Boosting workplace safety with digital risk management

For any organisation, digital risk management can help ensure that nothing gets left unassessed. Whatever the industry field or sector, operating facilities and workplace environments can present numerous risks, necessitating a thorough risk assessment that covers all the modern equipment, supply chains and methods used today. In an age where adaptability to industry and market conditions is key, having a digital platform that can manage digital inspections is vital. Digital risk management enables inspectors and managers to take the newest content straight from the source and implement it into inspections of the facility or workplace.

The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) published ISO 31000 – Risk Management, to provide a standard on the implementation of risk management. The standard aims to integrate effective decision-making into the culture and use of risk management. By pairing this with a digital solution, there is a greater set of tools for inspectors and risk managers inspecting all things concerning device features such as cameras to take pictures. These images can often be annotated to show risk deficiencies such as an incorrectly mounted safety shield or wear to a harness. When these images have been annotated, they can be attached to the report as part of the wider report and analytical tools. Outside of the touchscreen and camera, speech-to-text services can be used for data entry, as can standardised response and recommendation design.

Functionalities such as this can mean that digital risk management and inspections take a shorter amount of time to complete, whereas the quality of the information captured is a lot more detailed. This can improve the time and speed of completing compliance, while providing assurance to all stakeholders that they are completed more accurately and in line with the modern processes of the organisation. Many organisations need to complete adequate compliance checks and demonstrate a clear line of inspections for internal or external audit purposes. Previously, with sporadic paper-based inspections and loosely followed guidelines, this has been difficult to achieve for many organisations. With the power of digital, managers can now simplify the audit trail and update the inspection in line with industry regulations. ISO 31000 and likeminded standards (such as AS/ANZ 4360) can be attached as reference material for any inspection.

The inspection checklist can also be customised in a way that all questions and checks follow the ISO standard’s requirements; hence proving compliance with the regulation. With digital inspections, all inspection personnel can be sent information and necessary updates, as all personnel will remain connected using the same inspection platform. Just like work orders can be distributed and pushed out on time, updates to industry standards can likewise be issued as soon as available, thereby reducing the time taken to conform to industry standards. In times where pressing safety issues or incidents occur, it will raise the safety level as soon as possible within the entire business or organisation. From a risk perspective, this can reduce the operational risk to assets and equipment, which in turn affects a swathe of the supply chain in the sector.

Risk management can be a complex issue that needs to be managed carefully; for any business or organisation, it is key that the right procedures are followed and that all attempts to reduce risk are taken for general safety. In modern businesses and organisations, this can be completed using digital inspection platforms and undertaking digital risk management.

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