The Maintenance of EHS Management Systems

摘要

Once an EHS Management System is installed and functional, actions must be taken to ensure its useful operation. These actions include user training, database administration, content administration, and periodic system upgrades. Maintenance activities are generally related to three things; changes in personnel or their responsibilities, changes in functionality of the system due to staggered implementation or upgrades to the system, and technical enhancements. All three are equally important. The maintenance of the system from administrative tasks, such as user access control, to design issues, user help and bug fixes, constitutes a generally unrecognized area of EHS systems deployment and management. Conectiv's experience through its second year of maintenance of its state of the art EHS management system is typical of what to expect with web enabled system. Internal environmental professionals, who already have a full plate of environmental responsibilities, and the system host/provider share administration of the system. Planning and open dialog is important to keep costs minimal and assure smooth operation. It is important to identify roles and responsibilities early in the implementation phase. This paper outlines the responsibilities divided between the provider and the client for issues such as what happens to employee passwords when they quit or are promoted, who is allowed to see what, how are business divestitures handled, something doesn't work right, etc. The ongoing maintenance of systems is one of the most important steps to ensuring EHS Management System success. This paper will be of essential interest to those professionals interested in life beyond successful EHS Systems deployment.