Building a Culture of Innovation: How True Partnership Streamlines Global EHS Management
One of the biggest challenges companies face when choosing a software provider isn’t just integrating the system, it’s choosing a partner that truly listens to their needs. For organizations managing complex safety, training, and compliance requirements, the right EHS software can transform how teams work—if it’s backed by a collaborative, responsive support team. When a provider not only delivers tools, but actively engages, collaborates, and guides their team can make all the difference.
Gabi Hurley, Technical Training Program Leader at Flanders, brings hands-on experience implementing and leveraging EHS software in real-world industrial environments. With a background in industrial safety and a focus on training and process improvement, she has seen how the right digital tools—and the team behind them—can drive progress, foster innovation, and strengthen trust across her teams.
Key Takeaways from Gabi Hurley’s EHS Journey
- Collaboration drives progress — having an open, two-way partnership with your EHS software provider fuels innovation and meaningful change.
- Unified systems empower efficiency — integrating safety, training, and sustainability tools into one platform helps teams save time, reduce errors, and focus on prevention.
- People make the difference — behind every successful digital transformation needs to be dedicated support team who listen, adapt, and provide guidance at every step.
- A connected EHS community inspires action — being part of a Benchmark Gensuite’s global community of subscribers fosters learning, idea exchange, and collective improvement across industries.
Having worked with this Benchmark Gensuite in different companies, what stood out to you the most about its impact on daily operations?
Gabi: Having used Benchmark Gensuite at my former company, I saw firsthand how powerful this tool is for streamlining operations and enhancing safety performance, in a way that overall helps the entire company. So, I was beyond excited that I got to continue using it at Flanders and got to leverage such an amazing tool that has a proven track record of innovation, and it has the trusted backing, and resource, and knowledge of the support team that comes with the system itself. I’m proud to be a Benchmark Gensuite subscriber and knowing that being a part of that community I’m going to receive support day in and day out.
Collaboration is a big part of innovation in EHS. How do you share new ideas with your software provider — and see them come to life?
Gabi: Last year was my very first year attending an Impact conference with Benchmark Gensuite, and I actually got to speak at it, and really dive in and connect with the individuals that, you know, make Gensuite run behind the scenes, and I saw a constant gap.
You know, a big focus was Genny AI last year, and I saw that and I thought to myself, why are we manually doing some of the processes that we do? And we were utilizing employees across the board, they were spending hours upon hours working in Excel documents. And I saw the opportunity to present to Gensuite a new module, and it took different pieces of the LMS systems and the modules that Gensuite already had implemented.
We took those different modules and pieces and built something that helped the business as a whole. And it helped to streamline these processes and improve efficiency and really develop and implement something that we could have utilized. So Gensuite, they not only heard what I had to say, but they valued it and supported it; they took that idea, they helped me run with it; we collaborated, we were very innovative on a lot of this.
To be back at conference in 2025 and to have this project under development status and to be about 10 weeks out from seeing the module in a demonstration mode is beyond exciting. And it’s something that I am very proud of, but I’m also proud of how Benchmark Gensuite subscriber community has supported not only myself, but the idea and the business side of it.
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From your experience, what makes for a strong and trusted partnership with an EHS software provider?
Gabi: I have had nothing but positive interactions. So being with the second company that has utilized Benchmark Gensuite, I’ve had several different representatives and support members that I’ve worked with and it’s been very rewarding. So each and every day, you know, if I reach out to someone in the Benchmark Gensuite community, they are constantly on top of things, they respond if they have questions, they come back to me, they’re very positive.
And I would say one thing that sets Benchmark Gensuite apart from any other platform or system is the people. It is the support, it’s the knowledge, it is the willingness to learn and adapt And be like, “Hey, you know, that is a different idea, but you know, we’ll take it back to the development team, or let me take it back to our SME and see if we can either one, modify your request and see if we can make it happen, or two, figure out a way that it will be implemented for us so that we can efficiently use the system as well”.
Learn how we foster a culture of collaborative innovation with our subscribers.
As someone supporting global operations, what do you see as the biggest advantage of a unified, all-in-one EHS platform?
Gabi: I constantly joke that I’m a salesperson for Gensuite. I am so tried and true in the experiences that I’ve had with Gensuite. Coming from a global company and moving to another global company and being an SME for over 42 plant sites and now supporting another global company, I cannot say enough positive things about Benchmark Gensuite and the experiences that I’ve had with them.
Not only are they streamlining processes, whether it be through LOTO or Training Tracker or through SDS, you know, they’re ensuring that we’re safe. You know, are we doing a JSA, are we, you know, getting contractors through contractor managers safely and efficiently so they can come perform work in jobs?
They have an overall system that doesn’t just focus on safety, but it focuses on sustainability and ESG and all these different modules that all come together into one system, one stop shop, because everything is built in. And that was part of why this project was so important and valuable to us, because when you have multiple systems, it’s not user friendly. So you have employees that are performing jobs day in and day out, and now we’re expecting them to go to this system for one item and this system for another item. When this idea was presented to Gensuite for this project, I was very, very hopeful that we were going to be able to implement this into Benchmark Gensuite so that we truly did deliver these results in the one area that we needed it.
I’m proud to be a part of the Benchmark subscriber community, knowing we’re equipped with the best tools to drive success and to keep our employees and teams safe.
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Final Reflections: Driving EHS Excellence Through Partnership and Unified Digital Solutions
Gabi Hurley’s experience demonstrates how a strong partnership with an EHS software provider can transform daily operations, drive collaboration, and create safer, more efficient workplaces. By combining unified digital tools with genuine human support and a willingness to innovate, EHS leaders can build systems that do more than track data—they can empower people and foster a culture of continuous improvement. Gabi’s journey is a powerful reminder that the future of EHS isn’t just digital—it’s most powerful when it’s built on people, partnership, and purpose.
