Mannok Launches State of the Art Safety Hub

Mannok have invested in a state if the art health and safety and environmental management system, which is aimed at ensuring a zero harm environment. The new digital Safety Hub gives the organisation cloud based, centralised health and safety management across all of its nine divisions.
There has been a significant financial and resource investment in the new Hub, with the development project taking over 12 months and involving numerous personnel from every area of the business, as well as involvement of a large number of external contractors.
Speaking of the new Hub, Mannok’s Health and Safety Manager, Gerry Clancy said,
“Investing in a system like this demonstrates a serious commitment to improving health and safety, therefore making health and safety everybody’s responsibility, and it should ensure safer working and ensure our drive to Safer by Competence.”

A Complete Management Solution

The new Mannok Safety Hub uses Effective software for health and safety management, including the functionality to monitor and track any accidents, incidents and near misses, create and carry out audits and raise actions relating to all health and safety matters.
The Hub also allows Mannok to manage their employee training records and gives control of all contractors’ health and safety and training documentation.
Part of the Hub development project included the integration of Learn Upon training management software to create a uniquely tailored system which allows for the delivery of online video-based training and inductions.
Following a visit to Mannok’s facilities to see the new system in action, Ken Logan MBE of HSENI commended the company for the success of the Hub saying,
“It is quite clear that a lot of engagement has gone on in the development of the Hub. In my view, it is a fantastic management tool for the senior managers within the organisation. I’m really impressed with the real time effects of it.”
Speaking further about Mannok’s commitment to adopting a safer by competence policy in order to work towards a zero harm environment, Mr. Logan continued,
“The company culture has to be driven from the top, and that has been impressive. There are very few companies in Northern Ireland that actually take the time out to look at the direction in which they want to take the company.”

Health and Safety Management

The new system monitors and tracks all health and safety information across every area of the organisation. With nine different sites and over 800 employees, the centralisation of all health and safety records was important to achieve a holistic view, and to track the success of a range of health and safety initiatives across all divisions.
The beauty of the new system is that all information is now in real time. Previously, information was gathered and reports were based on the previous month’s activities, but everyone now has access, at the appropriate level, to the same up to date information.
Mannok are using the new system to improve their knowledge of what happens in the organisation, and where they can improve their processes going forward to ensure the safest working environment for all employees, contractors and visitors.
The Hub encourages a culture of accountability, with monitoring of all accidents, incidents and near misses throughout the business. Mannok also have the ability to audit and monitor how they are progressing with resolving issues as they arise.

Audits and Actions

Audits can be carried out on site using devices such as tablets or mobile phones via an app which is connected to the Hub. The audits are tailored to each area of the business, with the ability to design audit templates, and the functionality to upload site photos directly from the device on site. Audits can be scheduled in advance, and actions can be raised directly from within the audit templates and assigned to individuals throughout the company to complete.
This functionality has greatly improved efficiency throughout the organisation, with issues being raised and communicated in real-time without the need for time consuming paper based reports.
Actions on the new system can be raised directly from incident / accident investigations, hazards, audits, or ad hoc. There is a traceability for all actions that have been raised and an accountability. If it is assigned to a person, that individual most follow through, complete and close out the action.

Training Management

Given the scale and diversity of the Mannok organisation, managing the different training requirements across all divisions can be a challenge. The new system makes this much easier, and allows Mannok to ensure consistent delivery across all sites.
It’s easy to identify training requirements using the Hub, with a traffic light system in operation. Alerts are sent to the relevant managers in advance of any training that is due, allowing them to schedule training in line with operational needs.
With 814 employees, there is a vast range of training requirements, and the new system makes it easy to identify who needs to attend training, ensuring everyone is equipped with the relevant skills and qualifications to do their job. This training management system also helps to ensure compliance with all relevant legislation.

Contractor Management

One of the greatest challenges when developing the new Hub was the fact that Mannok have such a large number of contractors from all disciplines working across the business, all of which needed to be involved in the project.
The contractor module enables the company to have more secure contractor controls. Everything related to contractors, from their safety documentation, to their individual employees’ training records, is now in one central location.
This centralised record of all contractors includes storage of risk assessments, insurances, method statements and any plant certificates. Before the introduction of the Hub, the company relied on individual contractors to ensure all relevant training and documentation was in place for each of their employees. With the new system, the company now has control of this, ensuring compliance and traceability at all times.
The introduction of Learn Upon training software also enables some training to be delivered online via videos created by the company, including some site inductions. This means contractors can complete their inductions off site before they arrive at the Mannok facilities, allowing them to get to work immediately upon arrival, ensuring greater efficiency.

Health and Safety Culture

Mannok’s Director of Operations, Kevin Lunney, spoke of the implementation of the Hub, and how it is a long term investment which will continue to expand and evolve,
“Making a change like this requires a significant culture change, and we’ve had to involve all of the people from the factory floor to senior board level members of the company.
Ensuring the health and safety of our employees remains the most important thing that we can do in our daily work, and we need to ensure that we have the technology and the systems, and we continue to develop the system that we’ve now installed to ensure we maintain the highest standards going forward.”