The top consulting firms for environment, health and safety (EHS)

09 December 2019 Consultancy.org

New research among senior executives from 30+ countries has identified the globe’s leading consulting firms for environment, health and safety services. 

The study by independent research firm Verdantix surveyed 400+ senior executives in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific working in the environment, health and safety (EHS) landscape, with eight out of ten respondents working for corporations with revenues greater than $1 billion. 

Leaders were asked one essential question: which EHS consultancy has the strongest capabilities in the market? Analysis of the data reveals that four firms score top of mind: Dupont Sustainable Solutions (DSS), AECOM, ERM and Jacobs, with DSS edging out its rivals to take the top spot for the third consecutive year. 

Nearly half of all respondents (48%) ranked Dupont Sustainable Solutions the strongest-capability EHS consultancy firm, compared to 39% for AECOM and 24% for both ERM and Jacobs. Headquartered in Switzerland, DuPont Sustainable Solutions is formerly the consulting arm of conglomerate DuPont, but following its split in September last year the Geneva-headquartered firm operates independently. 

The top consulting firms for environment, health and safety (EHS)

Speaking of the top recognition, Davide Vassallo, chief executive officer of DuPont Sustainable Solutions said, “This distinction is testament to the commitment each employee at DSS demonstrates every day to improve the safety, operational performance and workforce capability of our clients’ organisations. We are grateful for the confidence our clients continue to place in us.” 

With revenues of over $20 billion, AECOM is one of the globe’s largest consulting engineering companies, and it serves the environment, health and safety market through a number of service lines. London-headquartered ERM has more than 5,500 consultants and staff in over 40 countries, while the much larger Jacobs employs some 52,000 people across 50 countries globally.

Rounding off the top ten are UK-based public safety specialist Lloyd's Register, Netherlands-headquartered engineering consultancy Arcadis, American hazardous waste expert Clean Harbors, 500-strong safety consultancy DEKRA Insight and Danish-origin engineering firm Rambol. 

Other consulting firms recognised by clients as leading environment, health and safety providers include GHD Environment, Stantec, Golder, WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, Amec Foster Wheeler / Wood Group, Tetra Tech Antea Group, Trinity Consultants, Huco Consulting and Langan.

EHS consulting market

According to an estimate by an analyst firm, the market for environment, health and safety consultancy services is worth around $5 billion today, with three sectors – energy & utilities, chemicals and construction – accounting for more than half of total revenues. Strong growth is forecasted for the coming two years, and as a result, in 2021 the EHS consulting industry is expected to breach the $7 billion barrier.