Growing tech company tackles global health and safety with Enhesa

With the increasing proliferation and expansion of global businesses, hybrid offices and remote working, maintaining health and safety standards for employees is no longer a case of only providing the right equipment and training in one office. It now extends to offices and buildings across borders, oceans and time zones — not to mention homes or cafés, and just about anywhere else with an internet connection. Ensuring comprehensive support for employees around the world requires an understanding of health and safety compliance on a global scale.

This was the challenge faced by one of our clients — a growing global data security company operating in over 100 jurisdictions worldwide. We spoke with the company’s occupational health, safety and security manager for EMEA to learn more about their experience using Enhesa to help manage organizational health and safety compliance, learning how the company was able to:

• Make sure people are safe across 100 jurisdictions globally.
• Gain insight into the OHS requirements for different types of employees in multiple regions.
• Implement consistent policies and support for remote workers.

Comprehensive compliance and company-wide confidence

With so many operatives situated in regions around the world — where regulations and requirements may vary greatly — the company wanted assurance for both itself and its customers that everything and everyone was safe (as well as compliant). Employee wellbeing was a major driving factor, whether they were based at the head office, an international site, or working from home or remotely. By partnering with Enhesa, this organization received the support and guidance needed to start building a robust, consolidated international health and safety compliance program that inspires confidence in the support offered to employees no matter where they’re based. 

“We can actually make sure that people are safe, that we can give our customers the assurance that we’re doing the right things and it’s all in one place,” explained the company’s EMEA health, safety and security manager. “That was the benefit for us.”

Reimagining health and safety compliance to suit remote workers

When you have a lot of staff working remotely, your operations look very different from an organization with a set number of locations. Practically every employee comes with at least one new work location — bearing in mind that remote workers are able and prone to working from different places over time.

Our client’s EHS&S manager observed: “we’ve got so many more people working remotely and from different places — whether it be their home, a hotel, a coffee shop, or dropping into the office. We want to make sure it’s all covered and those extra things that Enhesa does will help us get there quicker.”

Things like the team’s knowledge and support regarding ergonomics has been crucial to our customer in achieving global EHS compliance and consistency goals. 

Our experts have previously explored what compliance challenges 2023 holds for managing remote workers, but these can be compounded on an international scale. Terms like “working from home”, “teleworking” and “flexible working” can have varying definitions and nuances, depending on what country or jurisdiction you and your employees are in.

It’s therefore important for companies to know what their official regulatory obligations are, understand what’s ‘nice to do’ to support their workforce, and what may be culturally expected even if it isn’t a legal requirement. This wider understanding instills confidence and will enable them to take full advantage of teleworking and remote working to truly reap the rewards of having a global workforce. 

Looking to the future: maintaining health and safety training for remote workers

Although our client has made a lot of change with the help of Enhesa’s services already, there’s still more that they want to achieve — especially around more training for remote workers. 

“The next piece for us is around remote work,” said our client. “That’s going to really add a lot of benefit to the business and how we use the system. Our people are our number one asset, so making sure that we’re looking after them wherever they are is a big priority for us.

“After coming through what we’ve been through with the pandemic and how that’s going to continue to go in the future, we want to make sure we can still work and operate, but safely and considering everyone’s wellbeing.” 

Of course, companies have obligations to provide training to their employees, even when those workers are based elsewhere or remote. This can be a challenge when the training required might differ depending on an employee’s location, but with innovative new trends like micro-learning, it’s becoming easier for employers to keep conversations around health and safety ongoing year-round.

One major benefit of the micro-learning approach is that employers can incorporate social media, email and intranet resources to drip-feed information and reminders to employees no matter where they might be located. This allows the messaging to go beyond simple tips on ergonomics, blue light regulation or time management. The bite-sized health and safety snippets can also branch into mental health and general fitness — trends that are continuing to grow in 2023. 

With Enhesa’s assistance and expertise, we’re confident that our client will be able to continue to achieve their goals of bringing comprehensive health and safety training and ongoing compliance to employees no matter where they’re based in the world. 

Could your health and safety compliance management do with the Enhesa touch?

As the leading provider of regulatory and sustainability intelligence worldwide, we empower businesses to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to health and safety. With comprehensive coverage of essential occupational health and safety topics across 300+ jurisdictions, you can be confident in your compliance, locally and globally. 

To learn how our trusted solutions will help you mitigate risk and manage your health and safety requirements, get in touch with our talented team today.