EHS Research Report: Data behind Visitor Safety, Audits, & Visibility

EHS Professionals Are Taking on More Risk & Accountability

Across industries, organizations are managing more contractors, vendors, and service providers while navigating increasing regulatory scrutiny and more complex workplace operations. As a result, EHS professionals are being asked to take greater responsibility for people who are not traditional employees—but may still create significant safety and compliance exposure. The survey findings suggest that responsibility is growing faster than operational visibility and process maturity.

+55%
of respondents report being held accountable for visitor-related safety or compliance issues at least monthly,

26%
say their held accountable for visitor-related safety or compliance issuesit happens weekly.

Tracking Visitors Is Fragmented & Inconsistent

Despite growing pressure on EHS professionals to improve accountability and emergency preparedness, many organizations still rely on outdated or inconsistent methods for tracking nonemployees on-site. This visibility gap emerged as one of the strongest themes throughout the survey.

40% of respondents said their organizations still rely on paper logbooks or sign-in sheets,
25% reported using dedicated visitor management software.
22% said they have no consistent tracking process at all.

One respondent noted, “There isn’t really a good method. Most visitors are escorted by the host.”

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Communication Gaps Exist for NonEmployee

Respondents also reported differences in how quickly they can reach various groups during emergencies.

45% of respondents report being able to contact full-time employees within five minutes during an emergency,
24% say they can reliably reach part-time or temporary workers,
21% report the same capability for contractors, visitors, and delivery personnel.

The findings suggest non-employees may remain harder to contact during emergencies, particularly when organizations rely on disconnected systems or manual processes.

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Weak Visibility Creates Audit & Regulatory Risk

The most cited issues involve workplace safety violations and failures related to emergency or hazard procedures.

More than one-third (35%) of respondents report receiving citations, warnings, or fines related to non-employees within the past three years.

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EHS Professionals Are Taking on More Risk & Accountability

+55%
of respondents report being held accountable for visitor-related safety or compliance issues at least monthly,

26%
say their held accountable for visitor-related safety or compliance issuesit happens weekly.

Tracking Visitors Is Fragmented & Inconsistent

40% of respondents said their organizations still rely on paper logbooks or sign-in sheets,
25% reported using dedicated visitor management software.
22% said they have no consistent tracking process at all.

One respondent noted, “There isn’t really a good method. Most visitors are escorted by the host.”

Learn More

Communication Gaps Exist for NonEmployee

Respondents also reported differences in how quickly they can reach various groups during emergencies.

45% of respondents report being able to contact full-time employees within five minutes during an emergency,
24% say they can reliably reach part-time or temporary workers,
21% report the same capability for contractors, visitors, and delivery personnel.

The findings suggest non-employees may remain harder to contact during emergencies, particularly when organizations rely on disconnected systems or manual processes.

Learn More

Weak Visibility Creates Audit & Regulatory Risk

The most cited issues involve workplace safety violations and failures related to emergency or hazard procedures.

More than one-third (35%) of respondents report receiving citations, warnings, or fines related to non-employees within the past three years.

Learn More

EHS Professionals Are Owning More Risk

More than half of EHS professionals (55%) are held accountable for visitor-related safety or compliance issues at least monthly. The report digs into why that accountability keeps outpacing their actual authority. And it looks at the day-to-day manual work quietly driving that gap.

On Site Visibility Is The Biggest Gap Right Now

Most organizations think they know who's on-site. The report reveals that 40% still rely on a paper logbook to track it. The findings showcase how both processes and organizational barriers are significant contributors to achieving real-time on site visibility.

Challenges in Safety, Emergency Readiness & Accountability

The results suggest many struggle to quickly confirm who is safely accounted for during high-pressure situations. Safety onboarding remains inconsistent and 64% of organizations depend on hosts to account for non-employees during an emergency.

Visitor Management Gaps Also Increase Audit & Regulatory Risk

It creates real regulatory exposure, with more than one-third of respondents citing action tied to non-employees. The report breaks down how that risk connects back to the same root cause running through every other gap.

Insights on Safety, Compliance, & Visibility from 100+ EHS Professionals

Get the full report and insights conducted in partnership with EHSLeaders, the “EHS at the Front Door” survey gathered insights from over 100 EHS professionals to understand the growing disconnect between responsibility and operational control in visitor management and safety programs.

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55%

of respondents report being held accountable for visitor-related safety or compliance issues at least monthly

40%

of facilities still rely on paper logbooks or sign-in sheets for their visitor management process

64%

say only hosts are responsible for accounting for their guests during an emergency

45%

report experiencing safety incidents or compliance issues involving non-employees within the past 12 months.

Why do gaps appear in programs that already have strong policies?

Audits and near-misses tend to expose a gap between what a safety program intends and what its systems can actually enforce. Documented policies are usually sound. The variation comes from manual processes and disconnected systems that produce different outcomes depending on site, shift, and staffing. The guide shows where that variation appears at each stage.

How was the survey conducted?

The “EHS at the Front Door” survey from FacilityOS and EHSLeaders was launched in March 2026 and gathered responses from 114 EHS professionals across various industries, including manufacturing, chemicals, construction, utilities, warehousing, transportation, and health services. All percentages in this report have been rounded to the nearest whole percent.

What's included beyond the analysis?

Each stage includes a self-diagnostic, a side-by-side comparison of manual versus systematic processes, and named case studies from facilities including Litehouse, Valmet, Ingersoll Rand, and SMTC Corporation. The guide closes with a gap score card you can use to map your own program across all four stages.