Logistics News

Scott Corp ramps up risk management

Exclusive: Transport and Logistics provider Scott Corporation implements Salvus from ComOps to mitigate risk and enhance safety

By <a href="mailto:agamelopata@acpmagazines.com.au“>Anna Game-Lopata | December 10, 2010

For Scott Corporation, Australia’s leading specialist transporter of bulk solids and hazardous materials, risk management is a critical discipline.

Not only do the goods that it transports entail risk, but the company operates amidst a sea of legislative and regulatory requirements that have the ability to profoundly affect its – and its clients – businesses.

Therefore, identifying, assessing and mitigating risk is a serious concern for all Scott Corporation stakeholders.

The transport and logistics company operates by road, rail and sea, carrying solids such as coal, minerals and construction materials and dangerous goods including liquids, chemicals and acids. It is renowned for a track record of safe, reliable and cost-effective deliveries.

Until recently Scott Corporation used a number of in-house developed Lotus Notes-based applications to help manage health and safety issues such as risk and hazard audits, incident reporting, equipment maintenance and calibration, contractor management, certification compliance including equipment licensing, drivers’ licenses and medical information.

It’s all essential data that needs to be accessed frequently.
Every time a tanker is booked for a job, Scott Corporation personnel have to quickly identify and access specialised equipment such as the right hoses for the goods. They also have to know that the equipment has the latest certification.

Scott Corporation’s problem was that its applications differed from division to division and were not web enabled, making them difficult to access remotely or to manage across multiple sites.

Equipment maintenance data, for example, was stored in multiple databases.

By 2008, under an increasing burden of legislation, the company decided to move to a single, integrated OHS system that would unify and enhance management of safety, health and environment related data across its 20 offices and two operating divisions.

Scott Corporation Information Systems Manager Ross Pavey says the company
wanted a solution that would help manage and mitigate risk.

“We
wanted a solution that would monitor and manage staff, contractor and equipment certification records,” Pavey explains.
“We need to know which trucks are certified to handle hazardous cargoes and which drivers have the right certifications to match.”

SALVUS THE ANSWER

A Scott Corp Project Team was established and began researching safety and risk management solutions by visiting safety exhibitions and shows, speaking to software vendors, attending workshops and demonstrations.

The team created a short-list of potential vendors, then conducted a gap analysis to identify what Scott Corporation already had, what it wanted and what was available in the market place.

Initially, the system would be required to support approximately 30 users but Pavey was keen to ensure scalability to allow for future company growth.

Reporting had to be comprehensive plus OHS staff wanted to be able to extract data from the system to integrate into other Microsoft software-based reports. There had to be
a single point entry for users and above all, the software had to be easy to use.

“We realised that we had three choices,” Pavey says.

“We could purchase the Salvus solution from ComOps; we could buy an alternative short listed system; or we could redevelop our current system.

“In the end we chose Salvus because it has all the functionality that we require plus it has a solid base of customers across a wide field of operations. The other important factor was that ComOps demonstrated an implementation methodology that was appropriate to our requirements.”

In mid 2009, a recommendation to deploy the Salvus modules including incident analysis, hazard identification and risk assessment, personnel, training records, contractor management and equipment maintenance was presented to Scott Corporation’s board.
It was soon approved and deployment began almost immediately.

SUCCESSFUL GO-LIVE

When the new system went live, the reception from compliance officers, business coordinators, branch managers, supervisors and training officers was tremendous.

“They love the granularity of reporting, the breadth of information, the workflows, the automated email triggers and notifications,” Pavey says.

“Salvus has centralised the reporting of incidents making it easier to identify emerging safety or risk trends, issue early alerts and has increased the company’s ability to take preventative action. It has also increased visibility into the frequency and handling of incidents and brought greater accountability.”

All certification data – such as vehicle certifications and drivers licenses – is now entered into Salvus as a matter of course.
As renewals are required, the system prompts the appropriate manager with an automated alert, reminding them of whatever action needs to be taken.

Workflows have been built into the system to step staff and managers through standard safety and risk management activities and processes. These workflows help to ensure steady progress (and where necessary, resolution) of activity while at the same time thoroughly documenting compliance-related data such as times, dates and approvals.

Reporting has dramatically improved at all levels of the organisation and it’s still being refined.

“We’re now going through the final phase of preparing dashboard reporting from the system,” Pavey says.

“The dashboard will show performance against key performance indicators including the frequency of incidents and time lost to injuries.
It will mine data around incidents and audits, rolling it all into a detailed, accurate monthly report for our national safety manager to present to the Board.

“Previously these reports were manually compiled with data coming from various sources, so the idea of a dashboard is a feature that is being warmly welcomed. It’s going to save a great deal of time,” Pavey enthuses.

Previous ArticleNext Article
Send this to a friend