Data-Driven Efficiencies for the Planet and the Bottom Line

When Chriss Scott started at Timken as an environmental, health and safety (EHS) analyst in 2019, her manager sent her on a tour of several Timken facilities. She wanted her to get familiar with Timken’s family of products, to meet the contacts she’d be working with, and to begin to understand how Timken’s high EHS standards play out on the manufacturing floor.

Scott embraced the opportunity. She wanted to be part of an EHS team that took its efforts to the next level, with company-wide engagement and an ethic of treating EHS as much more than a matter of checking regulatory boxes.

Bringing the latest technology to EHS

Timken’s corporate EHS department supports manufacturing teams around the world and travels globally to ensure Timken facilities remain compliant. Today, as senior analyst, Scott evaluates the data those visits produce and works to increase its accuracy, visibility and usefulness.

“I administer our EHS software system,” she says. “While my team is out collecting information, I input their data and report on what’s going on from a bigger picture.”

Timken’s EHS system includes a module that collects audit findings, notifies appropriate parties, assigns corrective action and tracks it to completion. It also includes a compliance calendar, which gathers each facility’s compliance obligations in one spot. “The calendar helps us make sure no important tasks fall through the cracks, should the main point of contact be unavailable,” says Scott.

Supporting associate well-being by tracking accidents consistently

Accidents and injuries are a primary concern in every business, so Scott’s first big project was to implement a global incident management system. “We needed a way to keep track of incidents across the enterprise and set goals against that, so we could advance improvements that keep our people safe and maintain the efficiency of our production lines.”

The new global system provides one consistent data collection format to support 83 facilities using eight languages. Now, Scott can compare accident and injury rates at similar facilities around the world, allowing the EHS team to share best practices more easily and continuously improve.

Ergonomics: Where creativity meets injury-avoidance

Scott also helps the team gather more accurate data in the area of ergonomics. In 2019, the EHS team began testing ergonomics risk assessment software that uses artificial intelligence to calculate risk scores quickly and more objectively than previous assessment methods.

Scott trialed the software at a U.S. bearing plant, with impressive results. “We reduced our assessment time by 80%,” she says. In November 2021, the team launched the software across all Timken facilities, so now all EHS Coordinators can use it.

The upgrade makes the annual Timken’s annual ergonomics competition — highlighted in the sidebar —even more interesting and accessible. “Teams across different functional groups and regions around the world participate,” says Scott. “They get really creative with their submissions, and the announcement of the winner is something I look forward to each year.”

Setting and meeting real environmental impact goals

In addition to ensuring and improving safety, Scott also supports minimizing the company’s environmental impact.

“Now that we’re tracking data more consistently, we are better equipped to target water and energy use to create strategies that reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions,” says Scott. “Our Corporate Social Responsibility report provides a good baseline to measure ourselves against. It shines a light on what we’re capable of.”

“Seeing companies work to reduce their footprint and make products that support renewable energy are important to my generation and those that follow,” says Scott. “We know we are going to be drastically impacted by climate change.”

“Being part of a team that helps advance real change in the organization, and in the world — that’s something that’s really important to me.”

Learn more about Timken’s commitment to environmental, health and safety practices.