Driving Engagement and Insight: How Long-Term Partnership Strengthens EHS Programs
For Sarah Joyner, Director of EHS for the Industrial Technology Group at HEICO, building an effective safety program is about creating a culture where employees are engaged and equipped to identify risk in their day-to-day work. But in manufacturing environments where serious injuries and operational complexity remain top challenges and priorities for safety teams, maintaining that level of engagement requires more than processes alone.
With over a decade of experience working alongside Benchmark Gensuite, Sarah has seen how the right combination of technology, support, and collaboration can shape how safety programs evolve over time. From using AI to better evaluate potential serious injuries to relying on real-time insights through scorecards and compliance tracking, her team has integrated these tools into the way they operate.
Key Takeaways from Sarah Joyner for Strengthening EHS Programs
- Engagement drives visibility: Building a strong safety culture depends on empowering employees to act as active participants in identifying risks across daily operations.
- Long-term partnerships shape success: Consistent collaboration and responsive support help organizations evolve their EHS programs with confidence over time.
- Data provides direction: Tools like scorecards and compliance tracking give leaders clear insight into performance, helping teams stay aligned and accountable.
- AI enhances decision-making: Leveraging AI to evaluate incidents and potential severity helps teams rethink risk and uncover insights they might otherwise miss.
What are some of the EHS challenges your peers are facing today?
Sarah: We’re always challenged with increasing employee engagement and creating stronger teams out in our shops, getting people more involved and making sure they act as the eyes and ears of EHS throughout the plant.
Ergonomics is also a key risk area for us. We’ve had several recent cases of hand injuries and similar incidents that we’re continuing to address.
You’ve worked with Benchmark Gensuite for many years—what has stood out to you over time as the platform has evolved?
Sarah: Since 2009. HEICO was the first non-GE company to choose Benchmark Gensuite.
I really appreciate that the team is always innovating and trying to take things to the next level—whether that’s incorporating AI or exploring new capabilities. I’m excited to be here at the IMPACT conference to learn more about what’s coming next.
Discover why collaborative innovation is the key to real EHS improvements
How do you use your EHS platform to stay aligned on performance across different teams and operations?
Sarah: I look at the applications from a high-level perspective, across the company or business segment, to understand where we are, where we need to be, and where we might be lagging behind. I’m also tracking open items that need to be closed, or whether we’re falling behind on things like the Compliance Calendar.
We rely heavily on the Compliance Calendar and our Monthly Scorecard. We have a customized Monthly Scorecard built specifically for HEICO, and it’s a very important tool for our management team. It helps us understand how our businesses are performing and whether they’re meeting the metrics we’ve defined as leading indicators.
We still track lagging indicators as well, but we’re always reevaluating which metrics best demonstrate that we’re improving employee engagement and strengthening our safety culture.
How would you describe adoption and engagement of an EHS platform across your workforce?
Sarah: We’ve been Benchmark users for so long that it’s really become part of our culture, it’s like an extension of our team.
At the same time, we’re always onboarding new employees. I work closely with our main Benchmark admin, Jennifer Evans, to help get people trained and up to speed.
Everyone has a different level of comfort with technology. Some people pick it up right away, while others need more time. But for those who are more comfortable, they’ll take advantage of resources like Benchmark University and jump into additional training opportunities.
Learn how we make implementation and onboarding easy for users all around the world.
What does your relationship with your EHS software provider look like in practice?
Sarah: Lately, we’ve had great success working with Jenna Boyer, who is our main interface with Gensuite.
We truly view Benchmark Gensuite as a partner—it’s crucial. I can’t imagine not having a partner like Benchmark to support our data tracking and management.
What excites you most about the role of AI in EHS?
Sarah: We’ve had a strong partnership with Benchmark, and we were one of the first companies to use the AI assistant for incidents—specifically for pSIF, to help identify whether something could be a potentially serious injury.
That tool has been great for us. I’m interested to see how agent-driven AI will continue to make things easier.
It’s been an interesting process because it surfaces scenarios you might not have considered. The system shows examples where a simple incident turned into something much more serious, and it makes you think about incidents differently. That’s been very helpful.
Discover how HEICO uses PSI AI Advisor to improve SIF prevention.
Final Reflections: Building Safety into the Way Work Happens
At its core, Sarah’s experience reflects an important shift: safety is most effective when it becomes part of how people operate every day. With the right support in place, teams gain clearer visibility into their data and a better understanding of how to evaluate risk. This allows organizations to move beyond compliance and adopt a more engaged, proactive approach. As EHS programs grow more complex, this kind of alignment helps teams make more confident decisions and continue improving over time.
