/ By Marketing / Incident Management/ 0 Comments

Incident Management System: A Simple Framework to Get Started

Incident management is a process and not a single, one-off project. That means there needs to be a system in place to ensure incidents are captured, analysed and reported. Without a proper framework in place, incidents could prove to be very costly because a system is not in a position to appropriately deal with anything that happens.

This article looks at a simple framework that can be used to get an incident management system in place to help combat any incidents that occur. Discussed below is a simple 3-step framework that any organisation can use to get started.

  1. Preparation is a key factor

The chances of an incident occurring are unpredictable. Therefore preparing for any possible occurrence is a critical factor in any incident management system. You need to get several things to be ready for any incident. These include the right tools and processes to automate reaction and action sequences after an incident occurs. Beakon’s incident management software comes with an array of features that will set your organisation up for a robust incident response. Features include automated notifications, scheduled reporting, and in-software communications to allow for collaboration.

  1. Detect and analyse recovered data

Before you can stop an incident from causing damage to your employees, contractors and even your finances, you need first to detect it. The step above describes how to prepare for anything that happens; this step helps discover trends that could cause anything to happen. With features such as root cause analysis, tracking, and investigation, you can quickly identify incidents based on several indicators. Once an incident is detected, Beakon’s incident software analyses the data and provides a comprehensive report.

  1. Map out a plan to deal with an incident

Finally, once you have compiled enough information and actionable data to understand the full scope of the incident and the risks it poses to your organisation’s health and safety program, you can now map out an action plan to deal with the incident. Usually, the best way to deal with incidents in today’s technology-driven businesses is to automate processes. Beakon’s incident management software comes with an action allocation feature that enables automated action to prevent further damage kick into operation. You can easily capture evidence that might be useful in a possible legal or regulatory case in the future. Once the threat has been resolved, data can easily be saved and integrated into the incident management system. This helps with combating future incidents by providing relevant data to help with making a data-driven decision.

Conclusion

Admittedly, this 3-step framework works best with software. For organisations to remain competitive, leveraging technology in their business processes is a no-brainer. Beakon’s incident management software helps companies to stay on top of their health and safety programs. You can take advantage of a free trial to see how deploying all-in-one health, and safety software can help your company remain compliant, increase employee relations and loyalty and save you money in the long-term.

 

 

 

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3 Things You Need to Know About Incident Management Software

Everything in life has a domino effect in some way or the other. Of course, some might be considered more influential than others might. However, every incident has far-reaching consequences. The same holds true for today’s businesses.

It does not matter whether you are managing safety, security or even compliance. Any incident, no matter how insignificant it seems, could either be a cause for celebration or alarm. For example, a little change in how the production assembly operates could dramatically increase organisational efficiency, which in turn improves turnover.

Conversely, a little incident could open a company up to several risks that even an effective risk management strategy cannot foresee. Regardless of whether you currently have things under control or you are looking for a way to improve your company’s incident reporting and management system, this article will show you a few ideas using incident management software can help.

  1. Good incident management software should be easily customisable

No two incidents are the same. Therefore incident management should never be handled on one-size fits all basis. When you decide to use software to manage your company’s incident reporting, you need to look for one that allows for easy and flexible configuration. Workflow processes, notifications, and permission to access documents should be easily customised to match your organisation’s in-house policies.

  1. Good incident management software ensures department-wide benefits

Every department can benefit from an incident management software. Usually, safety, security, and compliance are the obvious choices when it comes to those who benefit the most from deploying incident management software. However, other departments such as HR, IT, accounting, marketing and legal also benefit from a robust incident management system. Increased productivity, improved ROI, and a more robust organisational intelligence are all examples of the benefits these departments can expect.

  1. Incident management software makes data-driven decision making possible

Making informed decisions is at the core of any successful company. With big data flowing everywhere, it is essential, now more than ever, to get access to the right kind of information to help your company make data-driven decisions. Using software to manage your organisation’s incident reporting ensures proactive measures are taken to reduce the reoccurrence of an accident.

Conclusion

Finally, good incident management software allows you to do more than just report incidents and run necessary analysis reports. While this is what many incident management software on the market does, ours does so much more without the need for expensive software integrations.

Beakon’s incident management software saves time and money by offering a full suite of other functions that will make running your organisation’s health and safety programs a breeze. Project management, contractor management, and risk assessment are examples of additional features our incident management software provides.

The best part is that you do not need to pay extra to use any of these features. You can even take advantage of a free trial today to test run the product and see all the benefits yourself.

 

 

/ By Marketing / Risk Management Software/ 0 Comments

Risk Management Strategy: A Guide to Getting Started

Most large organisations do not have a problem developing risk management programs because they got the basic framework right several years ago. The same cannot be said for newer organisations or startups that have experienced exponential growth.

These companies often rely on lean methodology principles that are not quite as effective in putting together an effective risk management strategy as it is in helping them scale. One of the significant causes of risk exposure is because many organisations think of risk management as a project.

Risk management is not a project

Risk management is a program, not a project. The Project Management Institute defines a project as temporary because “it has a defined beginning and end in time, and therefore defined scope and resources.” However, a  program is “a group of related projects managed in a coordinated manner to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually.”

The first step towards creating an effective risk management strategy is first to recognise that risk management is a program and not a project. That means instead of looking at it as something with a beginning and end, it should be viewed as a series of connected projects that works together to reduce the overall risk exposure in an organization. Once that has been addressed, we can easily towards constructing a risk management framework that works.

5-step framework for creating a risk management strategy     

Although there are several versions of what makes up a fundamental risk management strategy, a vast majority falls into the following 5-step framework.

Step 1 – Discover potential risks to the organization

The first step is to discover what your organisation’s potential risks are. You cannot deal with what you do not know. Taking inventory of all the things that could go wrong is a great way to prepare for the rest of the process.

Step 2 – Analyse those risks and assess their impact

The next step is to analyse the risks you discovered in the first step and try to evaluate their impact o your business. It is important to note that while eliminating all the risks you discovered might not be entirely possible, prioritizing them are. When analysing these risks, the most important factors to consider are the impact of the risk and the likelihood of its occurrence.

Step 3 – Implement Necessary Controls

The next logical step after compiling your list of possible risks and analysing the likelihood of its occurrence is to put controls in place to combat and mitigate these risks when they do occur. Examples of these controls include policies, systems or tools that allow you to manage your company’s risks effectively.

Step 4 – Monitor

After your controls have been put in place, you need to implement a system to monitor it. You need a way to track which of your controls have been met and which ones are still operational. This 3000ft view of your entire risk management operation helps you paint a clear picture of where your organisation is when it comes to risk reduction.

Step 5 – Communicate and Report   Data

The final step of this framework is to report key data captured from your activities. A comprehensive risk management report helps your organizations decision makers make better decisions that will affect the company positively.

Additionally, your reports should not only focus on decision makers but should also include other key personnel, for example, lime manager, supervisor, project manager etc. The first audience will want summary information that shows the full picture while the second audience would like to see operational data. This is especially true for those who are in charge of contractor management.

Risk management software ties everything together

Every aspect of a successful risk management strategy can easily be managed using Beakon’s risk management software. Our risk management software is easy to use and comes with a free trial that lets you look at all the features without any financial commitment.

 

 

 

/ By Marketing / Risk Management Software • Work Health Safety/ 0 Comments

The Uses of a Permit to Work System in Any Organisation

Every organisation must keep their employees and independent contractors safe. Several safety procedures have been put in place to act as a guideline for companies to operate. One great example is the permit to work system.

A permit to work system (PTW) is a formally documented system implemented in high-risk activities and often found in high-risk industries. Examples of such sectors where a permit to work systems are relied on heavily are Construction and Manufacturing.

Usually, a permit to work system is issued by a manager, supervisor or project manager. The purpose of the document is to allow employees to carry out required tasks under specific conditions. In other words, the document authorises workers to carry out high-risk functions at specific times and under specific conditions.

The primary purpose of a permit to work system is to eliminate risk. Risky tasks such as working on electrical systems, working with hot equipment, excavations, certain lifting operations and working at height or in confined spaces. A detailed permit to work system eliminates any associated risks and gives you the peace of mind required to take your tasks forward.

How a Permit to Work System cuts down operational risks

There are several ways through which a permit to work system makes a high-risk task safe to handle. We cover the basics below.

A permit to work system gives written permission to carry out a task

Project managers or supervisors sign off a permit to work systems after ensuring certain parameters are met on the site premises. Also, because the permit to work is continuously updated as tasks are carried out, it serves as a form of evidence or paper trail. Information captured includes the description of the task that was done and the name of the worker(s) involved.

A permit to work system ensures every aspect of the work is planned and checked

For a project to run efficiently and also meet health and safety standards, it needs to have a tried and tested framework. A permit to work system captures every aspect of the framework and walks worker(s) through it. This ensures every aspect of that framework is adhered to and makes the workplace safer.

A permit to work system provides a procedure to support a risk assessment

Specific high-risk work needs to go through a risk assessment before action can be carried out. A permit to work system prevents workers from working on that project until the risk assessment has been carried out and the necessary changes implemented.

A permit to work system provides a procedure for returning the work area to a safe state on completion of the work

Ensuring that a workplace is safe to return after the high-risk work has been completed is essential. A permit to work system makes that a breeze. Using Beakon’s permit to work software enables your workers to follow the necessary procedure to return a work area to its original safe state.

Conclusion

Every organisation operating in a high-risk industry ought to implement a permit to work system in their company. The system enables them to keep their workers safe.

Additionally, the permit to work system serves as a guideline for independent contractors to operate in a manner that adheres to your organisation’s health and safety procedures.

Are you using software to streamline your company’s permit to work system? If not, then you should take advantage of a free trial of our software.

/ By Marketing / Contractor Management • Contractor Management Software/ 0 Comments

Why You Should Take Your Company’s Onsite Inductions Online

If money makes the world go round, then employees make a company go round. Just like money, employee and contractor management is not an easy task. Employers are not only legally responsible for the health and safety of their workers, but they are also morally accountable too.

This is especially true in high-risk industries such as construction and manufacturing where employees face various risks every day. Workplace safety and hazard prevention is a priority worldwide, and several guidelines have been put in place to guide companies on international best practices.

To remain compliant with these standards, companies are required to offer induction-training programs to help new employees or contract workers stay both safe and productive. These training programs are always onsite and need someone to oversee the program.

The Downside of Traditional Onsite Inductions

Due to the risk(s) involved in the job to be done, a proper induction process is required to ensure new employees, and contract workers understand the safety guidelines. While that is a good thing, the method with which it is done makes it a problem.

The traditional method requires in-person supervision to ensure the training is done correctly and efficiently. Depending on the scope of the project, the number of contractors employed will vary and so will their availability.

This means that the induction training could happen two or three times a week, and it is not uncommon to see just one or two contract workers attending the training. You are wasting a lot of time and effort by continually arranging in-person induction training for contractors who might not be working in your company for more than a week – sometimes lesser.

If you find this traditional method of onsite induction redundant, then you are alone. By using a Contractor Induction Software, you can improve and streamline your company’s entire induction training process.

What is a Contractor Induction Software?

A contractor induction software is an online solution that enables employers to quickly, and cost-effectively induct a new staff or contract worker. This software helps you to train your workers so that they arrive ready to work and compliant.

It should be noted that online induction could not replace a site-specific induction that will require meeting in person to cover any specific dangers or hazards. However, it is good enough to cut down on wasted time and allows everyone to be more productive.

You can expect several benefits from deploying a contractor induction software in your company. These include:

  • A significant reduction in operational costs. Resources such as room space printed training materials and trainers would no longer be needed if the entire induction process was moved
  • Consistency in the dissemination of information by the trainer and the accuracy in retention by the contractors or new workers are highly increased.
  • Ability to assess the inductees and test their understanding of the entire training. Beakon’s Contractor Management software allows you to audit their performance and send them reminders etc.

As you can see, using technology to streamline your contractor induction programs will save you time and money. If you are unsure of how these benefits will work for your company, you can take advantage of a free, no-strings-attached trial of our online induction software.

/ By Marketing / Audit Management • Audit Software • Safety Management • Safety Management Software/ 0 Comments

The Benefit of Safety Audit Software

Using safety audit software could be one of the best decisions you can make for your organisation. This piece of software can literally catapult your company into the “best in class” category effortlessly. Using this software is the only way to ensure that your company’s processes are compliant with necessary health and safety laws.

What is safety audit software?

A safety auditing software, such as Beakon’s, allows you to streamline your organisation’s health and safety auditing process. The software helps you easily conduct audits and safety inspections from the field, using your either your tablet or mobile phone. Furthermore, the safety audit software helps you synchronise your data securely allowing you to share your audits in real-time from anywhere.

What are the benefits of using safety audit software?

There are several benefits of using safety audit software in your organisation. When you streamline your auditing, a lot of manual processes automatically become extinct. These include paper trails and documentation that could easily be misplaced.

Some of the benefits you can expect when you deploy a safety audit software in your organisation include:

  • Increased operational efficiency
  • Standardises safety practices by location, auditor, and project
  • Measures the quality and effectiveness of your safety program
  • Helps to save time and money on all safety initiatives

In addition to these benefits, the level of stress associated with external health and safety auditors are reduced significantly. No longer will your employees have to feel anxious about auditing. Now they can look forward to it confidently and possibly achieve the “best in class” status.

What does “best in class” mean for your company?                     

Companies that constantly ace their safety and health audits are those considered by the Aberdeen Report as “best in class” in safety. This means the companies report fewer incidents, while also saving money by being more efficient and still maintain project deadlines.

According to the report, these companies are more likely to have a centralised auditing system, have the ability to conduct digital audits at each site and collect data automatically. Additionally, these companies are twice more likely to use mobile devices when they are in the field.

Using software on mobile devices makes audit reporting much easier regardless of location. This in turn enables field workers to provide feedback on any issues they encounter in real-time. This immediate feedback helps your organisation be more proactive when it comes to safety issues, instead of being reactive.

Conclusion

In conclusion, using software for your company’s safety audit helps to hold your team more accountable to international standards. Beakon’s audit software is top-class when it comes to safety. Take advantage of a free trial today and start your journey towards a more efficient audit processing.

/ By Marketing / Risk Management • Risk Management Software/ 0 Comments

Risk Register Systems: Everything Project Managers Need To Know

Project managers are accustomed to facing risks whenever they undertake a new project. It is their job, however, to find ways to mitigate these risks. For project managers to tackle these situations effectively, they use risk management processes and frameworks. One of the most essential components of a risk management framework is the risk register.

What is a Risk Register System?

A risk register system also referred to as a risk log, can be used to track and deal with issues as they arise in real-time. Project managers create risk register systems at the early stage of a new project to help them identify, assess, and manage risks down to an acceptable level through a review and update process.

How does a Risk Register System work?

As we have described above, the risk register is a logbook used to identify, access and manage risks. It is a part of several risk assessment tools, and the way it works is not complicated. Its purpose is to record every detail of all the risks associated with a project along with the risks identified, the analysis of those risks and proposed plans to mitigate those risks.

Project managers can view the risk management database as a management tool for monitoring the risky aspects of any project within the risk management framework. The project manager is also responsible for ensuring that the risk register is updated as often as necessary.

List of Risk Management Processes

You can expect several risk management processes in a risk register. As a matter of fact, the risks that are recorded in the risk log are the driving factor for these risk management processes as specified in the PMBOK Guide.

Perform Qualitative Risk Analysis Process

This is the process of prioritising risks for additional analysis or action. This is done by estimating the probability of the risk occurring and its likely impact. One of the benefits of this process is that it helps project managers reduce the level of uncertainty in their projects and only focus on high-priority risks.

Perform Quantitative Risk Analysis Process

This process, on the other hand, focuses on analysing the effect of the risks identified in the objectives of your project. While there are several benefits to this process, the most important one is that it produces quantitative risk information that helps in making better decisions. This enables project managers to reduce project uncertainty in their projects.

Plan Risk Response Process

This is the process of enhancing opportunities while reducing threats to project objectives. One of the benefits of this process is that it tackles risks based on priority, thus inserting resources and activities into the overall budget.

Monitor and Control Risk Process

This is the process of executing risk response plans, tracking the risks identified, monitoring all residual risks, and determining new risks. Also, this process helps with evaluating the risk management’s effectiveness across the entire project.

Conclusion

One of the best things project managers can look forward to when it comes to managing their project risks is the ability to use technology. First, technology can be used for the entire risk management process. Beakon’s risk management software, risk assessment tools and risk register system are all part of an all-in-one system that helps top companies remain safe and efficient. Grab a free trial today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/ By Marketing / Incident Management • Task Management Software • Work Health Safety/ / 0 Comments

5 Benefits of Implementing a Visitor Management System in Your Organisation

For many businesses, paper-based visitor management systems such as guest books and nametags are the only visitor management system they ever operate. The problem with these outdated, manual systems is that they are challenging to keep track of and very time-consuming to document.

Most importantly, these outdated systems lack the type of protection your organisation requires when it comes to managing unwanted visitors.  However, a modern visitor management system, like Beakons visitor management software, can quickly fix these problems.

Listed below are 5 top benefits of using a visitor management system for your organisation.

  1. A visitor management system improves building security and employee safety

Two critical factors that remain a top priority for many organisations are the security and safety. That is the security of your facilities and the safety of your employees.

Using a software-based visitor management system for your company helps with proper identification of visitors quickly, effectively and accurately.

 

  1. A good visitor management system will save your organisation money

Reducing operational costs is a significant factor in the growth of any company. While not immediately obvious, having a poor visitor management system will cost you money.

Breach of security, identity theft, paper documents and files are all examples of operational costs of a paper-based visitor management system. However, Beakon’s visitor management software will help you streamline and automate the entire visitor registration process.

  1. Implementing Visitor management software will increase your organisation’s efficiency

Overall efficiency is a must-have for today’s businesses. Every aspect of your organisation must be operating in an agile way otherwise the chances of a new startup coming to shake things up would be inevitable.

For your company to keep leading the charge, your company must be operating at full capacity. Aspects of your business such as operations, manufacturing or production, and even marketing are all examples. Visitor management is also an important part, and Beakon’s software can help.

Visitor management software leverages your facility’s cameras, scanners and other identification software you currently use to screen all your visitors, register and badge them automatically. Your lobby staff will also be notified of any visitor’s arrival, thus saving time.

  1. A modern visitor management system provides you with visibility and accountability.

An excellent visitor management system allows you to identify anyone who is in your building or site. Not only that, but it also allows you to track and detect not only where people are, but where they have been.

Our visitor management software provides a detailed log about who has visited your site and where they visited. This information will come in handy in the event of any catastrophic event.

Additionally, recording the data of your building or site’s visitors will provide evidence in the case of any other probabilities. Doing this ensures your company remains accountable.

 

  1. Visitor management software provides flexibility and the ability to grow with your business

Flexibility and scalability are the hallmarks of any excellent visitor tracking system. A good visitor management software can easily be customised to fit your organisation’s needs.

Beakon’s visitor management software is a great tool that does all that more. With a simple to use interface, our visitor management system gives you the flexibility to make changes as fast as you want.

To take advantage of our software without any financial commitment, grab our free trial today.

 

 

/ By Marketing / Contractor Management • Contractor Management Software/ 0 Comments

Benefits of Inducting New Contractors Online

Inducting new contractors is always a challenge for many managers. In fact, many managers who use our contractor induction software described the onboarding process as one of the “biggest management challenges” they were facing.

Honestly, this should not come as a surprise for several reasons. For example, independent contractors are more likely to spend less time with you than an employee would. Also, because contractors usually have specialised skill sets that are in demand, they would probably be working in different locations and be on a very tight schedule. Because of these reasons, onboarding contractors as quickly as possible is a top priority.

However, most companies still use the traditional classroom model of training new employees. Unfortunately, this model no longer works due to today’s demanding work environment. This is especially true when it comes to health and safety induction for independent contractors.

Disadvantages of this model include:

  • Delaying workers from starting their jobs,
  • Cutting into production schedules (for manufacturing companies), and
  • Failing to take into account the diverse learning styles of contractors

Also, this model is too time-consuming to plan and administer – especially for managers with hectic schedules. It is because of these reasons and disadvantages that companies are now turning to online contractor induction software to help them induct new contractors in the company’s health and safety training protocols.

 

Benefits of Using Contractor Induction Software

There are several reasons why a manager should opt for using software to induct new contractors. As mentioned earlier in this article, getting contractors inducted as soon as possible is a top priority if you want your company to remain productive and still compliant with safety regulations.

Listed below are some of the benefits you will get when you induct new contractors online using Beakon’s contractor induction software:

  • Contractor’s accountability, responsibility, and tracking are boosted
  • Because contractors spend more time in the field and less in a classroom, they can become more productive
  • All onboarding training is standardised and streamlined
  • The induction is self-paced, so this accommodates the different learning styles of your contractors
  • The effectiveness and efficiency of your contractors are significantly increased
  • It saves much money that would otherwise go into logistics and in-person training
  • You can increase contractor retention through frequent testing of their knowledge as they feel you care about their growth

Our contractor management software has been embraced by top brands from various industries. One of the reasons for this adoption is because our software is one of the most effective when it comes to health and safety training.

We have various modules that cater to several aspects of workplace safety including incident management, injury management, learning management, permit to work and risk assessment. This makes our all-in-one software even more valuable to managers who end up deploying the software across their entire organisation. If you want to take our contractor induction software for a spin, you can grab a free trial here.

 

/ By Marketing / Safety Management Software/ 0 Comments

Benefits of Using Occupational Safety Software for Your Company

Everything around us can be managed better by software and technology. In the consumer world, everything from shopping to finding love can be done with the push (or swipe) of a button. The same holds true in the business world as well.

Today, many aspects of an organisation are being managed by software. For example, the Human Resources (HR) department leverages payroll and performance management systems to make their job more comfortable and streamlined. Another example is in the training space where learning management systems (LMS) are helping companies induct new employees and contractors in record time.

The only area many companies were still lagging behind was in their workplace health and safety compliance. Now, more and more organizations are trading their traditional paper-based health and safety management systems for more sophisticated occupational safety software solution.

Benefits of using occupational safety software for your company include:

  • Being able to centralise and share health and safety related information across the organisation. Anyone with access can log into the system and review information from any device. You could also put restrictions in place to limit the amount of information anyone with access can view.
  • Data collection is streamlined because incidents can easily be logged based on a set of predefined criteria. Anyone with access to the occupational safety software can fill incident forms offline, and it will sync with the database when they come online.
  • Enables you to log data on the move with either your Smartphone or tablet. Unlike traditional reporting systems that require you to file paperwork to report incidents whenever you can “free up” time, our occupational management software have a mobile app interface that you can use to report incidents and complete tasks.
  • Saves you time and money. The time it takes to file a manual incident report can be used to file dozens using the software. This time could have been put to tasks that are more productive. Also, you could also save much money on the ink and paper used to print those manual reports.
  • Reporting efficiency is significantly improved. Beakon’s safety management system makes it easy to track and store all organisational health and safety-related information in an integrated system. This ensures your organisation stays on top of everything, thus mitigating risks while improving compliance.

In conclusion, setting up occupational safety software for your company is one of the smartest business decision you can ever make. As you can see from the benefits listed, implementing one in your company will not only provide ROI, but it will also show your employees that you take their safety seriously.

If you want a risk-free way to test our software, you can take advantage of our no-strings-attached free trial. With this trial, you can test out other components of our software including permit-to-work, injury management, and task management. Click here to get started.