How to implement environmental health and safety change

Implementing changes in a company can be tricky. Some companies are so open to changes that they seem to be in a constant state of turbulence. Others will operate more traditionally and be slow to adopt or implement new ideas. Each of your colleagues will also react differently to change, making the need to implement environmental health and safety changes in the right way, essential.

Effective change involves strategic planning, communication and flexibility, and this is even more important for EHS change.

Planning for change using strategy and evidence

Whether you’re an EHS manager improving policy or a facilities manager trying to create positive change in your workplace, change needs to be planned for. Consider those you need to convince, upper level management across all types of industries are working to a variety of company objectives, changes are easier to accept when they serve these objectives too.

Ask yourself:

– What is my company trying to achieve?
– How could this new policy or product make a positive impact on those goals?
– What difficulties could apprise from making this change?
– What improvements will people experience from this change?

Communicate clearly and effectively

Even small changes need clear communication and an implementation plan. Before presenting a suggested change, map out your presentation or proposal and give it to others to read. Don’t leave understanding to chance, clearly draw lines of benefits from the product or policy you want to implement and what those in charge are working towards. Use language they are already using helps to make understanding easier.

Be flexible to the process

Once you convince the decision-makers your proposed product or policy change is the right move to make, then comes the process. Change can be uncomfortable to implement, and you may have a desired approach to implementation that the decision-makers don’t agree with. Be flexible and open to being an agent for change – you already did the hard part, convincing them it’s a good change.

Looking for more help? We step you through how to align your EHS products and procedures to corporate objectives.