OYSTER BAY, NY -- A single injury or death is one too many at an industrial or manufacturing plant, and yet nearly 3 million individuals die annually from work-related accidents or diseases. Chemicals, explosives and heavy machinery pose significant hazards to workers. As companies look to improve their safety processes and efficient methods for logging incidents, they are turning to Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) software as a critical tool to reduce the volume of safety incidents. Global technology intelligence firm ABI Research forecasts that the EHS software market will grow by CAGR 6.7% over the next 10 years and reach revenues of US$2.2 billion in 2034.

“Safety is a component of companies’ Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting. As a board-level requirement, companies need to show improvement in safety and a whole host of other metrics. These metrics can trigger an improved culture around safety and cascade throughout the company. However, paper-based data collection persists in many industrial and manufacturing plants. EHS software enables customers to gather data, analyze it to provide a baseline, and track progress with visualization tools,” explained Michael Larner, distinguished analyst at ABI Research.

The chemical industry was one of the first verticals to appreciate the importance of improving processes to ensure safety as any missteps can have dramatic consequences. However, spending in the oil and gas industry (CAGR 7.0%) and the mining industry (CAGR 7.1%) shows that these sectors are catching up.

“Safety professionals are no longer the sole users of EHS software,” said Larner. “Innovations such as capturing images via a mobile device's camera, annotating them and logging potential risks encourage and empower more staff members to embrace improving safety at their facility.”