Computers were invented in 1945, became widely used in business in the early 1990s, and are now essential to all walks of life.
Have you been thinking about incorporating management software to your computer to control your health and safety program? Questions abound: Is it too expensive? Is it too difficult for employees to run? Will it be too cumbersome to implement? These are some of the queries I am regularly asked.
Electronic health and safety management systems (SafetySync, EHSInsight, KellerOnline, etc.) are certainly not new but have been slow to gain a foothold in the business world. Even when used, their power is seldom fully utilized. This article has been written by a computer-challenged health and safety professional, not a computer geek or programmer, who has become a strong proponent of these platforms.
What will an electronic program do that my current, paper based, system will not?
An electronic system will:
- Most importantly, save the organization money. Expenditures are reduced because administrative duties (completing, reviewing, filing forms) are shared by all employees. These duties are also done more quickly, accurately and seamlessly with computer based programs.
- Increase “boots on the ground” time. Studies show that approximately 50% of a safety person’s job is spent on administrative duties. Keyboarding for 20 hours per week means less time on the shop floor, in the field, etc. A health and safety practitioner’s productivity is greatly hindered by being “chained to a desk” at the office.
- Modernize and streamline the process of developing and maintaining directive documents, tracking employee qualifications, accumulating and filing reports, disseminating reports, and understandably, presenting them to non-safety professionals, e.g., managers and supervisors.
- Increase the time spent on identifying improvement opportunities and assigning corrective actions since information is captured, analyzed and transferred to statistical graphs and charts in real time.
- Raise health and safety awareness and accountability for senior and middle managers, supervisors and workers through timely reports and statistics. Consequently, employees will become engaged in health and safety activities, which will build morale and compliance.
- Identify key performance indicators (KPIs), which enables the organization to become proactive rather than reactive in their decision making. Moreover, this helps to reduce risk, improve and measure performance, and provide evidence on where to make considered, fact-based decisions.
- Grow legislative and industry conformance by tracking and applying worker training as required.
- Reduce the effort required of front line supervisors and workers because information is captured, transferred and filed electronically. There is no need to write a report (inspection, hazard assessment, hazard ID, observation tour, etc.), send it to a manager/supervisor to review, and then forward it to the administrator for filing.
Negative aspects of implementing health and safety management software
- Some management platforms cost tens of thousands of dollars to develop and implement, which is out of touch with what most companies are willing to spend. Increased competitiveness in the delivery of these programs has greatly reduced fees to as little as $5.00 per month per employee.
- Employees are older and/or not technologically savvy; this is just an excuse. All employees, young or old, can be taught the basic skills needed to run these types of programs. Besides, computer skills are an essential component of most job positions; hence, additional training should be considered an asset rather than a liability.
- While it is true that setting up an electronic health and safety program can take a considerable amount of time, which translates into added cost, most platforms, however, have on-line or in-person training regimens so that you can set up your own program, or you can hire a professional to do it for you. The benefits of having an electronic program, as listed above, far outweigh the time spent to set them up.
Conclusion:
I encourage companies, large and small, new or established, to embrace changing technology as they do in other aspects of their business. You would not think to have your accountant work with a calculator and hand written spreadsheets, and you should not handcuff your health and safety professional(s) in the same manner.