As the cartoon suggests – being immersed in the pressures of making progress, you can miss the very thing that will make progress easier or the risks you might be taking trying to meet the progress imperatives.

Every so often it can be good to take a step back and look at your business to see how your processes are working – are they effective? Efficient? Economic?

Safety – something that everyone wants – is one of those vital items that can be shoved into the back seat by other priorities. But it is wise to remember that something going amiss with your safety processes can be devestating both personally and financially.

These 7 Questions will help you assess whether your safety processes are likely to be on track.

1. Do you communicate with your employees about safety?
2. Do your employees report safety problems or issues?
3. Are they encouraged to report safety problems?
4. Are regular safety inspections carried out in your workplace?
5. When problems or issues are identified, do they get fixed?
6. Do you make sure work is done safely?
7. Do you document and maintain records that enable you to demonstrate your safety program?

Answering “YES” to all these indicates that your safety systems are likely to be working well.

If there is a “NO” response then that issue may warrant a closer look and perhaps some correction.

It is probably a good idea to include these questions as one of your safety checklists to be scheduled for completion regularly – once or twice a year.

Checklists, of course, are a particularly useful tool for establishing the “state of play” in many specific circumstances. They are heavily used in WHS compliance management and auditing.

The Online WHS System includes the very powerful Checklist Builder enabling checklists to be:

1. Designed and constructed,
2. Distributed & scheduled for completion,
3. Signed off when done,
4. Stored and easily accessed to demonstrate your safety processes and
5. The starting point for corrective action.

The Online WHS Checklist Builder also connects with the Online WHS To Do List which offers employees their prioritised safety tasks (or any tasks) at the click of a single icon.

Check out the video about the Checklist Builder.

For a full, obligation-free, online demonstration of the Online WHS System, click the green Book A Demonstration button at the top right of this page – or any page on our website.