Things Machinery Companies Can Learn from Caterpillar's EHS Focus

Machinery companies looking to improve their own EHS functions can learn from Caterpillar’s latest sustainability report. Take a look at some of the top insights we discovered and learn how you can use their efforts to your own advantage.

1. Stakeholder Engagement Is Paramount

Caterpillar’s stakeholders include experts from academic institutions and nongovernment organizations that provide ongoing counsel and feedback regarding sustainable practices. In addition, they also recognize their employees as valued stakeholders, and have launched an internal Sustainability Advocates program to encourage and broaden their sustainability efforts.

What You Can Do

Make it easy to share ideas and communications across all levels of your company. Using EHS software to facilitate all EHS-related activities and data can ensure stakeholders can access information quickly and frequently. Having one system to handle surveys, questionnaires, reports, and other critical data can limit confusion on reporting processes, which can further encourage engagement.

2. It’s Not Enough to Set Goals – They Need to be Tracked Every Step of the Way

Caterpillar’s report illustrates not just the goals they’ve set, but also how far they’ve come. They continue to measure those goals to gauge their progress and identify areas of opportunity.

The report identifies several successes, including the following:

• A 92% improvement in Recordable Injury Frequency since 2003
• A 94% improvement in Lost Time Frequency since 2003
• A 98% increase in managed fleet hours since 2013 (just 2% away from their long-term goal ending in 2020)

Simply put, Caterpillar has not only identified their long-term goals and base figures, but also demonstrates the ability to track their progress.

What You Can Do

Relying on EHS management software can keep your data in a single location and track your progress toward meeting your goals. With the right tools and processes in place, you can ensure that no data falls through the cracks, while also enjoying real-time insight into your current status to identify successes and opportunities.

3. There’s Always Room for Improvement

Caterpillar illustrates a specific case regarding Solar Turbines’ Turbo Machinery Operations (TMO) use of Caterpillar’s Zero Incident Performance (ZIP) process. TMO went from 248 recordable safety incidents to 11 before using the program. However, they managed to further reduce RIF by 26% in 2015 – the best performance to date.

What You Can Do

Though TMO’s drop from 248 to 11 recordable incidents was impressive, there is still work to do. There will always be opportunities to improve your safety operations, but achieving those improvements requires ongoing commitment. Using the right strategies and tools can help you nurture your safety culture to make continuous improvement a priority.

You can view Caterpillar’s full 2016 Sustainability Report here.