Safe Operating Procedures

Legal Requirements for Safe Operating Procedures

Employers should ensure employees have knowledge of the processes, equipment and hazards of their tasks and workplaces

Where work is inherently hazardous and cannot be eliminated or isolated, employers must be able to demonstrate that an adequate safe procedure existed and was understood by all personnel

Why Safe Operating Procedures?

All work involving hazards that have the potential to cause incapacitating injury, and which cannot be adequately controlled in any other way, should be provided with a safe procedure. Employees must be able to demonstrate that they have understood and can competently carry out the procedure

How to complete Safe Operating Procedures using SafetyBase

Open a Safe Operating Procedure file under the Training heading. SafetyBase prompts you to create a basic Safe Operating Procedure which you can print and use

Using Tasks while completing Safe Operating Procedures

Tasks can be notifications, instructions, alerts or corrective actions associated with a particular file. You can add Tasks as you go during data entry, using the inline New Task button in your screen. You can also use the Toolbar at the bottom of your screen during data input, or the Tasks tab after you submit the file

As you create a file, SafetyBase may automatically set suggested Tasks, depending on some of your droplist selections. Watch for inline informational messages, which are there to alert you if a droplist might create an automatic Task

Please note that although these automatic Tasks may be created as helpful prompts, they do have generic wording, so you have the choice of creating Tasks yourself. This is advisable if you prefer the wording to be specific or personal. If appropriate, you can select the "Recurring" button, which lets you create a repeating schedule, (say, an inspection, review or check-up interval)

When any Task is set in the system, it will display in the form you created, a summary tab in the file and in the Task List of the person it is allocated to (Recurring Tasks don't show until they are due). Tasks are also e-mailed to the allocated person on the required number of days prior to the Due Date

A small number of tasks have been set as mandatory (example, reporting serious injuries to the statutory authority). These cannot be deleted

SafetyBase Tips and Tricks for managing Safe Operating Procedures

• Consider associating an electronic document (example, an existing Safe Operating Procedure, an image, pdf, spreadsheet, document, video etc), using the "Attach Documents" tab, or inline toolbar at the bottom of your screen while entering data. Record the document's details by completing the appropriate data fields, then click Attach Document. The document will upload and be available for viewing. Many file types will display as a thumbnail

• You can associate a SafetyBase file using the "Link Files" inline button on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen while entering data, or afterwards, using the Tasks tab (example, Hazard Details, Training Record or similar file that has direct relevance): Record the file's details by completing the appropriate data fields, then click ADD. Use the progressive filtering of the drop lists and ADD the file you want. The file will be linked. If you follow the link, the linked file will automatically have a link back to the file you came from

• Remember you can link People with this file type, using the "Associate People" inline button on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen while entering data, or afterwards, using the Associate People tab. Doing this will build an automatic safety history for each person, which you can view by clicking on the person's name anywhere in the account