How Effective Are Your Incident Management Systems – Even the safest work environments can be susceptible to injuries and incidents. How you report these occurrences can go a long way in preventing future accidents and helping your company remain profitable.
Consider your current methods for reporting incidents:
- Do they meet OSHA standards?
- Do they emphasize timeliness and accuracy?
- Do they contain any follow-up procedures?
- Most importantly, do other team members understand how to report incidents in your absence?
What Do Good Reporting Procedures Look Like?
- EHS departments may have their own tasks and procedures when it comes to executing a strategy, but incident management and reporting comes with its own set of legal requirements you have no control over.
- Your reporting procedures should mirror those of OSHA if you want to remain compliant and avoid potential fines.
What to Report
- OSHA mandates that companies are required to report a workplace fatality. You must also report any serious injury that results in hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye.
When to Report
- All fatalities must be reported within eight hours. Other serious injuries have a 24-hour reporting window.
- There are a few exceptions to this reporting window. Fatalities that occur after 30 days of a work-related incident are not required to be reported. Also, amputations, loss of an eye, or hospitalization are not required to be reported if they occur 24 hours after the incident.
You can call your local OSHA office to report an event or you can also report a serious event online via the OSHA website.
If you’re reporting an incident online, you will need to provide your business name, names of the affected employees, time and location of the incident, a description of the incident, and the name and number of a contact person.
Federal vs State OSHA Reporting
The above regulations refer to federal OSHA standards. Your state requirements may differ from federal rules. If you are in a state not covered by federal OSHA, check with your local office to determine the correct procedures.
State-adopted plans that differ from federal requirements include the following: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.
How Safety Software Can Solve Reporting Problems
Incident reporting is a serious task that simply cannot be overlooked. Varying state requirements can complicate the process, especially if your company operates in multiple states where procedures can differ.
If you miss a report, you could be facing fines along with potential legal backlash. If you report something that doesn’t require it, you’ve spent valuable time and resources that could have been better leveraged elsewhere.
Safety Software Streamlines OSHA Reporting
Safety software provides an extra defense for reporting procedures by eliminating the guesswork when it comes to OSHA requirements.
All OSHA reporting requirements are built into the system. By following pre-established workflows, you can follow your state’s procedures step-by-step to ensure no detail is overlooked.
Not only does incident management and reporting software help you create reports, it also lets you view the status of each report and track your activities.
You can complete every phase of the reporting process via the software to eliminate the need for a complicated paper-based process.
To improve employee engagement in safety Incident Management Software must to be user friendly. Intuitive Mobile Apps that allow employees to record an Incident, Near Miss or Hazard on a Smart Phone or Tablet, anytime and anywhere will improve workplace safety. The ability to generate OSHA, RIDDOR logs and reports aids compliance and improves EHS efficiency.
The Results of Paperless Reporting
As a result, you get a streamlined, paperless way to manage and monitor reporting activities and improve compliance. In addition, you save time and resources when you don’t have to process your paperwork by hand, which increases EHS efficiency.
IMEC Technologies provides Safety Management Software to increase worker safety and aid compliance. IMEC’s Safety Management Software will manage inspections and audits, provides hazard identification, incident reporting, management of corrective and preventative actions from generation to closure. IMEC provides lock out tag out software solutions that will allow users to create lockout tagout procedures using an intuitive Mobile App and Manage Lockout Tagout Procedures, also the Review and Execution of those Lockout Tagout Procedures using the Mobile App. Annual Lockout Tagout Procedures audits are conducted using a Mobile App. The Mobile Inspection App allow users to perform inspections and audits, for example the system can be used as a Fire Extinguisher Barcode Inspection Software system to manage monthly fire extinguisher inspections and general fire safety inspections and also to record safety observations and manage corrective actions, anywhere and anytime. The solution can be used as a fire extinguisher barcode inspection software system or life safety inspection system to aid compliance in Higher Education, Healthcare, Industrial and Commercial Organizations. Benefits from a Fire Extinguisher Barcode System include the elimination of paperwork and reducing the burden of compliance with regulations such as NFPA, The Joint Commission. The Incident Reporting App allows users to easily and quickly report incidents, hazards and near-misses, these are then sent to the appropriate people for action and are managed to closure. Web Apps provide features such as, setup, management, scheduling tools, analysis, reporting and dashboards etc with the ability to report incidents to government bodies such as OSHA and RIDDOR. HazMat T&T is a hazardous waste management software solution designed for Environmental Service Companies and companies who generate a large quantity of hazardous waste. The solution tracks hazardous waste from cradle to grave aiding compliance, providing accurate waste inventory, increasing waste handling efficiency, reducing risk and also helps manage waste costs. HazMat T&T Hazardous Waste Management Software can be deployed in a number of deployment scenarios, from Large Hazardous Waste Generators, tracking their hazardous waste at their site to Environmental Service and Waste Management Companies using it track and manage hazardous waste at transfer and disposal sites. For more information visit our website www.imectechnologies.com