3 Ways to Enhance Workplace Safety Using Workplace Management Software

Workplace management software offers many benefits, including automated staff scheduling, payroll functions, and tracking employee activities. WHS systems also enhance workplace safety while ensuring compliance with OSHA regulations — two important aspects of any EHS (Environment, Health, and Safety) program. 

Workplace management software improves performance in three core areas of EHS:

• Incident reporting and management,
• Safety and performance systems, and
• Skills and safety training. 

Here we’ll explore the impact WMS can have on workplace safety.

Incident management

Prompt, accurate reporting of all safety issues, injuries, and illness is vital for compliance with OSHA workplace safety standards. WMS and EHS software increase both the accuracy of safety reports and the speed with which they are recorded. 

WMS software makes it possible for your EHS team to upload safety reports and forms to the cloud, where they can be accessed by employees through their personal mobile devices.

Instant access to safety forms improves the accuracy with which forms are submitted. When filled out manually, it can take time for the employee to access forms — time during which they may start to remember the incident incorrectly. With a WMS system, forms can be filled in while the incident is fresh in memory and automatically uploaded to cloud storage. 

Online and on-demand forms also allow employees to supplement reports with photos and video, further increasing your understanding of what happened, when it happened, and why. The system can flag incident reports related to OSHA regulations, automatically recording and submitting incident reports to OSHA and authorized stakeholders. 

Once in the system, incident reports can be scanned for deficiencies, and notifications automatically sent to relevant parties to correct the issue. Taken altogether, WMS incident reports can be aggregated to provide real-time visibility of safety issues while providing the information needed to satisfy OSHA workplace safety reporting requirements. 

Safety and performance systems

Workplace safety and performance systems offered by WMS systems deliver line-of-business, site-specific solutions to workplace safety training while also recording the information needed to comply with OSHA regulations. An EHS system monitors, reports on, and sends notifications concerning:

• Compliance with OSHA requirements,
• Any lapses in compliance,
• Employee training and certifications,
• Reminders concerning upcoming certifications and training seminars, and
• Alerts should gaps in employee certification exist. 

Timely scheduling and delivery of training courses impact performance in multiple ways. Supervisors can quickly verify compliance, avoiding situations in which non-compliant employees violate company or OSHA regulations. The ability to track training in real-time allows you to measure training effectiveness and how training has improved performance and safety. 

WMS systems improve safety and performance systems in other ways. For instance, real-time video streaming allows for the inspection, audit, and observation of remote work conditions, allowing you to measure work quality, site safety, and other factors in real-time and follow up observations with automatic email notifications to employees who need to make improvements in work and safety performance. 

Skills and workplace safety training

WMS systems such as TPC Online Enterprise can be used as central learning management systems for workforces. Automatic tracking of employee skills and assignments makes it easier to generate reports addressing skill gaps and assign times for training that will minimize interruptions to productivity. 

Some workplace management systems have the capacity to store technical information, tutorials, and safety courses in the cloud, allowing workers to train on-demand or simply refer back to instructional materials whenever they need to refresh their memories. 

WMS system users can create training locations, register students, and craft personalized training plans for individuals and groups of employees. Assignments can be viewed and edited as needed, making it possible to reschedule and reassign training in real-time. 

Incorporating training with a WMS system improves technical skill knowledge by an average of 30%. When considering a workplace management system, look for one which offers a library of workplace safety training courses. TPC Online Enterprise, for instance, offers access to over 1,000 technical and industrial safety courses.