COVID-19: Lessons Learned from the Pandemic and a Look at EHS Moving Forward
Company Size
1,000+
Country
- United States
Product
- Benchmark ESG
- Pandemic Exposure Event Form
- U Connect
Tech Stack
- Digital Technology
- Incident Management Platform
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Digital Expertise
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Connectivity Platforms
Applicable Industries
- Healthcare & Hospitals
- Pharmaceuticals
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
- Human Resources
Use Cases
- Remote Collaboration
- Remote Control
Services
- Software Design & Engineering Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
The article discusses the experiences of two companies, Perrigo and Cytiva, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Perrigo is an over-the-counter pharmaceuticals manufacturer, while Cytiva is a pharmaceutical manufacturer. Both firms worked with the Benchmark ESG (Gensuite) team to establish measures to deal with COVID-19 across their businesses. This resulted in an evolution of the discussion around EHS issues and greater emphasis placed on the role of EHS in wider business discussions. The HR team at Perrigo became familiar with Benchmark ESG incident management software while handling contact tracing events for employees; and Benchmark’s COVID training made many Cytiva employees more aware of EHS initiatives.
The Challenge
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about unprecedented disruption to businesses worldwide, with many firms unprepared for tackling related issues such as track and trace and reduced employee numbers. The pandemic brought with it new hurdles for the EHS practice, such as managing greater incidence of worker sickness, reduced resourcing, tracking contact events and supervising site permissions for workers who had been self-isolating. These challenges appeared practically overnight, and for businesses with nascent digitization initiatives, the transition to new working processes, such as staggered working hours and social distancing, posed greater issues. Many firms relied on digital technology to overcome these hurdles. The unprecedented disruption caused by COVID-19 left many EHS executives without a cogent strategy to tackle business resilience issues. Some firms relied on internally built solutions to tackle COVID-borne problems. But many firms have found these tools unwieldy and became rapidly inefficient as the situation worsened.
The Solution
Technology emerged as a central part of EHS responses to COVID-19. The Benchmark team identified these issues and worked with customers, such as Perrigo, to develop and integrate a COVID-19 exposure event tracking module, the Pandemic Exposure Event Form, within its incident management platform. At Cytiva, the Benchmark ESG platform was used for COVID-19 response training, whereby workers would not be admitted to specific sites prior to the completion of COVID-19 training. For many businesses, the adoption of innovative technology shaped the efficacy of their pandemic response, allowing firms to maintain operations despite the challenging circumstances. Firms have become acutely aware of the value of providing mental health support to employees during this challenging period, with 92% of the 301 corporate EHS managers in the Verdantix 2020 global EHS survey confirming their plans to use occupational health, mental health, and wellbeing monitoring software in 2021. Businesses will look to better integrate mental health initiatives alongside mental health monitoring software, such as informal catch-up meetings and exercise, as pandemic restrictions recede.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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