Help in working through the workplace regulatory maze

Many employers and business owners have to deal with an array of regulative guidelines to which their workplaces need to adhere to operate legally, sustainably and productively.

The area of safety and occupational health, in particular, can be a minefield.

This is where the Occupational Health and Safety Consulting (OHS) and Software company Safety for Life can help. Based in Brisbane, the business provides active face-to-face and online consulting and training services, advice in risk management, supports client with incident management and investigations, management of public liability claims, new system development and pre-contractor qualification preparation, supplier evaluations, injury management, along with general business management advice and support.

Director/Principal Consultant Caroline Kingston has an array of colleagues within the OHS, legal and health professions. These relationships, along with being a member of the Australian Industry of Health and safety (AIHS), formally the Safety Institute of Australia, assist with keeping up-to-date with legislative changes, outcomes of investigations and new solutions for managing risk, all of which assist to ensure clients receive relevant information for their business to manage risk. Our goal is to help mitigate the risk of injury and illness to workers, litigation to our clients, improve efficiencies within their business and help insurance premium costs. Safety management does not have to be a highly administrative burden says Ms Kingston.

“I have 21 years of experience, knowledge and real-life experience across various industry sectors such as manufacturing, local and state government, health and community services, quarrying, transport and logistics, construction and hospitality and sport and recreation,” Ms Kingston said.

Safety for Life have developed SHERM Software (Safety, Health, Employees, Risk Management), a concept that was created by Ms Kingston. SHERM was built with the intent of streamlining business efficiencies for administration, auditing, planning and with a high emphasis on compliance, risk management, training and competency.

“SHERM can easily be configured and its simple functionality makes it easy for all staff to report incidents and hazards, raise issues, get access to current documentation, complete workplace inspections and audits, schedule training and competency assessment. SHERM provides real time data through the Reports Module. I built SHERM based upon the challenges I had when working in industry and I just knew there had to be an easier way,” Ms Kingston said.

Safety for Life also has kept up with the times making sure that SHERM software is scalable for any new client needs and comes with a Mobile App that can be downloaded for free for both Android and iOS mobile devices.

Ms Kingston also says that SHERM covers management systems for safety, quality, and environmental management, including what is applicable for injury management, that includes health-related infections and diseases that are notifiable to the regulator.

SHERM software is hosted in the cloud with leading technology in the application design, and users have access 24/7. It is a web-based application that operates on Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Mozilla and Safari browsers.

“Client feedback had been really valuable for me in terms of building a software application that can meet a broad range of specific requirements across the range of sectors that I’m dealing with,” Ms Kingston says.

She said Safety for Life could help businesses obtain certification to increase their competitive edge and meet necessary Australian standards.

Image caption: Caroline Kingston, Director/Principal Consultant at Safety for Life