Modern business can be complex. Regulations – though often covering very important, even critical, aspects of business – can be a nightmare.
Safety is one critical business process where the regulations are incredibly important and are often seen as burdensome. Business owners and managers want workplaces that are safe for all involved – workers, contractors, customers. But they also want – need – to get on with doing business.
Satisfying the need to deliver a safe environment in a way that demonstrates compliance is something of a juggling act. I’ve heard some managers say “We’d be much better off if we didn’t have to spend so much time doing all the compliance work … “.
To some extent they are right. But the fact is that if something happens in your workplace and you cannot demonstrate that you have taken appropriate action to minimise the risk of that event – well, you could be in trouble. Big trouble.
Simply avoiding the drudgery of compliance is NOT the answer. The answer is in making those requirements work for you.
That means building as much automation as possible into your safety compliance management system.
Here are 10 great reasons for automating your compliance.
Allows You To Focus On Running The Business
You are in business – or managing a business – for the singular purpose of making that business a success. Your obligation to provide a safe and healthy workplace can never be abdicated, but processes can be implemented that allow those obligations to be met without hampering the focus on the primary purpose of your business. Automating those processes is instrumental in achieving this state.
Encourages Greater Productivity
Just as your focus is making the business successful, your team should be efficiently and effectively implementing the tactics and strategies developed for the business. It is important to create an environment where your workers are able to utilise their skills and abilities for the purpose(s) they were employed. Having confidence that their work environment is safe and healthy is an important part of the environment. An automated safety compliance system builds confidence.
Reduces The Risk Of Human Error
Being human is to make mistakes. We know errors will happen. Every time a process eliminates human intervention the risk of error is reduced. That is not to say that all human intervention should be eliminated but a good place to start is with anything that doesn’t require discretion.
Increases The Effectiveness Of Your Program
Effectiveness is all about producing the outcome(s) you want. With a safety program, many think the key outcome is to have zero incidents. Though really your main goal is to have a workplace where risk is mitigated to a minimum. That is, the effectiveness of your safety system is measured not by the number of incidents but by how well the system mitigates risk.
Saves Time and Money
Throughout the history of modern business automated processes have expanded their reach. There is a very simple reason for this: automated processes save resources. Automating safety compliance processes will undoubtedly create savings in time and money, resources that can be applied to more strategic and innovative approaches to safety – or to the “bottom line” of the business.
Assists With Raising Awareness & Building A Safety Culture
Organisational culture is all about how we do things around here. When the consideration of safety is central to how things get done, you have the makings of a culture of safety. Automation of safety compliance drives organisations towards a safety culture in two ways.
- Automated alerts and reminders continually place safety related actions at the top of mind of your team members.
- The automation converts time spent on administrative actions into time available for creating safer processes.
The Online WHS System introduces a third powerful component in the drive to a safety culture – the System is designed to be actively accessed and used by all employees of an enterprise – everyone in the business therefore “owns” some part of the safety system.
Greater Reliability And Accessibility For Your Records
Automation reduces the potential for human error. Sure, there is a high dependence on the accuracy of information entering the System but that is only a single point of potential failure. Automation reduces the number of places where errors can be made or items simply overlooked or forgotten. Furthermore records that are maintained within a cloud-based automated system are difficult to lose – and they can’t be left on a train, or chewed by the dog.
Reduction In Waste
Waste is a big killer for any business. If your safety system makes heavy use of administrative resources or you find yourself needing to do re-do tasks or you are chasing up things too much, then automation of your safety will make a huge difference.
More Accountability
An good automated system logs the activities of the users and the actions taken. This means you will know when you can cheer your team members for their achievements or provide them with guidance or counselling.
A Safer Work Environment
All this work boils down to a single fact: when you’re making less errors, when your team is more engaged with safety processes, when those processes become more efficient, when your information is less prone to corruption, when your safety communications are more timely and responsive, and everyone knows their accountabilities – your work environment will be, simply, safer and your business will be on a platform for even greater success. Automation can achieve this.
Automating the simplest processes can be time-consuming, costly and difficult. And safety compliance has many components, it is not a single simple process. But there is no need to even try to create your own system. There are a number of software programs available that can do this for you.
The Online WHS System is one such system – Online WHS on this site was developed and built by Phil Bamford who understands, through experience, exactly what is needed to make sure your safety obligations are covered while allowing you to get on with running your business. Users of Online WHS regularly praise the System for it being comprehensive yet easy to use … and its affordable pricing structure.
If you would like an obligation-free online demonstration of The Online WHS System, click on the green Book A Demonstration button at the top right of this page. The demonstration will take around 30 minutes.