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3E Protect Resuscitates Banner Health’s Ailing SDS Management Program

Background

Banner Health is one of the largest health care systems in the country, with locations in seven states, 40,000 employees, 23 hospitals and 4,330 beds. Banner Health’s mission is: “To make a difference in people's lives through excellent patient care.”

The company has a relentless dedication to providing quality healthcare. Since Banner Health operates as a nonprofit, every dollar earned is reinvested into expanding patient care and improving care facilities. Therefore, when it comes to spending money, Banner Health constantly looks for the most cost effective way to improve their internal processes, with the goal of rolling any and all cost savings into continuous upgrades in patient care.

Situation

Like many healthcare companies today, Banner has limited resources and support staff. However, the Company’s 31-person EHS team remains committed to creating a safe working environment for patients and employees alike. One of the cornerstones of its safety management program is the proper handling of Safety Data Sheet (SDS). These critical documents provide Banner Health’s employees with essential data for safely handling the multitude of chemicals and substances found in Banner’s hospitals.

The team was particularly concerned when it began to notice that its legacy SDS management system was unable to keep pace with Banner’s rapid growth. “As Banner Health grew from three to four to now over 23 hospitals, we needed an SDS management company to grow along with us,” says Kurt King, EHS Director at Banner Health.

With its previous SDS solution provider, Banner Health found itself unable to respond to key EHS challenges, such as providing employees with consistent, accurate, and reliable access to SDSs for essential safety requirements. On the contrary, Mr. King was receiving a barrage of complaints from his safety and hospital staff that their online SDS solution provider was dropping the ball. The SDS website was unreliable and the vendor’s customer service line left them hanging without answers and without SDSs.

Solution

Mr. King opted to kick-off a corporate-wide SDS Management Evaluation. For this initiative, he spearheaded a committee of nine individuals from nine of his facilities, to evaluate and review SDS management processes throughout the network of hospitals. The team evaluated several different SDS management solutions, carefully weighing a variety of criteria, including cost, ease of integration and customer support.

The team quickly realized that 3E Protect was clearly the most cost-effective choice, in addition to providing the best performance!

“During the evaluation process, we noted that 3E’s Service Integration Specialists and Obtainment Department do a majority of the heavy lifting, freeing up our team to focus on other important tasks and projects,” said Mr. King. “This gave 3E an immediate edge over the competition.”

Banner Health has since implemented a unique online corporate SDS resource center. Employees use a drop down menu to choose their location with confidence that the information is accurate, as it has been prepared and indexed by 3E’s team of specialists. The solution is incredibly user friendly and easy to navigate, which Mr. King appreciates. “With our previous solution, I was constantly receiving complaints about the system not functioning properly. Since 3E Protect has been deployed, I haven’t received a single complaint. The system is reliable, and always works exactly as it should,” said Mr. King.

Mr. King also loves the fact that he is able to save the company money and put it towards other needed areas. He also appreciates that fact that he has finally found a reliable SDS management solution. “Our relationship with 3E will continue to grow as Banner Health grows. I love the fact that I can send 3E an inventory list for a new hospital I am adding, and within days, they are fully up and running,” says Mr. King. “I am happy with all aspects of my relationship with 3E.”

Banner Health is just one of the many healthcare organizations that have turned to 3E to help alleviate the cumbersome process of managing SDSs to fulfill the regulatory requirements of providing a safe environment. Maintaining an accurate inventory of chemicals and access to SDSs that are critical in case of a chemical-related emergency are just a few of the reasons that thousands of healthcare locations look to 3E for their EHS solutions.

3E can provide healthcare organizations with an accurate, site-specific inventory report of the chemicals and hazardous products on site, as well as help organizations maintain up-to-date SDSs for all the products in their inventory. 3E’s 3E Protect SDS management solution is flexible, scalable and modular, and offer a variety of options based on the EHS information management needs of healthcare organizations. 


Location: Mesa, Arizona, USA
3E Services: 3E Protect
Industry/Market: Health Services
Company Web Site: http://www.bannerhealth.com/








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