Safety has always been a priority for Eramet, a global mining and metallurgy group. Ensuring the health and safety of its employees and subcontractors and achieving zero fatalities is one of five commitments on the group’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) roadmap.
Eramet, which has operations in 20 countries, wants to be renowned not only for its social responsibility, but also for its strategic approach and management system. To help achieve this recognition, the Group has embarked on an ambitious transformation, which is founded on digitalization.
Given Eramet’s focus, its environmental, health and safety (EHS) capabilities were high on the digitalization agenda - especially as its existing fragmented approach prevented the centralization of key processes.
Eramet selected the Cority/ERM team based on the capabilities of the platform and our approach to implementation combined with the depth of our joint experience working together on similar implementations.
Best practice implementation maximizes efficiency and quality
Eramet partnered with ERM to conduct a digital EHS pilot for four of its sites based on a software as a service (SaaS) solution from Cority. ERM conducted a number of workshops to help refine the design of the solution, which encompasses event management, audits and inspections for compliance and assurance, and environmental reporting.
ERM used DevOps software to streamline and monitor the final stages of user acceptance testing and the delivery of hypercare to a diverse user base, which includes train drivers, contractors, and site neighbors who have guest access to the solution. ERM also helped to migrate historical metrics and inspection data from Eramet’s previous system to the new solution, which went live to more than 200 users at pilot sites in France, Gabon & Senegal in May 2020.
When an incident occurs, investigators and site managers are notified immediately and corrective and preventative actions put in place to avoid a similar situation in the future. Thanks to the enhancements around event reporting, Eramet was able to avoid the need to invest in additional modules.
Smarter processes and richer metrics drive better outcomes
From defining the scope and configuring the solution to managing the implementation and training users, ERM’s methods helped to minimize risk and maximize return. The team leveraged purpose-built workflows and templates to ensure the project was delivered efficiently and to a high standard. By taking a standardized and centralized approach, Eramet can schedule inspections more frequently, which helps to foster site safety.
ERM’s understanding of the Cority solution and its relationship with the vendor meant it could optimize the configuration process and recommend enhancements to support Eramet’s specific use case. For example, the solution’s safety module was configured to enable even more employees and managers to log and categorize accidents and events via a browser, portal, or mobile web app and specify GPS co-ordinates.
As a result of the new system, Eramet has been able to transform how it manages inspections, which can be assigned to different team members and completed via standalone links if needed. The status of inspections as well as corrective and preventative measures can be tracked in the solution to ensure timely completion.
ERM was very flexible supporting the evolution in maturity of the Eramet team; they have been instrumental in Eramet’s steady and exhaustive ramp up in getting to know the tool, reaching full autonomy in 12 months.
The solution also has extensive business intelligence capabilities, which means reports and analytics can be generated on-demand and performance indicators viewed via real-time dashboards.
Another key consideration was that administration is based on a delegated organization: administrators are part of business organization, ideally placed to support the field users. Event cases are directly routed to people in charge, guaranteeing efficient handling and investigation. When an incident occurs, investigators and site managers are notified and corrective and preventative actions put in place to avoid a similar situation repeating in the future. Thanks to the enhancements around event reporting, Eramet was able to avoid the need to invest in additional modules.
The company already has a strong track record in safe performance with accidents decreasing by 35% in 2019. The new digital solution will help to build on this success by enabling smarter processes and unlocking richer insights.
Next steps
Following the success of the pilot, Eramet will seek to expand the implementation to additional sites as well as the solution’s functionality to include stakeholder management, operational risk management, and other environmental-focused processes; in particular, the tool leverages ultimate good practice in energy management.
By continuing to digitalize key EHS processes, Eramet will be able to boost agility and efficiency and drive greater value creation for its clients, employees, investors, and local communities.
