How Health and Safety Software Began and Evolved
Ever since the beginning, safety professionals have all been focused on finding ways to make the performance of their programs more efficient. So what is the origin of this? Where did this all come from and how did it evolve to what we know now as health and safety software?
Defining the software cannot be done in just one explanation, as it can mean different things to different individuals and organizations. For certain companies and establishments, it can be as simple as a way to track and be updated on claims, accidents, injuries and so on. On the other hand, there are companies that work with audit tracking, leading indicator tracking and corrective action tracking - therefore, this means that there is a different purpose for the Beakon WHS software. The bigger and more complex companies also describes their safety software differently than the mentioned earlier - these large companies track sustainability efforts and the reduction and elimination of greenhouse gases. It can be challenging for the manufacturing companies or the creators to design a software that can actually be flexible in doing all these things at the same time.
To better understand the concept, it is best to first be aware on the history and story behind what we know today. In the early 80's, health and safety work was simply done in paper. You can easily spot the professionals in-charge as they are the ones holding papers, folders and binders, and have stacks and stacks of those in shelves. It was very rare to see computers being used during these times. It was only in the later 1980's when the first online learning management system and safety and health software was actually used.
The system then was run by DOS, and this was responsible for reporting and providing information on accidents, injuries and claims that were taking place. But at the time, all the necessary files and information were still being keyed- in by administrators or the assistants. But when computers advanced and improved through time, that's when the concept got more creative. One of the most notable employee training sheets and trackers was the Lotus.
The compliance management system was then started as the 90's arrived. It was not as pleasant as it sounds but fact remains - it was effective. If there was a set-back or a downfall with this, it is that implementing proved to be complicated and not easy. There was usually a certain group of people who had to come and visit at a scheduled time and type in the necessary details into the system itself.