I oversee safety compliance for multiple manufacturing facilities across three provinces and the lack of standardization is killing me like each site manager has their own system for tracking chemicals and sds sheets, some are still using paper binders, others have random spreadsheets, one guy even has everything in a shared dropbox that nobody else can figure out how to navigate.
and now the corporate wants everything standardized and visibility across all locations but they're also pushing back on budget because "it's just paperwork". Has anyone dealt with this kind of situation? Looking for something that can handle enterprise level but won't require me to justify a six figure software purchase to the executives who don't understand compliance costs. The reality is one major violation at any of these sites would cost way more than the proper software but try explaining that to finance.
Need a chemical safety software for multiple sites that doesn't cost a fortune
byu/Remarkable-Home2046 inEntrepreneur
Posted by Remarkable-Home2046
6 Comments
This is exactly why so many companies get hit with massive fines, they cheap out on compliance until something goes wrong. Document everything you’re proposing so when something does happen you can show you tried to prevent it.
We’re using chemscape across our site and the biggest thing is making sure it actually integrates with your existing systems or you’ll end up with another standalone thing that half your sites ignore, also try to get buy in from site managers early or it’ll be a nightmare rollout.
it’s just paperwork” mentality drives me insane. Compliance isn’t paperwork, it’s risk management. One workplace fatality or environmental incident will cost infinitely more than any software investment. Push back on finance with actual violation costs in your industry.
Been in your shoes managing multi site compliance. My advice is pilot it at your worst performing site first, document the improvements, then use that data to justify rolling it out everywhere else. Finance responds to numbers not safety arguments unfortunately.
Have you looked at cloud based options? They are usually way cheaper than on premise enterprise stuff and easier to roll out across multiple locations, we switched our operations like a few years back and the roi was faster than I expected just from audit prep time savings alone
Lol I own a software and consulting agency and we always have faced clients that don’t care about compliance, efficiency unless they fall into serious situations that can cost them a fortune or they feel they lose track of company operations. That “Paperwork approach is working fine” comment usually comes from managers and rarely from employees. Its my experience as a CEO of company that served 22+ enterprise clients (more than 40 employees) and more medium sized businesses (more than 7 employees).
We do ERP (ERPNext, SAP and Odoo) implementation and most of the time its really hard to implement if managers or employees don’t co-operate properly. I was always contacted by business owners citing the requirement of something that helps them track activities, finances and reports. When we talk with employees, I always feel frustrations that i felt from this post.
I personally feel you should talk about your experience with your seniors and express ideas. Rare chance but they may consider something if you can produce fear of loss in their hard heads.