Integrating Training and Document Control with Automated Solutions

Companies today use many methods to maintain compliance with safety and quality regulations. Typically, training employees to maintain compliance can easily be reported on a metrics dashboard as “red, yellow, or green” and is the most efficient and effective way to communicate compliance. Leveraging tools and practices to achieve the highest goals allows companies to meet best practices while reducing the amount of resources required to support their processes.

It’s no surprise automation helps users focus on processes and eases compliance. In part, this is because practices are constantly evolving and changing in an effort to continuously succeed. Policies must change to keep those involved healthy and safe, processes change next, then the need for training usually follows. Using manual processes to track safety incidents, manage processes, and keep up with regulations makes operational excellence an uphill battle.

Fortunately, with automated software, easy-to-use methods leverage already built-in capabilities to achieve desired goals.

An employee training module allows personnel to undertake assigned activities and responsibilities and project them in their entirety to accurately record their history. A proper module lets users define security levels for all profiles inside the module and create an application profile. From there, administrators can create personal profiles for employees as needed with singular requirements or group requirement profiles. From a direct profile, users can schedule the necessary number of courses to keep trainees current.

Many software solutions, specifically Quality Management Systems (QMS) and Environmental Health and Safety Systems (EHS) share easily converged commonalities. Employee training and adoption of convergence is helpful on the road to success.

When considering Quality and EHS processes, organizations should first examine the employee’s role. For example, employee training requirements span both quality and environmental health and safety disciplines. An employee-focused approach would capture all requirements applicable to the employee’s role. This provides simple scheduling and recording of training for EHS- and QMS-centric organizations. Tracking employee profiles, schedules, and training events while managing the identification process allows users to meet necessary responsibilities to maintain certifications and training requirements for each employee.

This helps reduce administrative efforts like tracking, as it is done effortlessly. Automated employee training helps improve compliance while reducing incidents related to lack of current training.

Regulated industries face many development challenges—they must take careful steps to ensure employee training was effective and contractors, as well as employees, are qualified to perform their job functions.

This is where document control comes into play. Document control is one of the most commonly used QMS applications in any industry today, and for good reason. It ensures that documents are maintained by automatically routing documents from review to approval to distribution—making tracking efficient and simple.

Skipping over important policies and documents isn’t unheard of—it’s unfortunate, but not unprecedented. People get busy and sometimes things pass them by. In that case, the document control system will ensure users don’t miss anything. The QMS’s document control application puts processes into an automated workflow, creating visibility into which employees require training on revised or new documentation.

Keeping everything controlled and consistent in one place allows users to organize and handle processes, job descriptions, and other important material. All aspects of an organization can benefit from keeping control and increasing communication through simple collaboration and visibility.

One major change in most recent ISO revisions is a stronger need for the documentation of set procedures for quality operations. A centralized document control system lets users work toward this requirement while providing organizations many additional benefits.

Automated solutions use a workflow-based platform that connects to functional silos. People in departments with no previous contact can remain in constant communication and share and create ample ideas for growth and safety. Workflows foster this by providing a clear path of information via exchange from one party to the next. This is important due to goals and objectives like:

• ISO 9001: Quality objectives may focus on product defects and process improvements.
• ISO 45001: Health and safety objectives may focus on exposure monitoring and hazard containment.
• ISO 14001: Environmental objectives may focus on water and waste measuring

Each standard has unique objectives, yet they all share commonalities. It is important for all departments to share accountability and transparency to centralize compliance through integration.

Automation enhances the creation and approval process for all documents. Automated document control systems are able to consider all differences for any document, enabling users to create different workflows with unique routing for each department and document.

Automated document control systems should enable common authoring tools, such as Microsoft Word or Excel. This capability ensures accurate reflection on the form if there is a change on the file, and vice-versa.

A controlled and centralized repository is a safe place to store documentation and relevant information about documentation. In addition to record-keeping, document control allows users to control their processes, mitigating the risk of outdated copies being distributed and ensuring employees are trained consciously and accurately. The ability to update only one sheet and the option to transfer it to every other location saves time and allows users to accomplish more.

Integration and harmonization in major business practices set clear standards for overall business performance and improvement. Compliance requirements are easily followed with automation by developing an electronic compliance plan that’s easily shared and focused on risk-based thinking.
Document Control helps to:

• Import electronic documents, such as downloading an OSHA form or audit template.
• Route, review, and approve documents so they are accurate and sent to the correct recipients with proper approval.
• Train employees on the documents and have them acknowledge they received the document’s latest version.
• Schedule reviews and updates so each document is up to date.

This process ensures a proper workflow, which perpetuates effective collaboration with team members acting within their defined roles.
Employee Training creates:

• Person profiles: Keeping an accurate and updated record of employee, contractor, and supplier information and training plans keeps all information accurate and all training consistent.
• Requirements: People need to know what’s expected of them. Standardizing job positions and assignments ensures harmony with compliance requirements, and syncs with all departments for responsibilities and job descriptions.
• Course profile: Keeping a document of course information and content, test templates, schedules, and attendees keeps training consistent.
• Courses: Training content that can be accessed from the platform to provide an integrated training solution.
• Training delivery: Documenting who completes courses, takes tests, evaluates the courses, and certifies the employees hold everyone accountable for acting up to standards across the whole organization.

To be part of an integrated management system, the employee training program needs to be linked with risk management, document control, and other organization-wide processes.
Combining document control with employee training allows companies to gain efficiencies in both time and workload. An automated document control system will save time specifically in entering and tracking data, updating spreadsheets, and pulling reports. By automating document control, organizations can track proper revisions and comments to collaborate effectively.

Employees are then kept current on comments, edits, and revisions throughout the document’s lifecycle. All activity is suitable to be tracked through a meaningful workflow that knows where to deviate and remain consistent with reliable results.

In EHS Management, it is crucial companies take necessary steps to ensure safety incidents are recorded and reported immediately. Sending notifications to the right people quickly moves processes along. Automatic notifications and assignments, with help from employee training and document control modules, are the secret to fostering compliance. The goal is to provide visibility and control easily and efficiently to meet regulatory oversight.

Safety and governance is critical to compliance with regulatory agencies like OSHA and EPA. The same goes for voluntary standards like OHSAS 18001 and ISO 14001. As with any compliance initiative, the key is visibility and control over processes. Automated tools like employee training and document control make this possible.

EHS and Quality-centric organizations require training for all types of regulations. This is so personnel have the vital education, training, and experience necessary to perform assigned duties—which, in the grand scheme of things, will force the safety of public goods and regulate commerce.

If leveraged correctly, this will help businesses do just that, and save on resources and risk in the long run. Knowing how to manage and assess situations can drastically reduce the likelihood of adverse events.

Document control simplifies processes while making them less prone to human error. When new documents are added to the system, they can be routed immediately. This assists training because once routed, the document control system provides a seamless transition from document, to approval, to training. From there, administrators can access employee folders to determine whether there was enough training administered to handle situations—and, if not, distribute more. The training will show complete by pass or fail score.

Ensuring overall safety fosters a high level of control and ensures a highly-trained workforce, which in the long run breaks down silos of a blocked off solution, creating a wholesome practice.

Safety is the number one priority for EHS professionals, and sustaining it paves the way for new responsibilities. It also keeps risk at a minimum and regulatory compliance in check. Smoothing practices over with automation tracks leading rather than lagging indicators, collecting data on near-misses and good saves, and focusing on the right goals to build company sustainability.

Company sustainability helps reduce energy, minimize waste, and prevent unwanted releases. This saves company money and resources by staying ahead.

Document control is a cyclical process. Since the market constantly changes, it makes sense to enact short-term changes daily to benefit the long term. Incorporating these changes through automation reduces the amount of time spent producing reports and offers readily accessible information. 

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Emily Ysaguirre is a writer for VERSE Solutions, a cloud-based compliance management software solution that helps automate the processes surrounding quality, compliance, and environmental health and safety. Learn more about VERSE by visiting www.versesolutions.com or blog.versesolutions.com.