Enhancing Compliance and Efficiency with Digital Solutions

A Global Chemicals Company Integrates for HSE Compliance Visibility

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Environmental ConsultingEnvironmental Consulting

Industry

Chemical

Location

United States

A leading chemical company needed to modernize its data management and environmental compliance processes across multiple sites. Trinity Consultants delivered a customized digital solution that automated reporting, improved data accuracy, and strengthened the client’s ability to meet regulatory requirements on time and with fewer resources.

Challenge

Prior to the request for solution, each client site was managing environmental compliance locally, using manually intensive, disparate, ad hoc systems. So, no cohesive view of regulatory risk was available for the organization. Their numeric and analytics compliance data for air, water, waste, and industrial hygiene was scattered over their various sites and mostly on spreadsheets. To chart and graph performance against goals, data that resided in operations software had to be converted first. The process was susceptible to data inconsistencies and errors and pinned environmental experts to routine and mundane tasks.

Further, because their locations spanned the globe, time zone and language differences made communications especially
challenging. All this, in the middle of a global pandemic, made resolving the situation extremely difficult.

Solutions

Trinity solved the language and time zone challenge by enlisting local translators to assist on calls at mutually acceptable hours, usually early in the morning Eastern Time and capped at about one hour per session. Following pandemic protocols, the meetings were conducted over video conferences, wherein participants mapped and monitored roles, responsibilities, and tasks in sprints. Enablon’s embedded translation tool helped set system displays in native languages, further clarifying user understanding. Most of the sites involved were without a data management system, so migrating data to the new solution was often tedious and time-consuming. Trinity and Wolters Kluwer Enablon worked with the client’s IT lead to extract, transform, and load the data for launch. Trinity gained efficiency during data transformation using Microsoft’s Power Automate tool to automate data manipulation of hundreds of records. Any spreadsheet data that could be used was formatted and input, while a few of the facilities simply started from scratch.

Trinity recommended using Enablon’s out-of-the-box capabilities to level set each site with basic functionality. Where gaps in functionality appeared, the partners reconfigured the software, using drag and drop edits where possible, as well as custom coding using Enablon’s proprietary language. With client requirements met and future-state business processes documented and configured within the system, Trinity initiated user testing and training. Finally, Trinity and the client rolled out the solution to additional sites following the data, training, testing, and support model developed by Trinity during the pilot phase of the project.

Services Performed

We designed and implemented a compliance data management system, conducted workflow analysis and process mapping, migrated and integrated historical records, trained site teams on system use, and provided ongoing digital support and optimization.

Results

The industrial hygiene module went live in February 2022; the compliance reporting system went live in April. After the five pilot plants were up and running, Trinity tracked system usage seeing user activity steadily build. Within two months, all sites had users completing tasks on the system; they could now handily share information with the corporate office and across sites without tying up valuable staff.

Graphical user dashboards connected team members worldwide to centrally stored global data for a single source of truth against which industrial hygiene could be accurately analyzed, monitored, and proactively managed, and compliance reporting could be efficiently performed with confidence. Not only did the system improve visibility into compliance tasks, but it also reduced risk by providing a reliable legal register where all permits and documentation could be readily accessed in response to audits. Similar results were obtained for the additional sites to which the solution was deployed. While these results indicated a high degree of success, the ultimate measure of achievement was the high degree of satisfaction from the site-level and corporate-level users alike.

To date, Trinity is now providing sustainment support, education, and training, while also optimizing and enhancing the system based on user feedback. Plans are in place to continue expanding the base of connected sites moving forward

2x

Faster Complacience Reporting

1

One system for multiple sites

Improved

Data Accuary and Audit readiness

I joined Trinity Consultants because I wanted to take my experience as an engineering student and apply it to a job that was people-oriented and allowed me to explore a wide range of industries. In my time at Trinity, I’ve had the opportunity to both work on a variety of projects and develop my own areas of expertise. As someone who was interested in air dispersion modeling early on, I’ve had the opportunity to grow my experience in that subject area without sacrificing opportunities to try new projects and work with great people. As a Senior Consultant, I now support clients in a variety of industries including data centers, surface coating, Portland cement, lime manufacturing, oil and gas, and more. My project work covers a broad range as well, including air dispersion modeling, routine compliance support, new construction permitting, and stack testing support.

Sam Najmolhoda
Senior Consultant