Archive for August, 2008
Access to better data and crisis management tools in the enterprise have begun to make a real difference in Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) results. Zero work-related injuries and illnesses is the benchmark standard for any organization, for both ethical and business reasons. It would seem obvious that it’s in everyone’s best interests to keep both processes and products as safe for the worker as possible.
And yet in the past, that was difficult to do, especially for large organizations engaged in important industries like power generation, chemical manufacturing or oil exploration.
Whether your business goals target cost reductions, business growth or risk management, every employer has a social and/or a legal obligation to provide and maintain a safe and healthful workplace for employees. It makes business sense: the cost of a lost workday injury is substantial. For every dollar spent on the direct costs of a worker’s injury or illness, much more is spent to cover the hidden costs. When good information enables managers to make fast, critical decisions on behalf of workers, the situation is always win-win.
So when the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced a decline in worker fatalities in 2007, we at ESS know that better information management systems, empowering managers with faster ability to react, contributed to that effort. Department of Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao said, “This is continued evidence that the initiatives and programs to protect workers’ safety and health, designed by and implemented in this administration, are indeed working. In addition to a decline in the overall number of fatalities, the rate for 2007 declined to 3.7 fatalities per 100,000 workers. This is the lowest fatality rate in recorded OSHA history.”
And why was that? The continued advance of EHS software technology, like our Incident, Audit, and Industrial Hygiene software solutions, which help clients worldwide improve their worker health and safety programs.
Am I totally objective? Probably not. But am I right? Probably more than many people at OSHA or the BLS know.
Tags: bls bureau of labor ehs health safety incident rates injury illness worker fatalities
August 27th, 2008
This is the first time we’ve been asked to contribute to a book, and the reason I said “yes” is because it’s a book on corporate ethics, which has always been one of the most important subjects in my life. In fact, when I started the company I did so out of a concern for the ethics involved in preventing refrigerant emissions from releasing CFCs into the ozone layer. That sure seems like a long time ago, in the environmental Dark Ages. Or maybe it’s better to call it the beginning of the Renaissance of a concern for sustainability.
At any rate, I’m pleased to announce ESS’ contribution to the recently-published book, Executive Ethics: Ethical Dilemmas and Challenges for the C-Suite.
Recognized subject-matter experts and business leaders were invited to provide commentary on topics that apply various aspects of business ethics to executive decision making. I was honored to contribute the chapter on environmental ethics, which summarizes social and political movements and events that transformed environmental concerns from a stakeholder concern to a matter of business ethics. Issues like major industrial accidents, conversion of atomic (and later, nuclear) power from military to commercial use and the development of EHS information technology, like ESS software, helped drive greater awareness of and benefits from incorporating corporate responsibility strategies into executive decision making.
The book, published by Information Age Publishing, is now available from leading retail and online booksellers, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Borders.
Our participation has already paid dividends for our company, as the book’s worldwide acclaim has provided a new forum for ESS - already acknowledged as the global industry leader - to be recognized as a thought leader.
We run our business with the conviction that what we are doing is not only good business, but good for everyone around us. We’re a cog in the great machine that can create and preserve global sustainability.
Tags: corporate ethics ehs environmental executive ethics sustainability
August 20th, 2008
We are approaching a time when sustainable energy will not require tax credits and government subsidies. New money is flooding into alternative energy investments from the private markets all over the world. It’s as if everyone has finally figured it out that we can’t continue to depend on the same energy sources.
Global investment in sustainable energy rose by 60 percent in 2007. Much of the investment went to financing assets — building plants to generate alternative energy. Wind power, especially, attracted investment this year.
Of course it didn’t help that the credit markets tightened in 2008 and the stock markets didn’t receive IPOs well. That drove many companies to mergers and acquisitions.
On the whole, alternative energy investments have not only continued to grow, they have broadened and diversified, taking in innovative financing structures for distributed renewable generation and demand-side management. Ordinary people (outside Europe, Canada and California, where sustainable energy gained acceptance long ago) are adopting alternative energy, creating more demand for innovative sources and more tolerance for changes in lifestyle.
Another sign of the market’s acceptance of the sustainable energy is greater activity in next-generation technologies, such as cellulose ethanol, thin-film solar technologies and energy efficiency. Wind continues to dominate sustainable energy investment, but the portfolio of available technologies has both widened and deepened (as existing technologies are refined and new ones come online). This is partly in response to changing supply/demand patterns (e.g. silicon shortages, or competition between food and fuel from food-based ethanol feedstocks), but also reflects improved efficiencies and decreasing costs as renewable technologies become more widely used.
According to the United Nations’ Environment Programme study on Sustainable Energy, the flow of dollars toward renewable energy will not stop. The trend has broadened to Asia, where China has taken the lead. This is a good sign — it’s something we can all support.
Tags: alternative energy energy efficiency renewable technologies solar technologies sustainable energy wind power
August 18th, 2008
Most CIOs continue to depend on server infrastructures for a simple reason: They’re not convinced cloud computing is ready for prime time. Anyone who thinks that the cloud, or even their own data center or infrastructure, should provide the reliability has it backward. If you want real reliability, write more resilient applications.
What is Cloud Computing? Cloud computing allows you to access your data without understanding or being responsible for its infrastructure, depending on software as a service. A report published by leading analyst firm Gartner says that it’s a developing concept that combines Software as a Service, (SaaS), Web 2.0 and other recent Internet-based trends.
At its best, cloud computing allows you to outsource your infrastructure and get rid of your IT department. Many startups use it to avoid costs. But executives have also learned that mission-critical applications can sometimes go down. Prominent outages have recently occurred at Amazon and eBay.
Cloud computing is not the same as grid computing, which is simply a cluster of loosely connected computers that distribute tasks among themselves. The report, Market-Oriented Cloud Computing: Vision, Hype, and Reality for Delivering IT Services as Computing Utilities reports that many cloud computing deployments are today powered by grids, have autonomic characteristics and are billed like utilities. Cloud computing is a natural next step from grid computing. Some successful cloud architectures have little or no centralized infrastructure or billing systems whatsoever including peer-to-peer networks like BitTorrent and Skype and volunteer services like SETI.
The majority of cloud computing infrastructure currently consists of reliable services delivered through next-generation data centers that are built on computer and storage virtualization technologies, according to Network World magazine. The services are accessible anywhere in the world, with the cloud appearing as a single point of access for all the computing needs of consumers. Commercial offerings need to meet the quality of service requirements of customers and typically offer service level agreements. Open standards and open source software are also critical to the growth of cloud computing.
IT executives are wary of cloud computing for reasons that go beyond the perception of unreliability. They’re fearful that data won’t be safe in the hands of cloud providers; they’re convinced they won’t be able to manage cloud resources effectively; they’re suspicious of providers that won’t share details of the infrastructures supporting their cloud environments; and they’re worried that the technology could threaten their own data centers or even their staff.
In short, the jury is still out. There are too many security and reliability concerns at the moment to make it a viable solution. But in the future, it will probably evolve.
Tags: cio cloud computing gartner grid computing it executive saas storage virtualization
August 12th, 2008
With oil companies in the headlines every day and people understanding as little about how the oil business works as they do, I thought I’d read the 2007 Marathon Oil CSR Report and see what an oil company has to say about its environmental stewardship activities. Especially one that has just bought our software. Naturally, we think companies invest in the tools they need for more than just corporate responsibility reporting. Executives are looking to manage the company’s overall business risk and measure its progress toward true sustainability.
Once again, I’m struck by how these reports have changed. This one is full of real data. For oil companies, a principal measure of environmental performance is oil spills, because they have a big impact on the environment. The 2007 report is full of facts and data showing that the company, over a five-year period, has reduced the number and volume of oil spills equal to or greater than one barrel, and reduced both its upstream and downstream spill rates. Marathon also is using a Gas-to-Fuels technology at a demonstration plant built purely to explore the potential for turning natural gas into transportation fuel.
Since 1999, Marathon has invested $450 million in technology to reduce emissions. It’s going to invest another $30 million through 2008 and Q1 2009. In all, capital investments for environmental projects totaled $199 million last year, which was about 4 percent of total capital expenditures. It’s a clear indication that Marathon is committed to address emissions management concerns.
On the Health and Safety side, Marathon has developed metrics for incidents and near misses and leading indicators to track and improve process safety performance. The company is expected to use the data in next year’s CSR report, where there will be better measurements of success.
Eyes glazed over by data? That’s good. Marathon has shown that it’s serious about controlling its emissions, preventing spills and accidents and doing more than just giving lip service to corporate responsibility reporting.
Tags: corporate responsibility environmental stewardship marathon oil oil companies sustainability
August 7th, 2008
Next year ESS will hold its annual user conference October 4-8, 2009 at the Westin Riverwalk Hotel in San Antonio, Texas.
ESS EXPO has a rich tradition of showcasing information technologies that enable EHS, Crisis Management and IT professionals and executives to transform compliance activities into drivers for competitive advantages by reducing operational complexity, risks and costs.
The 2008 conference really took it up a notch from everything in the past, and next year we expect to build on the momentum from ESS EXPO.08, which attracted more than 400 executives and professionals from around the world.
We had in-depth presentations by renowned experts at leading global organizations that use ESS software – including industry leaders such as Alcoa, Dow, PetroChina, Duke Energy and HD Supply as well as public agencies ranging from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Brookhaven National Laboratory to state and local governments.
Our exhibitors always include displays from leading global information technology providers and ESS business partners. Last year’s included Microsoft, IBM, ERM, OSIsoft, CH2M Hill, Data Systems and Solutions (DS&S), T3/Trinity Consultants, Environmental Data Support Group (EDSG), ChemAdvisor, Citation Technologies and Cybertéchnica.
If you are reading this blog, I’m sure you have some interest in the subject, so put this on your calendar. You can see how your peers are leveraging industry-leading information management solutions to address urgent business challenges associated with greenhouse gas management, corporate responsibility reporting, worker health and safety management, environmental compliance, product stewardship and emergency planning and response.
If you wish, you can also participate in a hands-on workshop, where attendees can experience ESS’ latest innovative sustainability applications and solutions, with help from software experts who provide one-on-one consultations.
And San Antonio isn’t a bad place to visit, either 
Tags: crisis management ehs environmental compliance ess expo sustainability user conference
August 4th, 2008
