EcoOnline mega trends report: building operational readiness in an evolving risk landscape

Explore 18 months of data from business leaders and frontline workers to see how safety and sustainability programmes are evolving, where pressure points are rising, and what leaders are planning next. The EcoOnline Mega Trends Report outlines the seven shifts that show while compliance is still essential, it’s no longer the destination. Organisations are increasingly focused on connected risk data and vendor consolidation to strengthen operational readiness, improving visibility, accelerating decision-making, and supporting prevention at scale.

These trends are not theoretical. They show up in how organisations are investing, what the workforce expects, and how programmes are executed day to day. They also show up in EcoOnline’s 2025 momentum, with customer adoption, product innovation, and growth mirroring how organisations are moving beyond point solutions to connected capabilities to meet an evolving landscape of risk.

Table of contents

Click on a specific section below to navigate to that area:

• Mega trend 1: Compliance is the baseline, operational readiness is the goal
• Mega trend 2: Connected risk data and vendor consolidation are becoming the standard
• Mega trend 3: Chemical exposure is high, but strategy maturity lags
• Mega trend 4: A more distributed workforce raises the bar for lone worker and contractor management
• Mega trend 5: Workforce engagement is the make or break factor for transformation
• Mega trend 6: Software and consultancy are powering holistic change programmes
• Mega trend 7: Trust in safety AI depends on responsible roll-out

Mega trend 1: Compliance is the baseline, operational readiness is the goal

Compliance remains non-negotiable, but across EcoOnline’s research it’s increasingly treated as the starting point, not the goal for programme maturity. Organisations are building beyond compliance to strengthen operational readiness: improving operations visibility, acting earlier to reduce risk, and building the capability to respond when incidents, disruptions, or severe events occur. In other words, progress is no longer defined by whether a regulatory requirement is met; it’s defined by whether teams can prevent what’s preventable and manage what isn’t. That shift shows up clearly in the research:

• 0% of business leaders said they were waiting for California climate and sustainability laws before building a sustainability programme or team.
• 100% had begun preparing for EU CSRD compliance, even as deadlines have been pushed and aspects of requirements face potential revision.
• When organisations stop at compliance, leaders cite the biggest consequences as overlooked risks/avoidable incidents (59%), operational disruption (52%), reactive or ineffective decision-making (40%), and missed cost savings and productivity improvements (43%).

In 2025, EcoOnline’s momentum reflected this shift, welcoming 850+ new customers and delivering 40% growth in North America. That focus on preparedness was also reinforced by EcoOnline’s June 2025 acquisition of D4H for crisis and emergency management, with D4H software sales seeing 40% year on year (YoY) growth.

Mega trend 2: Connected risk data and vendor consolidation are becoming the standard

Risks are often connected across operations, but many organisations are still working with fragmented tools and disconnected data. The result is a clear push to simplify: fewer vendors, a more consistent user experience, and connected risk data that supports faster decision-making and stronger execution at the frontline. Without that connection, teams are left piecing together information across systems, which slows response, weakens oversight, and makes it harder to prevent repeat issues. The data indicates a consolidation-and-connection agenda:

• 52% of organisations still work with 4–5 safety and sustainability solution providers, yet 100% say they’re taking steps to connect data across sustainability, safety, and chemicals.
• Consolidation is driven by practical adoption outcomes: consistent user experience (59%), simplified support and training (47%), and ease of sharing data across applications (46%).
• 70% expect improved insights from connected safety and sustainability data to drive at least a 5% profitability boost.

In 2025, this transition away from point solutions was reinforced through the accelerated customer adoption of more than one solution within EcoOnline’s connected safety and sustainability suite, with both multiproduct Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and Annual Contract Value up 20% YoY as customers consolidated around connected approaches.

Mega trend 3: Chemical exposure is high, but strategy maturity lags

Chemical exposure remains a frontline reality in many industries, yet chemical risk strategies are often less mature than other programme areas. That maturity gap creates practical risk: inconsistent access to critical information, uneven controls, and slow progress on substitution. Too often, chemical management is treated as a static compliance task rather than an operational discipline embedded into everyday safety workflows, which makes it harder to standardise controls across sites and ensure workers have the right guidance at the point of use. The evidence highlights a clear mismatch between exposure and readiness:

• Fewer than 1 in 4 organisations report a mature approach to chemicals management; 38% are early-stage or have little in place.
• 44% of frontline employees say they are exposed to chemicals in their daily work.
• 40% do not have access to safety data sheets (SDS) via a QR code, and 39% say their company isn’t actively substituting hazardous chemicals for safer alternatives.

In 2025, demand for chemical risk maturity was reflected in EcoOnline results, with Chemical Manager growth in North America reaching 140% YoY. That momentum continued with the launch of Chemical Manager in Australia and New Zealand in January 2026, with plans to roll out to an additional 87 countries this year.

Next step to get ahead of this trend: Explore EcoOnline’s chemical safety capabilities for improving SDS access, substitution readiness, and chemical risk control.

Mega trend 4: A more distributed workforce raises the bar for lone worker and contractor management

Work is increasingly distributed across sites, shifts, contractors, and lone workers, increasing complexity and raising expectations for consistent oversight. This isn’t only a safety challenge; it’s an operational readiness requirement. Organisations need controls that travel with the world of work and connected visibility that makes third-party oversight practical rather than reactive. Crucially, the risk is already showing up in real incidents, underscoring why lone worker protection and contractor oversight are rising priorities:

• 35% of workers classify themselves as lone workers globally, and 46% of UK executives believe the number of lone workers in their organisations will rise over the next two to three years.
• 64% of organisations have experienced incidents involving lone workers in the past three years.
• The connected risk survey highlights “contractor + safety/compliance” as one of the most cited high-value connected data use cases, signalling growing priority for third-party risk oversight.

In 2025, EcoOnline’s customer adoption mirrored this shift, with lone worker software revenue up 30% YoY globally and ePermits’ sales growing 90% YoY following the global rollout of its digital permit-to-work software in October 2025.

Next step to get ahead of this trend: Explore demos from EcoOnline’s connected safety and sustainability suite, including Lone Worker and ePermits, built for risk controls that adjust to today’s workforce.

Mega trend 5: Workforce engagement is the make or break factor for transformation

Programmes don’t succeed on intent alone. Across EcoOnline’s research, workforce engagement is emerging as the make-or-break factor in whether transformation delivers real operational readiness. Connected systems can improve visibility, but only if the workforce uses them consistently, contributes quality information, and trusts that reporting leads to action. For many organisations, that means shifting from manual reporting to real-time insight into safety readiness on the frontline. Where worker engagement is weak, organisations fall back into reactive cycles: risk stays hidden, insights arrive too late, and corrective actions struggle to stick. The research shows both the scale of the challenge and the opportunity to shift from compliance activity to everyday execution:

• Workforce/user adoption of digital tools or resistance to change is cited by business leaders as the top barrier to achieving data maturity, and 76% cite workforce education as the top internal change needed to move from compliance to mature visibility.
• 38% of frontline employees say training has had the biggest impact on improving safety.
• 51% globally would prefer reporting via computer or mobile device, but only 34%
  currently do (dropping to 27% in the US).

In 2025, EcoOnline’s momentum echoed this engagement focus, with Training & Learning up 30% YoY in the UK and 40% growth in mobile reporting usage, showing the drive for real-time worker safety engagement.

Next step to get ahead of this trend: To understand what’s needed for employee buy-in, read EcoOnline’s Global Workplace Safety & Sustainability Report for the full frontline view on their experiences and expectations.

Mega trend 6: Software and consultancy are powering holistic change programmes

As organisations move beyond compliance and into operational readiness, many are realising this isn’t a tooling decision. It’s a change programme that touches data, governance, ways of working, and workforce adoption across sites and functions. That is why a blended delivery model is becoming more common: purpose-built software to standardise workflows and improve visibility, paired with specialist consulting expertise to accelerate implementation, de-risk transformation, and help change stick. The findings exemplify this shift clearly:

• In both surveys, CSRD Readiness (26%) and U.S. Sustainability Readiness (28%), partnering with a consultancy was cited as a top-three approach for meeting requirements and driving transformation.
• In EcoOnline’s latest connected risk research, some respondents said they’re approaching data integration via an external data analysis consultant.

In 2025, EcoOnline’s own partner ecosystem accelerated, adding 18 new partners and growing partner-driven ACV by 4X.

Next step to get ahead of this trend: Discover EcoOnline’s partner programme across four continents and the engagement models designed to drive stronger customer outcomes.

Mega trend 7: Trust in safety AI depends on responsible roll-out

AI is shifting from theory to trial in safety, but confidence remains conditional. The biggest question is not whether AI can help, but whether organisations can implement it responsibly without introducing new risks, cost, or confusion at the frontline. For many, trust hinges on governance, transparency, and whether AI strengthens judgement and consistency rather than automating accountability. Across EcoOnline’s research, the strongest caution comes from those closest to day-to-day risk in the field, while executives are more optimistic about AI’s potential, yet there is still a clear “get it right” mindset:

• Worker view: Only 21% of UK, Ireland and North America workers are fully convinced AI will improve workplace safety; 43% say it depends on implementation; 29% say no; 8% are unsure.
• Executive view: 38% are committed to deploying AI or say it’s already a key part of platforms and systems, while 62% have not yet committed, driven by 41% still evaluating adoption and cost, alongside 13% unlikely to use it soon and 8% unsure.

In 2025, EcoOnline’s purpose-built AI Assist functionality was launched in a phased rollout to customers, focusing initially on incident reporting and investigations while building a foundation for predictive, suite-wide safety intelligence planned for general availability in 2026.

Next step to get ahead of this trend: Book a demo to see how EcoOnline is developing AI to improve and scale safety expertise, without removing human judgement or accountability.

What the Mega Trends point to next

Across the EcoOnline Mega Trends, one conclusion stands out: compliance remains essential, but it’s increasingly treated as the baseline. The market is maturing from compliance to connected risk, and these trends reflect the shift early, before it becomes the default. The next phase is about connected risk management that strengthens operational readiness for the risks already emerging today, and the new ones still to come. Fewer, more connected systems can improve operations visibility and enable faster decision-making, but success will be defined by execution at the frontline. As the pace of change accelerates into 2026, particularly in the era of AI, EcoOnline’s priority will be building trusted, connected capabilities that improve visibility, readiness, and resilience.