Occupational-Health-Software

Emergency Management

2010-04-30T10:15:00.001-04:00

Emergency Management, in the context of risk management, refers to the discipline of dealing with and, if possible, avoiding foreseeable risks. There are three key components to Emergency Management: Mitigation, Preparedness & Response and finally Recovery.

Mitigation – The process of assessing possible risks and taking preventative actions; i.e. isolating hazardous chemicals to secure employee safety.

Preparedness & Response – The process of preparing adequate contingency plans in the event of an emergency, determining how they will be implemented and by whom; i.e. how to care for employees exposed to hazard(s).

Recovery – The process of preparing detailed plans with action points and/or corrective actions; i.e. knowing how the organization will alleviate the hazard(s), move forward with employee care, public relations, etc.

Risk Assessment

2010-04-30T10:12:00.000-04:00

A fundamental component of risk management is the process of risk assessment. During this stage of the risk management process, before an organization may implement a risk management plan, they must determine the core quantitative and qualitative values of risk related to a project.

Quantitative: Broken into two parts:
- The likelihood of occurrence
- The calculation of an assets expected capital loss; i.e. loss of raw materials
Qualitative: Broken into two parts:
- The likelihood of occurrence
- The calculation of an assets expected intangible loss; i.e. goodwill

Risk Management Communication

2010-04-27T12:48:00.000-04:00

While it is neither practical nor cost effective for an organization to attempt to totally eliminate risk, they must accept some level of residual risk; however, this does not mean that risk managers shouldn’t be proactive in preempting unnecessary risk. To accomplish this task, their greatest tool is effective risk communication.

The central goal of risk communication is to improve the collection and dispersal of data within an organization. With improved data flow, managers are better able to make informed, accurate decisions.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, risk communication professionals should:
- Listen to specific concerns
- Operate openly
- Coordinate and collaborate with other parties

Risk & Project Management:

2010-04-27T12:46:00.000-04:00

To effectively mitigate risk when implementing organizational initiatives or projects, risk & project managers should be advised to do the following:

- Determine how risk will be managed; ensure there is a clear plan of action and emergency capital. Questions to ask are: How will this risk be resolved? By and with what means? When? By Whom?
- Indicate a clear chain of command; detailed responsibilities and action points are vital.
- Ensure all team members have clear communication channels by which they may report foreseen risk in the project.
- Maintain an accurate project database. Risks should be ordered by date, probability, importance and cost.

Enterprise Risk Management

2010-04-23T12:16:00.000-04:00

Enterprise Risk Management, or ERM, is a framework, or simply a series of methods and processes, used by organizations to manage risks and seize opportunities related to organizational objectives.

This framework is typically condition based. Usually, it involves identifying particular circumstances or a series of conditions related to an organization’s objectives. Once identified, they are assessed and ordered, often in terms of their likelihood, magnitude of impact or response strategy.

By acting proactively and addressing risks and seizing opportunities, an organization is better able to protect, but more importantly, create value for its stakeholders.

Principals of Risk Management

2010-04-23T12:14:00.001-04:00

Through implementation of Risk Management, there are a number of guiding principals that, when applied to an organization’s solution, should bring about meaningful change. For example, the International Organization for Standardization has identified the following 10 principals as being of particular importance for any risk management program:

Risk Management should:
• create intrinsic value for the organization.
• be an integral part of organizational processes & decision making.
• explicitly address uncertainty.
• be systematic and structured.
• be based on the best available information.
• be tailored.
• take into account human factors.
• be transparent and inclusive.
• be dynamic, iterative and responsive to change.
• be capable of continual improvement and enhancement.

What is an Occupational Health Software solution?

2010-03-10T16:14:00.000-05:00

Before you can understand the importance of a solution, you first have to fully understand the scope of Occupational Health and safety (OHS) itself. OH&S issues are actually part of a larger set of issues called Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) issues; they are all interrelated. Whether a company chooses to look at the big picture or focus on managing a smaller sub-set of EHS is determined by the scope of the issues facing the organization.

The goal of occupational health and safety software is to maintain and enhance health, improve safety, and increase productivity by compiling data and finding any meaningful relationships that may exist within the data. This is not only beneficial for the employee, as the compliance benefits for any given organization are undeniable. By remaining compliant an organization is better able to mitigate the risks of workers compensation losses and Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) fines. In uncertain economic times, every dollar is critical.

While there are a number of firms who provide Occupational Health software solutions, none are as complete or functional as DataPipe EHS Software - when considering flexibility and return on investment. DataPipe is a modular solution that will allow your organization to piece together a program that meets your unique specifications, at a reasonable cost.

Knowing and understanding the Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) laws will help you avoid the unnecessary costs and damage to your business caused by workplace injury and illness. NIOSH and other websites are a good source of this information.

OHS Management Systems

2010-03-10T16:12:00.000-05:00

Almost everyone can recognize the benefits of investments in OHS Safety management when it comes to the basics of putting locks on the office door or the factory gate. Equally, the benefits of significant investments in security measures are obvious when an organization wishes to operate in a high threat environment; however, catastrophic risk is ever present in all fields. Because of this, organizations must look beyond the basic solutions to mitigate risk. This is where OHS management systems come in.

OHS management systems are designed to manage safety and health data, resulting in an incident-free workplace. The primary goal of the system is to prevent or reduce illnesses and injury for both contractors and employees by identify workplace hazards, as well as, assessing and controlling all the risks that an employee may face.

With OHS management systems, there are considerable financial advantages. For example, an OHS management system helps ensure compliance with OSHA legal requirements as well as streamlines data management by eliminating double-data entry. Additionally, the ability to operate in a high threat environment can offer competitive advantage to organizations who can operate where their competitors may not be able to (or at least may not be able to deploy as quickly). The challenge of course is that most organizations do not operate in either extremely low or extremely high threat environments. Most of us need to tailor the investment in security protection to meet the appropriate threats and opportunities.

Risk Managment Software to improve Safety in the Work Place

2009-06-30T13:01:00.003-04:00

As the economy staggers, one efficient method to cutting company cost is to maintain a safe working environment and engage in risk management software. With that said, it certainly is a difficult task to complete without an environmental health and safety software solution. Risk management software can be used to set action plans in the face of uncertainty by understanding issues related to risk, loss or other incidents that can negatively effect your business. Knorr Associates, DataPipe has the tools to analyze and identify risk in your organization. Common safety hazards that occur in workplaces consist of injuries, accidents, spills, and other onsite incidents. Risk management software has the ability to keep records of this data over many years and then allows the information to be analyzed and risks to be identified through various reporting tools. Other types of data that companies record include safety, the cost of cleanup, near misses, injuries on site, fires, automobile accidents, and chemical spills. The bottom line is simply, Risk management software will save a company time, money and lives.

Enterprise Risk Management Software

2009-05-14T11:55:00.003-04:00

Risk management software is a critical tool during this economic downturn. Clearly the cost of an accident is detrimental to the economics of an organization. Mitigating risk and preventing accidents all together can save a company money, and improve public relations and save lives. To do this an organization needs an EHS software solution (also referred to as HSE software). Finding a modular solution is critical because your organization will have different data management requirements then the next. So a software solution that can meet your needs and expand as you grow is critical. DataPipe is one such program and not only does this software cover all aspects of environment, health and safety but Knorr Associates has been doing EHS software for over 30 years and DataPipe is the result of this success. If you are looking for a solution to manage all your EHS data in one integrated location so that you can benefit from data mining, incident reporting, accident investigation and general risk management, review DataPipe and take part in an online demonstration. Visit Knorr Associates for more information.

Follow Knorr Associates on Twitter!

2009-04-14T15:24:00.001-04:00

Knorr Associates has started a twitter to keep the EHS Software community updated on DataPipe! Come follow our tweets here!

What other recourses are available to me on Risk Management?

2009-04-02T12:46:00.001-04:00

Risk management software resources are abound. You can start by reviewing the DataPipe suite of risk management modules and set up an online demonstration to see how the DataPipe risk management suite can help your organization mitigate risk. Also if you just want to learn more about risk management you can visit this wiki link to start.

What is the DataPipe Risk Management Software Philosophy?

2009-04-02T11:46:00.000-04:00

Risk management software will save a company time, money and lives. The software’s main purpose is to identify risk that will harm, hinder or hurt a company’s employees, investments, reputation, image, ROI, and bottom line. Once identified there are 4 main ways to deal with this risk - Risk Avoidance (stop doing what is causing the risk), Risk Reduction (mitigate the risk), Risk Retention (sometimes it is just simpler, less expensive and less risky to just deal with it), and Risk Transfer (passing the buck – the most common example here is retaining an insurance policy or hiring a third party to deal with it). In all cases the first and most crucial step is identification. And without risk management software tracking years of data that can be analyzed for trends, this becomes tedious and improbable.
DataPipe simply put is "risk assessment software" or "risk management" software. It manages risk from the top down. Utilizing a state of the art interface and sophisticated reporting, you can look at your operations in a brand new way. And in doing so, recognize the changes that need to be made to lower risk and maximize your ROI. There isn't just one risk management module. Risk Management covers a swath of useful modules that can all work seamlessly together to make an impact on mitigation of risk, saving lives and reduction of spending throughout an organization.

How Can Risk Management Software Help My Organization?

2009-04-02T10:25:00.002-04:00

Risk management software can help an organization in many ways. By analyzing data that has been record over many years and sometimes decades, organizations can find cost saving trends. Type of data that companies record include safety, the cost of cleanup, near misses, injuries on site, fires, automobile accidents, chemical spills and others. By running reports that provide a list of incidents, their cost, number of people involved and when they occurred for example, you can plot these on a graph and trends will start to occur. For example, you mind find that this graph spikes in July each year where without this reporting tool you would never have noticed. Upon deeper inspection you see that a certain facility has a problem with a process due to the heat in July that has lead to a larger number of incidents. Or you may find that because of the heat, more employees are getting hurt. These are simplified examples but by looking at years of data, trends begin to emerge that have saved companies millions not to mention prevented accidents and helped to clean up a public relations image. For more information on risk management software, click here.

Risk Management Software

2009-03-24T13:52:00.000-04:00

Definition: Software that manages risk from the top down, utilizing state of the art interfaces and sophisticated reporting. This tool can look at your operations from an angle previously unattainable to determine past, current and future risk, thus allowing you to take preventative action to mitigate the possibility of injury or loss. And in doing so, recognize the changes that need to be made to lower risk and maximize your ROI.

DataPipe simply put is "risk assessment software" or "risk management" software. It manages risk from the top down. Utilizing a state of the art interface and sophisticated reporting, you can look at your operations in a brand new way. And in doing so, recognize the changes that need to be made to lower risk and maximize your ROI. There isn't just one risk management module. Risk Management covers a swath of useful modules that can all work seamlessly together to make an impact on mitigation of risk, saving lives and reduction of spending throughout an organization.

What is the OSHA 300 Log??

2009-03-17T15:46:00.004-04:00

The OSHA 300 log is a form created by the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration that documents work related illnesses and injuries. The ultimate goal of filling out this form is to prevent future repeats of similar incidents. Examples of work related injuries and illnesses that can be recorded consists of death, loss of consciousness, restricted work activities, medical treatment sought after, and days off. Although completing the OSHA 300 form may be a tedious task, with the help of DataPipe’s injury and illness module and its sophisticated OSHA 300 Log reporting, it can be automated and save you time and money. There are many aspects of your EHS program that can be automated using triggers, external processes, schedulers, auto-email notifications, and ticklers for due/done notification. To read more about OSHA 300 click here.

Risk Management

2008-11-25T14:42:00.006-05:00

DataPipe EHS software has a Risk Management component that helps customers identify and mitigate risk. the software is broken up into two areas. Data input and reporting. The data input forms allow users to enter incidents, injuries, near misses plus various health and environmental issues that occur on site. Over time, data from these various incidents and events can be analyzed in the DataPipe reporting system. Risk management really becomes the analysis of this data in order to find trends that can lead to safety concerns. The idea is to look for trends - peeks or troughs in the graphs, spikes in the numbers, unusual occurrences over large spans of time and attempt to correlate safety issues and expenditures with facility practices. Realization through data analysis is the key. learning that a specific action can lead to a costly safety issue is the most important step in the mitigation and. The DataPipe reporting tools allow you to manipulate your data in ways you would have never been able to before, thus uncovering these potential hazards. Making changes to your practices based the data uncovered is the final step in removing or lessening risk on site. Risk management software like DataPipe can save money, lives and improve public relations for any organization.

Risk Management Software

2008-11-25T10:54:00.003-05:00

Risk management is an essential factor in organizations today. Being able to asses and mitigate risk can save companies millions of dollars, not to mention the overall improvement that can come to the employees. Risk management starts with data. Your company wide safety issues must be recorded in detail in a risk management software solution such as DataPipe. After months and years of data collection you can begin the second phase - data analysis and data mining. Risk management software reporting tools like the ones found in DataPipe can assist you in looking at your data in various ways. Trending your data with graphs and charts can uncover hidden risk that you would not have seen without these tools. Once you find a reoccurring risk in your data, the final step is to manage it. Find out for example what is causing a spike in safety concerns at this facility and at that plant during winter months on the night shift. Perhaps you will learn that black ice forms outside a busy facility that has caused numerous injuries. The fact that you see a spike on that shift leads you to the culprit and changes can be made. Now, you will have less workers out for medical leave. This results to a loward cost in doing business and you have even made working conditions safer for your employees. This is simply one example of risk management and using a risk management software solution such as DataPipe you can uncover many trends that will increase your organizations return on investment over and over again. Learn more about risk management software on the Knorr Associates website.

New Modules

2008-09-03T10:56:00.006-04:00

A software solution cannot be kept up to date without constant improvements. DataPipe is a complete environmental health and safety software (covering Environment & Waste Mgmt, Occupational Health & Medical, and Safety & Industrial Hygiene.) Knorr Associates is always improving DataPipe to better suit the customer's needs. With already over more than 100 modules covering all areas of EHS, Knorr Associates has recently released two new modules called “HAND ACTIVITY” and "LIFTING". Hand Activity considers the frequency and level of effort by employees in various work related hand activities. It can document existing conditions or assess a proposed task. In addition, it compares a task’s frequency and level of effort to the Action Limit and TLV for the activity. The lifting module can record and document a current condition or evaluate a proposed task. It also calculates the lifting TLV and compares it to actual conditions. Both modules come with full reporting capabilities. For more information and a demo of this or other modules please register here.

Environmental Safety and Health Software

2008-07-29T10:38:00.003-04:00

As companies worry over business affairs, keeping track of OSHA standards becomes very time consuming. To aid the process of record keeping, many companies have turned to Environmental Safety and Health Software. Environmental Safety and Health Software is made up of three components: Environment and Waste Managment, Occupational Health and Medical, and Safety and Industrial Hygiene modules. Environmental Safety and Health Software also known as Environmental Health and Safety Software is used to allow easy access to data and to help companies keep accurate and consise records. In addition to these functions, some software solutions also offer functions such as record reporting, PDA compabability, and others. Knorr Associates DataPipe Environmental Safety and Health Software is a modular system that offers companies many features to assist their record keeping.

OHS Software in daily lives

2008-07-28T10:22:00.004-04:00

Whether we recognize it or not, OHS software plays a crucial role in our working environment. Many workers do not know that their health and safety issues are being monitored by their employers. OHS software however, is used to the employees advantage. OHS software has the capability to keep records of what caused illnesses, where they occurred, and what was done to ensure it never happens again. With these records being reported back to the government, employees enjoy the advantage of being able to work without worries of obtaining health and safety issues. Although the main function of OHS software is to maintain these records. Some more advanced software offer a wider range of functions to maximize record keeping, for instance other features may include PDA capabilities, and analyzing and reporting. Knorr Associates DataPipe OHS software is not only functional in keeping track of records, but it also allows PDA questionnaires that can automatically be sent to the database and charted out in a report. With the wide varieties of software on the market, companies should consider what functions and what they need before purchasing any OHS software.

Making a choice in the best one...

2008-07-21T10:11:00.004-04:00

OHS Software (Occupational Health and Safety Software) is a very beneficial software for companies in recording data and reporting back to OSHA. However, with all the varieties of OHS Software available on the market, it is difficult to make the right decision. Before purchasing OHS Software, there is the long hassle of determining what the business needs from the software and the software's features and functions. To make the most of the OHS Software, businesses should not only consider what is presently needed, but also take into consideration future needs that will arise. A company must decide if they want a simple solution to their current problem, or a solution to there currently issue ontop of future problems. Other important features in OHS Software should include the ability to run reports which will be useful in assessing stored information to prevent further incidents. Most importantly, the buyer should be allowed the option of what they would like in the software. This would make the software a modular one and also save business a chunk of their wallet. Knorr Associates DataPipe Occupational Health and Safety Software is designed to not only meet these factors, but is constantly improving to satisfy users needs.
OHS Software (Occupational Health and Safety Software) is beneficial for companies required to record data and report back to OSHA. However, with many OHS Software solutions available on the market, it is difficult to make the right decision. Before purchasing OHS Software, a company must determine what their business requirements are and how a software's features and functions match up. To make the most of OHS Software, businesses should not only consider what is presently needed, but also take into consideration future needs. A company must decide if they want a one time fix software or a software that will adjust to future issues. OHS Software should also include the ability to run reports which are useful in assessing stored information to prevent further incidents.
Lastly, offering the software as a modular solution allows the buyer to pick and choose just the pieces they wish to work with now and gives them the option to add on at a later date. This usually translates to a cost savings to the client since they only pay for what they want. Knorr Associates DataPipe Occupational Health and Safety Software is designed to not only meet these factors, but is constantly improving to satisfy user's needs.

Risk Management Software

2008-07-08T10:54:00.005-04:00

Each move that a company makes is a risk. When organizations use risk management software they are able to analyze trends in an effort to decrease the likely hood of injury and illness. Decisions companies make may be harmful or beneficial to the company. To reduce the chance of injuries, risk management software is used as an aid in assessing risks within a business in order to mitigate potentially harmful damages.
Knorr Associates DataPipe has a modular risk management software component that is comprised of several modules. The DataPipe risk management software modules include injury and illness, fires, chemical spills, and many others.
Analyses can be run using the risk management software , in an effort to prevent these costly risks from reoccurring.

Safety Management Software

2008-07-01T09:11:00.009-04:00

Safety management software is often  used to assist companies in their safety record keeping. This record keeping  is very important because not only does it give a report on what is currently  taking place, but it may also provide a look into the future. Safety management software works efficiently to cover areas such as Injury and Illness, General Incidents, Respirator Fit Test, Personal Protective Equipment, Training Courses and Requirements  and much more. Some safety modules  that are included in this safety management software are,  incident reporting, risk management, audits and corrective actions, cost benefit and loss dollar analysis, and much  more. Knorr Associates DataPipe is a complete EHS software and safety management software, which works with over 100 customizable modules to  better suit your company in recording and analyzing safety.

Clinics and OHS Software

2008-06-30T14:31:00.011-04:00

OHS software is widely known for the role it plays in business industries. However, what organizations underestimate is how crucial OHS software can be in managing data within clinics. OHS software offers clinics an easy and convenient method to record occupational health data with a few clicks of the mouse. OHS software can easily store information regarding who saw which doctor, for what reasons did the patient report to the clinic, results of the appointment, what further action needs to be taken, and so on. Additionally, information about employees and the clinic environment can be stored in a secure manner. All of this stored information will better help clinics make sure that their patience receive the right care. Knorr Associates DataPipe, is an OHS software solution with customizable modules that can be used by clinics for up-to-date, extensive, clinic record tracking.

IH Software

2008-06-25T09:42:00.007-04:00

With the rapid growth of technology, businesses now have a better handle on industrial hygiene data through IH software. Industrial hygiene is devoted to the protection and improvement of the health and well-being of workers exposed to chemical and physical agents in their work place. These agents may include air quality, waste, and environmental factors. With the use of IH software, analysis and trending reports can be generated in order to predict future situations and prevent exposures from occurring. The regulations on industrial hygiene have become harder to manage manually. The benefit of IH software is quick and easy recording and access of IH data. IH software packages such as Knorr Associates DataPipe are
powerful tools that will assist companies in staying on track with their industrial hygiene.

OHS Software

2008-06-23T10:47:00.010-04:00

In recent years, Occupational Health and Safety Software (OHS) has been on a popularity rise within business industries. OHS software deals with the health, and safety of employees within a company and the public that surrounds it. With OHS software, companies receive the benefits of easily and efficiently recording their data. OHS standards first debuted as a issue in 1950 and was brought into the public eye by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO.) One of the most well known legislation's enacted to regulate OHS is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA.) As with other business environment, health and safety regulations, OHS follows strict regulations that is if compliance not met, could result in consequences such as fines and temporary facility shut downs. Knorr Associates DataPipe, is specifically designed to comply with these regulations and allow companies to conveniently access information dealing with Occupational Health and Safety using OHS Software.

An increasing awareness

2008-06-18T11:08:00.003-04:00

As goverment regulations become tighter, there is a growing need for companies to search for Occupational Health Software. Occupational Health Software has many benefits such as, the ability to record, report, and analyze. With Occupational Health Software, questionnaires, absences, hazardous materials, injury & illness, clinic visits, and much more can all be stored and analyzed with a few clicks of the mouse. DataPipe's Occupational Health Software allows for easy access to information regarding a company's occupational health status.

EHS Emissions Tracking

2008-06-16T13:37:00.007-04:00

Not only are "greenhouse gasses" a growing concern, but lack of emissions compliance can lead to very severe consequences ranging from fines to a forced shut down. Knorr Associates DataPipe's EHS emissions tracking module works to track and manage greenhouse gas emissions. Keeping a long running record of a company’s emission will help determine if a monthly cap on cumulative emissions is reached.

The DataPipe Source Tests module is a customizable module that tracks chemical and physical limits of any source and their results as time progresses. A"Source" can be any object that emits a testable substance. Tests are performed and recorded on these sources to ensure that there are no hazardous material being released that will affect employees.

Additionally, e mission factors work along with DataPipe’s Processes Module to calculate the quantity of an emission factor.

With the growing concerns and regulations on EHS emissions tracking, DataPipe offers users an effective and efficient method of record keeping for any chemical or physical limits that have been released over time.

OHS On the Go

2008-06-11T14:14:00.014-04:00

Organizations are required to report to federal agencies such as OSHA or EPA and comply with Occupational Heath and Environment, health and safety (EHS) regulations. Without the aid of an Occupational Health Software and EHS Software solutions such as Knorr Associates DataPipe, keeping track of the data can be a hassle, and actually cost an organization time and money. While most EHS software solutions are run on a desktop computer or laptop, Knorr Associates offers the ability to collect data via a PDA or hand-held device. The DataPipe questionnaires module allows a user to create custom surveys, audits and questionnaires. The user has total control over what the questions are, the question types, the order in which they are arranged, and so forth. The questionnaires can be downloaded to a PDA or hand-held and used out in the field to collect data. The responses can be immediately synced back to the main database.

DataPipe's mobile questionnaires module can be applied for use in administering medical surveys and histories. This way the individual filling out the survey only needs access to the PDA and not the data management tool itself, thus eliminating a data security risk. OSHA has posted a list of sample medical history questions here. Medical questionnaires are a vital part to any companies occupational health records, not only do they allow for easy access to medical information on a patient, they can also help to identify problems. Administering questionnaires without a mobile solution can be a hassle time consuming. The DataPipe mobile questionnaires would eliminate the need to type, print, and handwrite these questions along with their answers. Instead, the questionnaire will be collected on the PDA/Hand-held and synced in only a matter of minutes.

OHS?

2008-06-10T09:30:00.004-04:00

Occupational Health Software, (OHS) also referred to as Electronic Medical Records Software or Health Information Management System (HIMS), or Occupational Medicine Software allows organizations to track all the data related to their medical, clinic and health programs. Knorr Associates’ occupational heath software named DataPipe is an all-in-one software solution that is designed to record and manage data collected on illness and injury, absences, workers comp, medical tests and medical histories and many other aspects of workplace related health issues. Not only is this software an effective and efficient data management device, an organization can conveniently analyze and produce trends with the data that can ultimately uncover safety and health issues and save a company money. Health and safety play a crucial role in a successful business, not only inside the company, but also for the general public surrounding an organization. Whether the size of a business is big or small, DataPipe helps to keep a clean and safe workplace environment. Knorr Associates’ Occupational heath software is just one component within its full suite of Environment, health and safety modules.