Control of Work Challenge #1:
Time-consuming, manual processes
One of the most common challenges when it comes to Control of Work is slow and manual processes, particularly if you are using Excel or paper-based systems.
This can be found in all four aspects:
Risk management
Within your risk assessment processes several manual processes can be found including manually filling out forms. This might be especially cumbersome for employees who may experience pencil whipping to get the job done.
These assessments could then go through multiple stakeholder reviews. By the time each person looks at it (and finds it on their desk), the information may be stale, and the hazard is still present, putting your employees at risk.
Once the forms are checked, data then needs to be entered manually (often into an Excel spreadsheet), which could be prone to human error. And that’s just one location! Imagine you’re in charge of multiple sites. The amount of work would be overwhelming with little to no transparency into your total safety performance.
This slow, manual process is ineffective and not conducive to a safe workplace.
Permit-to-Work
Slow and manual processes are often found within your Permit-to-Work procedure, as a record of all employee and external contractor permits, training, and more, need to be kept up to date. This is usually done through spreadsheets or folders with the necessary documents, but this can be hard to keep track of. How will you know when a permit has expired? How can you quickly find out who’s completed the necessary training? Will you be able to easily access and share employee permits if requested?
Not to mention the process of issuing and approving the permits themselves. If done manually, this can take a great deal of time and create an administrative burden on your team.
Isolations management
Lockout tagout or isolation management procedures can also involve manual processes, leading to greater operational inefficiency. There are several steps involved in this process, including preparing the equipment for shutdown where the employee might need the machinery’s manual to locate all power sources. This may waste time as you may need time to locate the manual.
You must notify all employees before shutting down the machine and let them know again once it has been turned on. Other manual processes include recording that you have successfully completed the procedure, so the machine, status, employee, time and other valuable information can be tracked. Imagine you have multiple machines across multiple sites. How will you be aware of the status of each?
Such time-consuming processes can truly do you a disservice when working with dangerous equipment.
Competency Management
Competency management has also traditionally been done using Excel spreadsheets for both employees and contractors. Imagine having to keep track of all the training and competencies of hundreds of employees and contractors on multiple sites. Not only does the information have to be documented, but it also must be maintained and kept up to date. This can be extremely time-consuming using paper or Excel spreadsheets, as you must stay on top of all training requirements, expiration dates, missing credentials, and so much more!
It’s important to note that recording such information using manual processes does not always make it easily accessible. At times, employers need to prove that specific training was offered and completed by employees, and this can be extremely hard to do when the information is buried in several spreadsheets or folders.
Your Solution to this Challenge
So, how can you overcome time-consuming, manual processes? Having a digital system in place that integrates with others can help streamline these manual processes. Here’s how:
Risk management
Managing risk within your organisation can be streamlined with the help of a digital system which centralises all your task-based risk assessments, point-of-work risk assessments for internal employees, and more. Digitisation allows for contractors and employees to efficiently and quickly submit their risk assessments to be reviewed before the Permit-to-Work stage begins.
With a digital system you can also easily create new forms and edit existing ones, based on new conditions. A digital system can streamline this process and help you easily communicate updated forms within your organisation.
Permit-to-Work
Simplify the permit-to-work process by having the ability to digitally create and manage permits within one system, helping you gain greater transparency. Set notifications for expiry dates and revisions, so you can ensure your team is always compliant.
This also makes it much easier to grant others access to permits, giving them greater visibility and allowing you to find the permit you need in seconds. Many times, workers can be asked to show their permits on-site, and they may not have them handy. This helps solve that problem, allowing you to avoid hefty fines.
A digitised system can also help you more efficiently go back and forth between who’s issuing the permit and the employee or contractor. Multi-sign-off workflows and digital signatures can help confirm all key stakeholders have assessed and understood all relevant procedures, for example.
Isolations management
Going digital can provide an audit trail so you can make sure lockout/tagout procedures are in place, as part of the Permit-to-Work safety precautions checklist. This is extremely valuable because it can help you identify the root cause of any incident or accident that may have occurred.
Digitising this process can also allow employees or contractors to upload photos as evidence of equipment which has been properly locked and tagged out. This is a key part of the process which you can refer to in case of an incident or near miss.
Competency Management
A digital system can also make it easier to manage all employee and contractor training, competencies, and more. With so many employees and external contractors, it can be hard to stay on top of who has completed what training, at what time. Not to mention when each of these will expire.
Gain complete transparency into this information and easily create and pull up employee profiles to get the information you need quickly. A digital system can also help you set up automated notifications to alert you of upcoming expiry dates so you can stay ahead of all requirements. Creating a safe place to work by making sure your employees are properly vetted and qualified to do their jobs has never been easier.