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Locus Technologies Reaches PFAS Tracking Milestone with 3 Million Records

Locus Technologies, the leader in sustainability and Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) compliance software, announced that as of today, Locus clients have collectively contributed 3,000,000 validated Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) records to the company’s environmental database, making it the most extensive real-time, aggregated global analytical and geospatial PFAS information source. The records are secured in Locus’s sophisticated, multitenant SaaS database.

Locus’s expansive PFAS dataset includes all 430 chemicals identified in the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) PFAS inventory, collected from 38,553 global sites, predominantly in the United States. By combining advanced geographic information system (GIS) tools and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven analytics, Locus provides unmatched capabilities for identifying contamination sources, tracking environmental accumulations in water, soil, and living organisms, and visualizing critical “hot spots” for strategic remediation.

“This milestone underscores our commitment to advancing environmental safety through technology innovation,” said Neno Duplan, founder and CEO of Locus Technologies. “Our multitenant SaaS infrastructure uniquely positions Locus as the only platform capable of aggregating, analyzing, and reporting critical PFAS data in real-time. With three million records, we’ve reached an unprecedented capability for understanding and managing this global health threat.”

Locus Technologies’ multitenant SaaS platform enables individual organizations to securely manage and report their PFAS sampling data and compliance requirements while gaining broader insights from aggregated data. The company’s unique software architecture empowers clients to stay ahead of stringent regulatory frameworks, including emerging EU directives and global ESG reporting demands, while ensuring the absolute privacy of their proprietary information.

“Emerging research indicates the PFAS health crisis will be more significant than Asbestos, lead, and tobacco combined. Empowering organizations to effectively track and manage this data is imperative,” said Duplan. By leveraging the real-time analytical power of Locus, utilities, government agencies, and enterprises can proactively manage PFAS risks, streamline regulatory compliance, and safeguard public health and environmental ecosystems worldwide.

To learn more about Locus Technologies, please visit locustec.com.

About Locus Technologies
Locus Technologies, the global environmental, social, governance (ESG), sustainability, and EHS compliance software leader, empowers companies of every size and industry to be credible with ESG reporting. From 1997, Locus pioneered enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) for EHS compliance, water management, and ESG credible reporting. Locus apps and software solutions improve business performance by strengthening risk management and EHS for organizations across industries and government agencies. Organizations ranging from medium-sized businesses to Fortune 500 enterprises, such as Sempra, Corteva, Chevron, DuPont, Chemours, San Jose Water Company, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Port of Seattle, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, have selected Locus. Locus is headquartered in Mountain View, California. For further information regarding Locus and its commitment to excellence in SaaS solutions, please visit http://www.locustec.com or email info@locustec.com.

What Top Safety Teams are Doing Differently – Free Report from Avetta and Focus Network

As reliance on contractors grows, so do the risks tied to safety, compliance, and ESG. Forward-thinking organisations are turning to modern tools and mobile-first processes to gain control, reduce risk, and build a stronger safety culture.

This report from Avetta and Focus Network covers:

  • Today’s top contractor management challenges
  • Key risks to prioritise
  • Must-have software capabilities
  • Expert recommendations for HSE success

BSIF Launches “PPE Saves” Campaign

The British Safety Industry Federation (BSIF) is proud to launch “PPE Saves”, a new campaign spotlighting the vital role performed by Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in protecting workers and ensuring people and businesses thrive.

Personal Protective Equipment is sometimes undervalued, yet it can mean the difference between life and death, safety and injury, long-term health and preventable harm. While other safety controls are essential, PPE remains a vital line of defence when risks cannot be eliminated.

Every day, millions of workers rely on PPE not just for protection but for peace of mind. When it’s well-designed, fit for purpose, correctly certified, and correctly fitted, PPE supports comfort, confidence, and a stronger safety culture.

The PPE Saves campaign urges organisations to take great care and involve their employees when selecting these safety critical products.

PPE Saves Lives!

PPE is far more than just a precaution—in some cases lives depend on it. While it’s often difficult to prove when PPE has directly saved a life, there are consistently high levels of serious workplace accidents where the right protective equipment could have made a critical difference.

For example, incidents involving moving vehicles remain one of the leading causes of workplace deaths. Wearing high-visibility clothing can help workers stay seen and safe and reduce such incidents. Another serious hazard is asbestos exposure, which the WHO identifies as the top cause of work-related deaths globally. Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) is crucial in protecting workers from inhaling these deadly fibres. 

Every part of the body matters

PPE not only saves lives but also saves heads, eyes, faces, hearing, lungs, hands, bodies, and feet. From head to toe, it prevents injuries, reduces severity, and improves recovery outcomes:

  • In a study of occupational use, the correct non-slip footwear reduced falls by 49% (BMJ).
  • 90% of eye injuries could have been prevented by wearing the correct eye protection (Manchester Royal Eye Hospital).
  • Over 1 million people attend A&E in England and Wales with a head injury annually (NICE). Many incidents could be prevented or their severity reduced with the right safety helmets.
  • Noise-induced hearing loss is 100% preventable with properly fitted hearing protection (HSE).
  • Hand injuries account for 25% of all non-fatal injuries in workplaces (HSE), yet these can be prevented with the right hand protection.

When PPE performs, people thrive 

Properly specified, well-fitting, quality PPE not only enhances safety but also allows workers to carry out their jobs effectively and remain in the industries they enjoy for longer. Work can be demanding but the right PPE does more than just protect—it enables people to work safely and comfortably. Beyond protection, great PPE improves comfort, confidence, and morale and even staff retention. 

When sourced responsibly, well-designed, fit for purpose, correctly certified, and correctly fitted, PPE contributes to a safer, more productive workforce. PPE isn’t just about compliance, it’s about keeping people well, engaged, and performing at their best. 

Commenting on the launch of “PPE Saves”, BSIF CEO Alan Murray says: “PPE is vital for protecting lives across Britain every single day. But not all PPE performs well, and that’s a serious problem.

“ “PPE Saves” is a campaign dedicated to making sure workers have access to suitable and reliable PPE because investing in quality products isn’t just about safety, it shows you value your people.

“There’s a wide range of innovative, comfortable, and sustainable PPE on the UK market. Yet poor-quality products are still in widespread use, compromising worker comfort and putting lives at risk. That’s why we’re raising awareness of what good PPE looks like, where to find it, and how to make sure it performs.” 

For PPE that protects people and helps workers and businesses to thrive, visit: www.registeredsafetysupplierscheme.co.uk

For support in specifying PPE, find out more about the BSIF’s Sourcing Safety course as well as the Duty Holder Membership Scheme, which includes access to a PPE Helpline, visit: bsif.co.uk/join-bsif/

Share your PPE story

The “PPE Saves” campaign highlights real-life impact. We invite workers, employers, and safety professionals to share their experiences. Has PPE saved your life, prevented an injury, or improved your working conditions? Join the conversation and help raise awareness by sharing your story using #PPESaves.

How Flame Detection Can Enhance Workplace Safety

In industrial settings, safety is paramount, especially in environments where flammable or toxic gases are present. A robust gas detection system is an important line of defense, but it’s not the whole story. Integrating flame detection into your safety setup can create a safer and more reliable environment. 

The Role of Gas and Flame Detection Systems 

Gas detection systems are designed to identify harmful gases in the air, whether combustible, toxic, or asphyxiating. They provide early warnings, helping to enable preventive action before conditions become dangerous. However, gas detection alone doesn’t account for what happens when a gas leak ignites. 

Flame detection systems complement gas detectors by identifying the presence of fire, which may occur even where gas concentration hasn’t yet reached detectable levels. Together, these systems can contribute to a more comprehensive safety net that addresses both potential and actual hazards. 

Seven Reasons to Include Flame Detection in Gas Detection Systems 

  1. More Comprehensive Hazard Mitigation

Gas detectors and flame detectors work hand-in-hand to prevent accidents and mitigate risks. While gas detectors alert you to the presence of a leak, flame detectors respond to fires that could result from undetected or ignited gases. 

  1. Faster Response to Fire Emergencies

A gas leak can ignite in seconds, turning a potential hazard into an active emergency. Flame detectors react in real-time to the presence of a flame, helping to enable prompt action to contain the fire and prevent escalation. 

  1. Helps Eliminate Blind Spots

Gas detection systems can only monitor specific zones. In scenarios where a leak occurs outside the detection range or a minor leak ignites directly, flame detectors can be an important second layer of protection. 

  1. Tailored for High-risk Industries

In industries like oil and gas, petrochemicals, and manufacturing, the risk of fire due to flammable gases is ever present. Flame detection helps protect these high-stakes environments against both minor and catastrophic ignition events. 

  1. Meeting Regulatory Standards

Safety regulations often require both gas and flame detection systems for compliance. Adhering to these standards not only protects your team and assets but also ensures your operations meet legal and industry benchmarks. 

  1. Minimizing Damage and Downtime

Early flame detection can activate suppression systems, limit the spread of fire, and enhance the safety of personnel. By containing incidents quickly, businesses can avoid costly equipment damage and extended downtime. 

  1. Enhanced Operational Safety and Continuity

Combining gas and flame detection creates a more resilient safety framework that reduces the likelihood of accidents and enables a quicker recovery in the event of an incident. This reliability is key to maintaining trust and productivity. 

Despite its importance, users might hesitate to include flame detection in their safety systems due to perceived challenges such as cost, complexity, or maintenance. Users may also assume that gas detection alone is sufficient for preventing incidents, underestimating the speed at which a leak can escalate into a fire. Addressing these misconceptions and highlighting the critical role of flame detection in mitigating catastrophic events is key to overcoming reluctance and ensuring comprehensive safety solutions.

The Bottom Line: A Layered Defense is Key 

Safety in industrial environments is not about choosing between gas or flame detection—it’s about understanding the benefits of both to build a layered defense. While gas detectors prevent potential hazards by identifying leaks, flame detectors act as a safeguard when ignition occurs. 

Safety managers may consider this combination a necessity in today’s high risk, high stakes industries. By integrating flame detection into your gas detection system, you help to ensure that your operations are protected from the full spectrum of potential hazards, safeguarding lives, assets, and your reputation. 

Ready to Enhance Your Safety System? 

Investing in a comprehensive detection system is an investment in the future of your business. Discover how gas and flame detection solutions can work together to create a safer workplace.


Talk to an expert today


Learn more: Artificial Neural Network Technology

Heresafe: The Community Leading the Charge in Workplace Safety and Compliance

In the UK, approximately 2,315 workers experienced workplace injuries every working day of last year—a staggering reminder of the importance of health and safety compliance in the workplace. In a world where work environments are rapidly evolving, ensuring safety and regulatory compliance is not just a necessity but a responsibility. It safeguards employees, boosts productivity and reduces liability. Addressing these challenges head-on and leading the way, Heresafe—formerly Verature—provides powerful tools to identify, assess and mitigate risks effectively.

Verature’s recent rebrand marks a new and exciting chapter in the company’s mission to revolutionise workplace safety. By starting with safer supply chains and contractors, Heresafe aims to create a safety culture that permeates every corner of the workplace. Contractors, frequently engaged in high-risk environments and tasks, are disproportionately impacted by workplace incidents. Along with a rapidly expanding community of users, Heresafe seeks to address this critical gap in workplace safety, one contractor at a time.

Workforce Certification, Induction & Training Compliance 

Ensuring that all contractors, their workers and any sub-contractors are properly certified and trained is essential for maintaining a safe and compliant workplace. Heresafe offers robust features to manage certifications and training schedules, reducing the risk of non-compliance.

Stay Ahead of Compliance Risks

Heresafe’s software tracks and manages worker certifications, ensuring that all employees are up-to-date with their required competencies and training. Automated alerts and reminders sent directly to suppliers or contractors about expiring certifications help avoid compliance lapses. They shift the responsibility and administrative effort onto the supplier, ensuring that workers stay properly qualified to carry out their duties safely.

Streamline Training and Inductions

The platform also manages training and induction schedules, ensuring that all employees maintain an updated site safety induction, have acknowledged site-specific briefings and have in-date, valid and adequate training. This includes dashboard tracking of completion/failed induction assessment rates. Heresafe automates these processes, offering embedded inductions with multiple-choice assessments, acknowledgements featuring digital signatures and photographs. This approach helps organisations maintain high safety and compliance standards through a robust and efficient induction process.

Permit-to-Work, Authority to Work & Site Access

Permit-to-work systems are crucial for managing high-risk activities and ensuring that all necessary precautions are taken. Heresafe’s digital permits-to-work, Authority to Work (AtW) and Site Access systems enhance safety and compliance through several key features.

Simplify High-Risk Permit Management

Heresafe offers digital permits that streamline the permit-to-work process. These permits include digital signatures, checks and approvals, ensuring that all stages of the permit process are followed correctly. This reduces the risk of human error and ensures that high-risk activities are managed safely.

Key Permit Features:

  • Fully Custom Templates: Enabling a digital version of an existing preferred template that fits your organisation/industry standard.
  • Permit Notifications: Notify key groups and the permit issuer when a permit is issued, accepted or returned.
  • Permitting Permissions: Assign ‘Issuer’ permissions by permit type.
  • Schedule Permit Alerts: create a schedule of alerts to prompt the Permit Issuer to check on high-risk activities.
  • Permit Dashboard: Live status updates by permit type.
  • Copy Permits: Copy a permit for re-issue where daily permits are required.
  • Permit Mapping: View your permits on a digital mapping tool.
  • Permit handover and Audit Log: View an audit trail of the permit through its various stages and keep track of where a permit has been handed over to another Permit Issuer.
  • Permit Search, Retrieval, Export & Print: Query and export your permit log, send a permit to print to maintain paper copies where needed.

These features ensure robust and auditable permit management, promoting a culture of safety and compliance.

Ensure Safer Worksite Access

Heresafe’s Authority to Work and Site Access functions enhance workplace safety by displaying readiness-to-work and requirements-met dashboarding, enforcing RAMS reviews, approval workflows and regulating approvals to access restricted areas. The platform includes built-in workflows and logic that prevent cutting corners. It ensures that only authorised personnel who meet all requirements defined by the organisation/PM/host/sponsor can check in, reducing the likelihood of accidents and ensuring compliance with safety regulations.

Key Authority to Work and Site Access Features: 

  • Project/Authority to Work Dashboarding: Quickly spot missing requirements before approving work or granting access.
  • External Supplier Portal: Allows your suppliers and contractors to manage worker and document submissions directly.
  • Review Workflow: Streamlined acceptance, rejection or referral of submissions, with Heresafe chasing up on rejected items.
  • Expected On-Site and On-Site Now Reporting: Know who is expected, where, when, why and by whom, and who is signed in across your locations.
  • Self-service Check-Ins/Out with QR and Geo-Tagging Technology: Gain real-time visibility over even remote workers with lat/long location of Check-Ins/Outs.
  • Visit Questions: Tailor Check-In/Out questions to ensure workplace safety and risk identification.
  • Digital Badges: Easily challenge and inspect induction status, on-site status and RAMS by scanning badges for real-time updates.

These tools work together to manage access, ensure qualifications and maintain high safety standards on worksites.

Watch how it works:

Real-world Impact & ROI of Workplace Safety and Compliance systems

Heresafe shares recent success stories from various industries and clients (University of York, Goodwood, Natural History Museum, Knauf Insulation, Stepan & Sibelco, to name a few) that have benefited from adopting their software. 

A higher education client found that Heresafe resulted in an 81.25% reduction in time spent onboarding and pre-qualifying contractors.

Alongside a 98% happiness score for their skilled Support team, feedback for Heresafe includes:

“The system’s reporting capability provides increased visibility and control of all contractor visits across our multiple sites, ensuring contractors are working safely, with all work and visits approved and recorded.” 

“The Heresafe system is making it easy to ensure we are remaining accountable for the safety of our contractors when on-site” 

Real-world examples from education, health, food manufacturing, events/recreation/arts, mining, logistics, pharmaceutical and chemical industries,  showcase the transformative impact of these solutions on workplace safety, while also highlighting potential ROI’s for the HSEQ, Property and Engineering teams adopting them.

The Future of Workplace Safety Technology

Integrating advanced compliance software like Heresafe into workplace safety protocols is essential for maintaining a safe and compliant work environment. The future of health and safety compliance is bright, with innovative solutions like Heresafe leading the way. As we look ahead, the continued evolution of these technologies promises even greater advancements in workplace safety and compliance.

The recent rebrand of Verature to Heresafe signifies the platform’s broader commitment to addressing a wider range of workplace safety challenges, extending its focus beyond contractor management tools. Expanding into modules like shift handover, incident, event and occurrence logging, Heresafe embarks on a new mission to make workplaces safer for everyone. Their vision is a future where every workplace is a model of safety and wellbeing. For current and prospective users, this means enhanced features, improved user experience and a continued dedication to excellence in health and safety compliance. 

Ready to transform your workplace safety and compliance?

Book a demo to learn more!

 

 

Heresafe Limited

Creating safer workplaces for everyone.

heresafe.com

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April is Stress Awareness Month: Tackle Stress in the Workplace with Five Steps in Five Weeks

This April, Britain’s bosses are being invited to follow five simple steps to prevent and reduce stress in their workplace.

The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Working Minds campaign has called on employers to support workers mental health during Stress Awareness Month.

Over the course of the month, employers are encouraged to focus on one of the campaign’s 5 Rs for each of the five weeks. They are: to Reach out and have conversations, Recognise the signs and causes of stress, Respond to any risks you’ve identified, Reflect on actions you’ve agreed and taken, and make it Routine.

Preventing work-related stress isn’t just the right thing to do by workers, it’s the law. All employers are required to prevent work related stress to support good mental health in the workplace.

The Working Minds campaign brings together a range of tools and support to help businesses and workers including free online learning, Talking Toolkits, risk assessment templates and examples.

Kayleigh Roberts from HSE Engagement and Policy Division says: “By being proactive, you can improve productivity, reduce sickness absence and help retain valued workers. Employers are required to assess the risk of work-related stress impacting their workers, and act on the risks identified.

“As well as guiding you step by step, we provide all the practical templates, tools and resources you need to get started or, you can use it as an opportunity to review what you already do. A huge part of this is making it part of your everyday working life, not just a one-off tick box that gets forgotten about.”

There are six main areas that can lead to work-related stress if they are not managed properly. These are: demands, control, support, relationships, role and change. Factors like skills and experience, age, or disability may all affect someone’s ability to cope.

If you are an employer looking for support, a good place to start is to register for free bitesize learning.

You can also…

Source: HSE

About HSE People

HSE People is an online network of professionals who work within Health and Safety, the Environment, Sustainability, Risk and Compliance. We provide our members with free resources such as our events calendar, industry news, access to whitepapers, eBooks and webinars as well as information about products and services. The aim of HSE People is to support those who Protect People, Places and the Planet.

If you are a blogger or there is a subject you would like to write some content on please get in touch with us so we can share your thoughts and experience with your fellow professionals across our websites and social media platforms

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