Software solutions to ensure health, safety at mines

6th November 2020 By: Khutso Maphatsoe - journalist

Business management consultant Decision Inc. has implemented health and safety software solutions at iron-ore and manganese mines in the Northern Cape, amongst others.

The company offers their hiDocs, Contractor Management, and Risk Management solutions, all of which are compatible with any operating system.

“The hiDocs solution uses the Microsoft SharePoint platform and provides online and on-premise options to clients. It includes features such as document workflow and task management capabilities while making use of Microsoft Office authentication. HiDocs is designed to accelerate the mine’s compliance management of critical health and safety documents and removes the risk of noncompliance that typically comes in the form of hefty fines and potential mine closure,” explains Decision Inc. client partner Reinhard Burger.

Burger adds that the solution facilitates the generation, review and management of critical governance and compliance documentation, such as policies, procedures, agreements and templates, including documentation relevant to the Mine Health and Safety Act.

The platform provides controlled access to the latest document versions, he says, noting that assigned users and groups can create and review new documents and processes. These will, in turn, notify other designated users of any required actions and/or updates to documents.

“It reduces the time spent searching for documentation and ensures that the different divisions are operating with the latest compliance documentation,” Burger adds.

The Risk Management platform enables an organisation to access a complete enterprise management risk capability, thereby ensuring that it mitigates and minimises the impact and likelihood of known risks across the business.

“The solution assists a company in quantifying and controlling risk so that it can remain focused on more strategic priorities,” Burger states.

Moreover, the template-driven documentation ensures conformity to standards, while the automated workflows facilitate the reviewal and approval of risks published. This solution provides a secure environment and is accessible to all users across multiple channels.

Meanwhile, Contractor Management facilitates the onboarding and continuous management of contractor compliance status, keeping track of contractors’ documentation, assessments, as well as a registration of contractor sites.

“Site managers receive automated notifications of important events such as when a contractor’s documents required for compliance expire. The system also manages recurring activities, such as when contractors need to be audited or inspections need to be performed,” he says.

Burger comments that before the development or implementation of a solution, the Decision Inc. team spends time with the client to analyse and understand  their environment, their requirements and the stakeholders’ objectives. Decision Inc. then proposes the most appropriate solutions for the organisation.

“It is critical to understand the current business operations, rules, role players, and end-user touch points to determine how the problems should be solved. This phase also assists the company in designing “desired user journeys and the required functionality.”

He adds that a company will host workshops that will include its business process engineers, designers, and technical leads to extract, document and design the optimal solution architecture.

Further to this, the workshops provide clients with a holistic view of the relevant stakeholders, their interactions and supporting materials for the processes, as well as the systems to be considered.

The company has gained best practice experience through work on numerous projects and can consequently provide unique intellectual capital to help mines and other businesses drive risk mitigation, compliance and efficiency using sophisticated security mechanisms and operational insights.

“Forming part of the digital roadmap of a mine, Decision Inc. has a portfolio of solutions that reduce the risk of noncompliance, improve productivity, and enable our clients to run more efficient operations allowing them to better service their customers as a result,” he says.