BNA & NAEM EHS Benchmark Report 2010

Transcription

1 BNA & NAEM EHS Benchmark Report

2 About the Survey Developed collaboratively by BNA and NAEM Conducted between May 8 and May 28, 2009 A total of 161 respondents completed the survey Includes a cross-section of U.S. employers having EH&S departments 2

3 What Questions are Answered? What are the normal ranges for EHS staffing and expenditures and how are these metrics affected by industry, workforce size, and other factors? What are the historical and future trends in EHS staffing and expenditures? What are the job titles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships in EHS departments? What is the typical tenure of EHS professionals in their current positions, their current organizations, and within the EHS field? What are the functions most and least often performed by EHS departments? To what extent do EHS departments outsource one or more of their functions, which functions are most likely to be outsourced, and what are recent trends in EHS outsourcing? 3

4 Summary of Findings A majority (55 percent) report working in single, stand-alone departments. Corporate-level departments The next most prevalent type of EHS office (29 percent), work in environment (6 percent), health and safety (6 percent), sustainability (10 percent), and combined EHS sustainability offices (6 percent). A relatively small minority of EHS professionals represent division-level (10 percent) or facility-level offices (8 percent). 4

5 Annual Salary Highlights Growth in EHS salaries has barely kept pace with inflation. In 2009, the median annual salary of surveyed environment, health and safety professionals was $100,000. In 2004, when BNA last conducted its national survey of EHS professionals, the median annual salary was $85,000. Factoring in an average annual inflation rate of 3 percent during the past five years, real salary growth for EHS staff has been only 1.5 percent from 2004 to

6 Staffing Ratio Highlights Staffing levels at environment, health and safety departments have remained essentially static from 2004 to 2009 as well. The median ratio of EHS staff to total employee headcount was 0.3 staff for every 100 employees in the workforce. EHS managers expect reductions in force within their departments but this will have no significant impact on staffing ratios. While two-thirds of surveyed EHS professionals and executives anticipate no change in staffing levels from 2009 to 2010, the proportion expecting increases in EHS staffing levels (12 percent) is exceeded by the proportion expecting reductions in force (22 percent). However, the median staff ratio, which calculates EHS staff as a proportion of the total organization s workforce, will remain essentially unchanged from 2009 (0.34 EHS staff per 100 workers) to 2010 (0.35 EHS staff per 100 workers). 6

7 Expenditure Highlights Reported expenditures for EHS activities have changed little during the past five years. Median per capita organization spending for EHS activities has increased 13.4 percent from $268 in 2004 to $304 in 2009, slightly less than the rate of inflation in the overall economy. More EHS professionals anticipate increases than decreases in EHS budgets in 2010 but the absolute size of these increases will not be large. Thirty-five percent of surveyed EHS directors expect an increase in their budget compared with 23 percent who are forecasting declines (the remaining 42 percent are expecting no change in funding levels). However, the absolute value of total EHS outlays in 2010 is expected to increase by 2.1 percent over 2009 levels while per capita EHS expenditures are projected to increase by a slightly higher 3.1 percent. 7

8 EHS Responsibilities Environment, health and safety offices, exercise the bulk of the responsibility over key areas of prevention, control, and disposal of waste or pollutants; reporting and monitoring; compliance activities, safety and security; and environmental preservation. Among the specific areas where EHS departments exercise the most autonomy are in controlling hazardous materials; air pollution and stormwater runoff; right-to-know and permitting; safety training and ergonomics; and regulatory tracking and management. EHS departments have taken on much more responsibilities over the past year. The proportion of EHS officers reporting that their department has taken on added duties (25 percent) far outnumbers the percentage of those who report that EHS has shed responsibilities during the past year (3 percent). 8

9 Thank you To order the survey, please go to: Or contact NAEM or BNA for more information. Margery Moore