek@triumvirate.com

36. Following Up
You will receive:
• A copy of this slideshow and
recording of this presentation
• A survey invite to tell us how
we did
• A copy of the report