Meaning of EHS and Its Importance!

When someone hears or sees EHS they tend to put these three job roles into the same category. There are some major differences between the three of them. The “E” focuses on the Environment, while “H” and “S” focus on the Health and Safety of a person. Companies sometimes try to hire one person to fill these three roles as there is some overlap, but often one person comes up short on the requirements to manage everything effectively. Therefore, it is important to know the differences and to learn of ways that could make their business more efficient.

Environment - relates to the air, water, and land that people, animals, and plants live within or on.

Environmental hazards involve the surroundings and how it may impact us all such as air emissions, waste, and water pollution.
Environmental hazards could include both “the Seen” and/or “the Unseen” hazards depending on the type of events such as a spill or release.
Most of the environmental hazards of concern can be monitored real-time with leak detection and monitoring systems.
Usually includes a systematic approach to complying with environmental regulations through a series of programs and procedures that can be performed by a broader range of personnel.
The role is usually fulfilled by an Environmental Scientist of which there are about 72,000 in the US that have the education and experience.

Safety - is the state of being safe from undesirable events or consequences and deals mostly with “the Seen” hazards that lead to injuries and accidents such as cuts, falls, strains and explosions.

Safety hazards make the surrounding unsafe or risky but can be controlled to achieve an acceptable level of risk.
Most safety hazards usually have immediate effects or consequences resulting in some type of noticeable harm or damage.
Most safety hazards are usually identified through a series of checklists and procedures making them easier to judge and understood since they can be discernably seen and corrected.
Data collection and interpretations of safety standards are usually easier to record and understand allowing for a broader range of personnel to perform this role.
The role is usually fulfilled by a Safety Specialist of which there are about 119,000 in the US that have the education and experience with about 45,000 that are certified.

Health (or Occupational Health) - manages mostly the “the Unseen” health hazards that lead to illnesses and impairments such as cancers, blood, and nervous system disorders.

Health hazards (chemical, physical, biological, ergonomic, and psychosocial) affect an individual’s overall health function of the body.
Health hazards have both acute and chronic health effects; however, the majority are chronic that take a long time to show their effects.
Health hazards are difficult to identify due to most of them being unseen requiring rigorous scientific methodology to identify and evaluate the level of risk and exposure.
Data collection and interpretations of health hazards are usually more difficult and harder to understand requiring more education and training.
Occupational Health is comprised of Industrial Hygienists (IHs) who identify, evaluate, and control the health hazards at the work sites. There are about 15,000 IHs in the US with about 7,000 who have acquired the education, training, and certification to become Certified Industrial Hygienists (CIHs). Also, Occupational Health includes about 2,000 Occupational Medicine Specialists and about 19,000 Occupational Health Nurses that provide more of the clinical and preventive health care.

Solution

There are about 43 million of the 129 million full-time employees in the US that are exposed to hazardous substances in 5 million US workplaces. When you look at all three job roles, you can see there are simply not enough people to provide the needed help, especially for Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene. MyTERA™ is a systematic, user-friendly, interactive Industrial Hygiene application that guides any type of user step-by-step through a Task Exposure Risk Assessment (TERA) of occupational health hazards. It provides a tool and a resource in the absence of Industrial Hygiene support to help those companies that cannot hire someone full-time. There are also Safety and Environmental features built into MyTERA™ to help with those regulations as well.