Workplace accidents and fatalities are a common occurrence, but many safety incidents could have been avoided through improved training management, accurate data reporting, internal audits, and generating a culture of safety within an organization.
The American Society of Safety Engineers has published a great, unbiased article titled “Technically Safe: Gaining 360◦ Visibility with Technology” by Peter Thiveos. The article addresses the key components of a successful safety management program, business rules and practical solutions, the value of designating a safety champion, and the benefits of using technology to improve an organization’s safety performance.
Mr. Thiveos speaks to the need for a comprehensive system that addresses multiple facets including; training and certification management, incident and observation management, records and document management, risk assessment, monitoring and audit management, and corrective action management. “While all these systems have inherent benefits independently, collectively they provide unparalleled functionality and improvements in managing, compiling and reporting on an organization’s overall safety status and SH&E governance,” Peter Thiveos.
Intelex clients’ Metso Minerals and Ferro Corporation are excellent examples of corporations that have actively generated a culture of safety consciousness across their organizations. One of the contributing factors to Metso Minerals’ success was their safety champion Chris Adkins. Mr. Adkins spear headed the implementation of the Intelex Safety Management System and communicated Metso Minerals’ safety program across the company. “With the Safety Management System now operational Metso Supervisors and managers can manage safety documents, report employee incidents and draw upon continuously updated best practice guidelines from Metso operations worldwide … Part of my role is to create standard practices that are equal in every region. With verifiable results I can help protect and maximize the potential of Metso’s greatest resource, our employees.” Chris Adkins – Global Health & Safety Specialist.
Ferro Corporation’s Systems and Development Manager Art Plow is also their safety champion. In a recent case study, Art described Intelex as “an integral part of Ferro’s world-wide Safe From Within Program and as a critical piece of our [Ferro’s] larger effort to send all of our 6,500 employees home safely to their families at the end of the day, in some 17 time zones around the world.” By using Intelex Safety Management Software to track all safety-related data and documentation in real-time, Ferro has been able to accurately measure their success in terms of improving their safety performance organization-wide.
Although safety management systems require an initial investment, the return-on-invest is quickly recovered through improved operating efficiency and a reduction in environment, health, and safety incidents. This sentiment is echoed by Peter Thiveos in the aforementioned article, “In light of today’s nation and global economic condition, organizations need to understand that technology innovation and automation is one of the best ways to identify additional cost savings in their operations. Companies should always spend on effective technology-and, in the author’s opinion, they should spend more in a downturned economy.”
Learn more about how the Intelex’s Safety Management Software can help your organization improve its safety performance.
