Contractor Safety Challenge #3:
Limited transparency into safety performance
Paper and spreadsheet-based Control of Work methods could also limit transparency into your organisation’s safety performance.
1. Risk management
2. Permit-to-Work
3. Isolations management
Let’s look at an example from each aspect of your Control of Work processes:
Risk Management
When all risk assessments are conducted on paper, it can be hard to carry out specific types of analysis to gain full transparency into your safety status. For instance, how many RAMs were submitted and at what locations? How many have been submitted by contractors?
A digital platform can allow you to gain insight into RAMs by status, location and contractor. You can also easily see the status of each including, how many are awaiting approval and how many need revisions.
Permit-to-Work
Within your Permit-to-Work processes, it can be extremely difficult to locate certain information when using paper or Excel spreadsheets. A digital system can help you analyse performance in terms of your Permit-to-Work processes, such as how many permits were suspended or expired before being closed, how many incidents occurred related to work being carried out under a permit, and more. Utilise customisable dashboards to gain valuable insight into the effectiveness of your Permit-to-Work processes and any deficiencies that may be present.
Isolations Management
Do you know the status of all machine lockouts in your current site or across multiple sites? How about the most common incidents related to machinery on site? What were the causes of these incidents? It’s vital to have such real-time information at your fingertips to create a safer work environment for your employees. Paper-based systems give you little insight into such information, making it harder for you to gain the insight you need to protect your people.
Competency management
Performance in this area is measured by what training and credentials are in date, what’s expired, pass rates of courses, and performance of instructors and employees, as well as through monitoring training-related findings in audits and investigations. This can easily be checked within a digital system as all the information is logged in one place for you to see, rather than sifting through piles of folders or spreadsheets. If something is out of date, you can quickly take the steps needed to rectify it.
With a digital solution, certain organisations have discovered, for example, that some incidents are connected to employees who have been with the organisation for less than a year. With this information, they have been able to increase training sessions for such individuals.
Your Solution to this Challenge
A robust digital system can give you the transparency you need to better understand your organisation’s Control of Work strengths and weaknesses. All you have to do is put the data into the system and establish what the right data or performance indicators are for your business. Once these are decided, you can begin to build customised dashboards to gain greater insight into your safety performance.
Let's take a look at St. George’s University Hospital, home to a staff of over 9,000 people who provide healthcare services to about 1.3 million people in Southwest London, as an example.
A lack of visibility of who was on site as well as their reasons for being there, was one of this hospital's main challenges. They were also unable to effectively manage simultaneous work or SIMOPs that may be occurring at the facility.
With the help of EcoOnline’s Permit-To-Work solution, St. George’s Hospital gained complete transparency into what was happening within the hospital with a digital portfolio of contractors and permits. This way they easily ensured compliance with safety regulations, with a record of all permits which have been submitted.
“Data input is so simple,” said a hospital representative. “With a straight-forward interface we can now enter a new company with ease and their permit submissions are easily managed under that company.”
They can also ensure that all contractors are identifiable and have the right credentials, risk assessments and method statements (RAMs), and insurance to be at the hospital to complete their assigned tasks.
“The beauty of the system is how instantly you can review permits. If a person is seen on site, and they are questioned about what they are there to do, and they haven’t got an issued permit, they are removed from the site. This protects us and them.”
Because of a digital Permit-to-Work system, St. George’s University Hospital has seen a reduction in potential risks to staff and patients, as well as an increase in productivity.
Read more about St. George’s University Hospital story in this case study