Written by Louise Perryman, Sales and Marketing Director at Elmstone Systems – experts in producing H&S software
In the manufacturing sector in the past five years, an average of 31 workers died in workplaceaccidents annually; there was an average of more than 4,500 reports of major injuries, and about 19,500 of injuries that kept workers away from work three days or more. Many manufacturing workers also suffer ill-health from workplace exposures. (Figures from www.hse.gov.uk)
Many medium sized manufacturing companies have not yet introduced computerised Health and Safety systems to help them keep pace with the ever increasing workload. It’s not that they are lagging behind other industries – the majority of businesses in the UK today operate in relatively low risk environments – but manufacturing has to cope with a host of hazardous activities as part of its day to day operations. Cloud based or SaaS Systems lend a hand with this by offering an easy-to-use set of applications that can be securely used anywhere with an internet connection and access to a browser. Elmstone System’s Mirashare product with its Online Risk Assessments, Audits, Incidents and Accidents& Action Tracking modules offers an efficient and uncomplicated way of keepingon top of compliance, reducing the likelihood of injury, legal costs and lost working time. This is supplemented by Learnbubble, an online learning platform or LMS where specifically tailored courses can be created, delivered, marked and recorded.
The benefits of upgrading to a well designed and user-friendly electronic system from a paper based/spreadsheet system are many. If you implement such a system, generally you will find:
- You no longer have to duplicate paperwork
- You DON’T have to spend hours chasing people for updates
- You save considerable amounts of administrative time
- Documents, pictures, statements don’t get mislaid – they are in the system
- You are better placed in the case of litigation because of the records you have kept
- A Cloud based system is available anywhere, anytime.
- You DON’T have to worry about version control on Risk Assessments
- Incidents and Near misses will be quickly notified to the appropriate persons
- You may be able to get a reduction in your insurance premiums
Of course computer systems alone cannot achieve a culture change, but a good Health and Safety application is an enabler, a catalyst for change and Mirashare offers that opportunity to manufacturing organisations. The importance of fostering a health and safety culture cannot be overstated; this video was produced by a client who has gone a long way down that path:
(Mirashare features at 1:19)
Mirashare supports organisations that strive for continuous improvement by providing the metrics which ensure they are focusing on the right areas. Accidents and near miss analysis can be carried out in real time and once those areas for improvement are identified, the integrated Action Tracking module will ensure the actions aren’t forgotten (Many organisations using paper based methods report that non-completion of assigned actions is a real issue for them). The Audit module is perfect for recording internal and external audits, observations and actions relating to ISO standards such as ISO9001, ISO14001 and OHSAS18001– again all the relevant documents are stored with the audit.
Mirashare also enables anyone authorised to see the current risk assessments. For new or changed RAs they will be taken through a ‘training’ process online to ensure they sign to confirm they have read and understood the new RA. Introducing this enhancement at one site meant that the time saved compared with the old method of getting everyone together to go through the RA face-to-face more than paid for the cost of Mirashare.
Manufacturing organisations implementing a Mirashare type solution should benefit from reduced legal and insurance costs, time savings - ‘doing more for less’ , greatly improved management reporting and metrics and, most importantly, should be able to drive down their accident/incident rates and lost time.
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