IT in Manufacturing


HSEC Online simplifies health and safety compliance for companies

Technews Industry Guide: Sustainable Manufacturing 2021 IT in Manufacturing

Health and safety compliance is a vital area of focus for businesses and has become even more crucial as the world faces a global pandemic. In current times, it is essential for companies to ensure personal safety and to reduce downtime by being able to capture, store, proactively manage and share compliance information.


Ingrid Osborne.

System accessibility from anywhere

Recognising this need, Saryx Engineering Group launched a cloud-based solution that enables organisations of all sizes to proactively track and manage health and safety document compliance for the company, its people, and equipment. It is accessible on any device, from anywhere and at any time. Designed with the Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC) compliance of its own organisation in mind, and known as HSEC Online, the Saryx solution is currently being used by companies where the safety of employees working in ‘gated environments’ is a priority.

“Although we built the solution for internal use initially,” explains Ingrid Osborne, an electronic engineer and one of the company’s founders, “we quickly realised it had commercial viability and could provide significant help to many companies, particularly in these tough and complicated times.

“What’s more, while HSEC Online has been adopted by large corporates to manage their contractor compliance, it is also ideal for QSEs and SMMEs as these entities have to be just as compliant as large companies, but they seldom have the time or the resources to manage such things manually. With this, they have access to an affordable, automated system instead.”

Ideal for companies with limited resources

Cofounder Julie Mathieson, a computer scientist, adds that many companies provide services to large corporates and therefore need to be able to demonstrate a certain level of HSEC compliance. She further noted that the automated nature of HSEC Online is ideal for businesses that simply do not have staff to spare.

“Essentially, it makes them more aware of the various HSEC issues they face and what needs to be done each year to remain compliant, such as what documents need to be filed, where they must go and when it should be done,” she states. “This is a vast improvement on the previously used method, which was basically a physical ‘safety file’ that could easily become confusing and have missing documentation – and remember, you don’t really check what isn’t there – due to its manual nature. I would describe HSEC Online as providing a similar service in this arena as Internet banking does in eliminating the need to stand in a queue to see a teller: it is simple, efficient and saves you enormous amounts of time.”

Osborne points out that HSEC Online assists in significantly reducing the number of potential work hours lost in a scenario where an injury occurs. Depending on the industry sector, a business may find itself shut down while a thorough investigation is performed.

“Such an investigation can take from two to four weeks while the authorities check your records to ensure you were compliant with all safety regulations and had all the correct systems in place,” she adds. “After the many financial challenges already experienced during lockdown, how many companies can afford to lose up to another month’s worth of earnings?

“On the other hand, we have experienced instances where the clarity provided by our automated solution has enabled the authorities to investigate, clear the company and have their operations up and running again within 24 to 48 hours.”

Flexibility solves business compliance challenges

Mathieson says that the system is flexible enough to help companies control everything from legal issues to PPE management, not to mention audits, risk management, and of course all the required documentation around emergency procedures and organisational safety policies, in a safe and secure manner.

“We focused on making HSEC document management compliance as simple and intuitive as possible,” she concludes. “We understand that many companies have neither the time nor the staff to spend time learning how the system works. By making it user-friendly and smart, and by providing custom training support, HSEC Online is the ideal solution to solve business compliance challenges.”


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