The Data Collection Components of a Safety Management System

The scope and maturity of a safety management system (SMS) to manage safety risk in the workplace varies by industry type, location and company because some are more regulated than others and that dictates the level of maturity and robustness a system requires. However, there are common components every SMS has, including:

Incident Reporting to capture, track, investigate and report on all incidents and near-misses, including injuries and illnesses, spills, property damage and vehicle incidents.

Audit Management that includes scheduling, tracking, data collection and reporting for all internal or external audits to simplify and ensure compliance across all company locations and operating jurisdictions.

Document Control that improves document management across the complete lifecycle of an organization’s compliance efforts and activities. It’s important to control access to sensitive files, forms and reports while preventing errors, reducing risk and improving visibility.

Training Management that makes it easy to plan and track EHS training for a global workforce. Worker education and training is critical to building a robust and resilient health and safety culture while staying on top of diverse and always evolving industry regulations.

Regulatory Compliance which means adhering to key EHS regulations/directives and being able to prove it to the appropriate regulatory entities. This involves understanding the standards and regulations applicable to your industry and operating locations, collecting, analyzing and reporting all required data and proving compliance through inspections and audits.

The Data Collection Components of Safety Management Systems

SMSs report essential business information, ensure compliance requirements, help to manage risks and improve operational performance. Below is an overview of key SMS components and the types of data that each uses to create insights.

Safety Audit

Safety audits are a staple of SMS and performed to measure the effectiveness of occupational health and safety programs as well as identify deficiencies. During an audit, an organization would evaluate its safety controls, assess whether employees follow safety processes, gauge equipment performance and operations, measure best practices and validate recordkeeping.

Information collected during an audit identifies hazards, assesses the effectiveness of safety measures to control those hazards, and determines whether an organization complies with OSHA requirements. Safety audit data sources include:

• Incident reports
• Equipment inspections
• Safety training completion reports
• Documented work practices
• Equipment inspection reports

Regulatory Compliance

OSHA standards provide specific environmental guidelines and limits for the utilization of safety practices, equipment and tools by employers to protect employees from workplace hazards. OSHA standards apply to a wide range of industries and to most worksites. These include:

• Fall protection requirements
• Trenching cave-ins protections
• Infectious diseases protections
• Confined spaces safety
• Harmful substances exposure prevention
• Machine guarding
• Safety equipment
• Dangerous jobs training

Data requirements for OSHA regulatory compliance include records of serious work-related injuries and illnesses. According to OSHA, these records must be maintained at a worksite for at least five years. Each February through April, employers must post a summary of the injuries and illnesses recorded in the previous year. Also, if requested, copies of records must be provided to current and former employees, or their representatives.

Incident Reporting

Safety Management Systems facilitate incident data collection through intuitive forms, simplified templates and auto-filled fields. Mobile applications in use by many organizations allow users to report incidents in real time and upload things like photographs and documents directly to a single centralized location. Data requirements for an incident report include incident types (injury, near miss, property damage or theft); the incident date, time, location and individuals affected; plus, a description of the incident including the sequence of events and results.

Root Cause Analysis

To resolve the underlying factors and conditions that pose hazards and may have led to an incident, it’s necessary to understand the root cause. Root cause analysis is essentially problem solving. The tools of SMSs provide the means to an end of workplace hazards and incidents using collected data that’s analyzed and evaluated to ultimately reveal concerning trends, which can then be corrected.

Compatibility with and accessibility to other systems and data is vital to root cause analysis as teams across an organization need to share and coordinate on examining reoccurring and costly incidents. Check out Intelex’s Health and Safety Management Software that makes it easy to manage your organization’s health and safety program.

Reporting and Analytics

Reporting and analytics bring order to difficult-to-comprehend data. Traditionally, data collection and information analysis often involved painstaking manual and time-consuming effort, which often resulted in reports created from out-of-date data. Modern SMSs that utilize technology to maintain ongoing dashboards and reports keep the story current by leveraging real-time data.

An integrated health and safety management system taps into safety processes, training status, compliance requirements, hazard data and incidents from a centralized source. That provides up-to-the-minute, accurate data, and combined with analytics, spot early-warning hazard signs, identifies important trends and monitors incidents. Safety data sources include health and safety efforts, audits, investigations and incidents.

FAQs about Safety Management Systems

How does the safety management system integrate with other existing business systems within our organization, and is there an established process for seamless data sharing across these platforms?

The safety management system is designed to work in harmony with a variety of business systems that are commonly used within organizations. It features robust integration capabilities that allow it to connect with HR software, production management systems, quality management systems, and more. This integration is facilitated through APIs and customizable data import/export options, ensuring that data can flow smoothly between systems, thus enhancing visibility and decision-making across departments. The goal is to create a cohesive ecosystem where information is readily available and actionable without the need for cumbersome manual data entry or reconciliation.

Can the safety management system be customized to align with our company’s unique processes and requirements, and how does it accommodate scalability in the event of organizational growth or changes?

Customization and scalability are core features of our safety management system. We understand that each organization has its own set of processes and requirements, which is why the system offers a range of configuration options to tailor its functionality to your specific needs. Whether it’s adjusting workflows, creating custom forms, or setting unique user permissions, the system can be shaped to fit your company’s operational structure. As your organization grows or undergoes changes, the system’s modular design ensures that it can expand in terms of user count, data volume, and functionality. Additional modules or features can be added as needed, ensuring that the system evolves alongside your business.

What training and support mechanisms are in place to ensure that all employees are able to effectively adopt and utilize the safety management system, and how does the system cater to varying levels of technological proficiency and accessibility?

To facilitate the successful adoption of the safety management system across your workforce, comprehensive training and support are provided. This includes detailed documentation, interactive online training sessions, and dedicated customer support to address any questions or issues that may arise. The system’s user interface is designed with intuitiveness in mind, making it accessible for users of all technological skill levels. For those in remote locations or with limited access to technology, the system may offer offline capabilities or be accessible via mobile devices to ensure that everyone can participate in maintaining a safe and compliant workplace. Continuous feedback loops are established to ensure that the system remains user-friendly and effective for all employees.

Get the Intelex Insight Report, Safety Management Systems: Building a Foundation on Data, to learn how to develop a safety management system for your organization and the data needed to improve its effectiveness.