“Which electronic health and safety management system should we install?. We want something that will link ISO 9001, ISO14001, and ISO 45001, be easy to install and use and not cost a fortune in licenses”. From one of my clients.
We couldn’t advise, so we opened it up to 12 of our other sympathetic and engaged clients who were of medium or large size to find out what their thoughts were. Were any of them using the main recommended leading industry software packages which are said to be Zebsoft, Quintic, ProActive, PQMiS, Trackmedium eQMS, Process Street / share point. Six of our clients were not able to respond. Our contacts were either too busy or were not using anything which they could usefully report back to us with.
These were some of the comments from three of the others.
#1. I can certainly see the appeal of a well-rounded software solution, but they are all lacking in some way or another, inevitably they will mostly revert to word for a form and excel for a database – We all do!
#2. The short answer is no, most companies I have worked for have had a person i.e. me, to implement and manage the standards. There are systems out there but can get quite expensive. Even having a system to just do your legal compliance register is over a £1000, per year. Looked at this several times. Personally I would always want someone internal at the business who knows what is going on day by day so that the standards are aligned with that but still meeting compliance.
#3. I have used a couple of these software packages, and they are all the same, some have slightly better bits that work better than other, but they all also have bits that will drive you mad.
My single bit of advice would be to look at all of them, and them once they have had the salespeople demo them, they will see which system works best for them, as we all work slightly differently.
Plus, this is part of their ISO45001 by letting the users have their input into the selection of the system they are using.
Unless there is a cost issue, then go the cheapest and then moan about it for the next 5 years.
Although this is a long way from being a scientific study; it is hardly a representative size, however I was surprised by the lack of anything greatly positive that said, “Yes, this is the solution, it’s the answer to all our prayers”. If I were to summarise the whole response in one single word, it would be – ‘Muted’.
Maybe a wider debate on LinkedIn would be the wisest thing, however, due to the shortage of time, my client has opted to go for one of the units mentioned and try and shape it to their organisation as best they can.
