You may think you have it all covered when it comes to employee training and EHS (environmental, health and safety) processes. But do you? 

As the popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) grows, automotive manufacturers, companies and other businesses supporting this burgeoning industry face new EHS compliance challenges. 

Along with EVs’ new demands also come stringent regulations. To ensure your EHS efforts conform, you need to focus on three core areas: training, EHS reporting and regulatory compliance. Follow this guidance to make sure you’re prepared.

Develop new safety training and awareness

As your company transitions to support EVs, you should refocus your safety efforts in three ways.

1. Refresh Worker Safety Initiatives: EV manufacturing often involves specialized equipment and processes, which make worker safety paramount. This will require new types of safety training, new guidelines for safe equipment operation and updated best practices for EV environments. Safety training should empower your workers to reduce incidents and production disruptions by minimizing workplace hazards and injuries.
2. Prioritize Electrical Safety: Electrical safety becomes a top priority because EV manufacturing and support require work with high-voltage systems. As a result, your organization may have new guidelines to consider, such as lockout/tagout procedures and personal protective equipment requirements. Take steps to ensure that employees are prepared to handle and work with the unique challenges posed by EV production. 
3. Stress Hazard Communication: Effective communication about hazards is crucial in any facility, including automotive environments. Hazards and hazard communication standards start with training and involve safety datasheet management and labeling requirements. Ensure your workers know the risks they may encounter when handling EV-related materials and what protective measures they should follow.

Using an easily customizable cloud-based EHS system allows you to manage your EHS, ESG (environmental, social and governance) and other safety management processes. You can create EHS management workflows, automations, reports and more to promote worker safety, electrical safety, safety datasheet management and hazard communication as you transition to support EVs.

These systems can also include on-the-spot training and connect to your human resources information system for tight employee documentation.

The 5 biggest benefits of EHS systems

Staying up to date on ever-changing EHS regulations can be overwhelming, but the right digital EHS system can help you keep up.

1. Streamline Incident Reporting: Accurate and timely incident reporting is vital to improve safety and prevent future occurrences. Digital systems vs. manual systems (pen, paper and spreadsheets) allow automotive companies to streamline incident logging and reporting. Employees can easily report incidents, near misses and hazards through a user-friendly interface so that potential issues are swiftly addressed. These systems also allow companies to decrease their total recordable incident rate, which reduces costs and keeps employees on the job. 
2. Make Decisions Based on Data Analysis and Insights: A digital system doesn’t just collect data — it also provides valuable insights. By analyzing the incident trends that data can reveal, your company can identify recurring issues, implement targeted corrective actions and continually enhance safety protocols. With data readily available across all sites, you can address issues on one site before they expand to other sites, preventing accidents and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. 
3. Simplify Compliance Documentation: Regulators often require detailed incident reports and compliance documentation, such as an OSHA 300A log. Digital EHS systems simplify this aspect of EHS management by generating compliant incident reports and maintaining a digital record trail. This ensures that you remain in good standing with regulators. 
4. Prepare for Audits: Audits are common in the automotive industry, especially for companies that transition to EV production. The right EHS system helps you prepare for audits by ensuring that all necessary documentation, training records and incident reports are readily accessible and compliant with regulatory standards. 
5. Meet Environmental Goals: Electric vehicles are often promoted for their environmental benefits. EHS systems can support your automotive company in meeting its sustainability goals by providing guidance on eco-friendly manufacturing practices and helping you track and report environmental impact.

The transition to electric vehicle manufacturing is a significant step for your automotive company, and it comes with unique EHS challenges that require specialized solutions. 

By leveraging new digital tools, your automotive company can not only meet the demands of the EV era but also foster a culture of safety and environmental responsibility. Creating a true partnership between your company and your employees is instrumental in ensuring the well-being of your workers and your business.    

Learn more about EHS systems and safety training.