SA Bioproducts, a local manufacturer of fermentation fine chemicals serving the global nutrition and healthcare markets, has boosted its standards of safety, health and the environment with the Aurora Incident Reporting system.
The system was instrumental in assisting SA Bioproducts to achieve ISO 9001:2000 certification.
Incident Reporting forms part of the Aurora SHE-Q offering, developed and implemented by ApplyIT, the South African software solution provider to the process manufacturing industry. The system enables easy incident classification, simple reporting, a thorough investigation framework, e-mail-driven workflow and an in-depth trend tracking capability.
Traditionally, incident reporting is a time-consuming paper-based process, involving completion of an incident report, which is then handed over to an investigator for enquiry. During the investigation process, the incident report is often passed from one person to another for comment/review, after which it is filed away without learning points or preventative actions being effectively followed up.
SA Bioproducts found that this process was difficult to manage and added little value. Tracing the progress of incident reports and monitoring historical trends was a challenge. Learning points were not shared adequately across the organisation and it was difficult to track the actions that arose out of an investigation.
"The Incident Reporting system in Aurora SHE-Q is a powerful management tool that ensures detailed reporting based on precise incident classification," explains Gary Clancy, operations manager at SA Bioproducts. "All steps in the process are tightly audited and controlled, and the integrity of the data is maintained."
The software is accessible across the entire organisation and all employees are encouraged to make use of the system to report any incident, non-conformance or near miss. When incidents are reported, it is important that they are classified correctly in Aurora so that the system can prompt the user to record only relevant information. In order to do this, users are guided through a serious of questions whereby the system classifies the incident according to type and severity.
"Aurora is simple and user-friendly and employees at SA Bioproducts are encouraged to report every incident, regardless of the degree of severity. Valuable lessons can then be shared and measures put in place to prevent the same incident occurring again," says Clancy.
The system is linked to a task manager. All preventative actions arising from an investigation are raised as formal tasks in the system, allocated to specific personnel and tracked and monitored to ensure they are brought to completion.
"Actions remain outstanding until completed and signed off by the person responsible - a useful loop-closing tool to encourage disciplined reporting and ensure learning points are carried through to execution," adds Clancy.
The system uses e-mail to communicate the progress of an incident investigation, notify people of actions required, and share learning points across all levels in the organisation.
Statistical information provides the company with a constant flow of clear indicators showing the effectiveness of the plant`s incident management programme, as well as helping to identify specific problems that need addressing. Root cause analysis techniques are built into the investigation process to assist incident investigation teams identify preventative measures that deal with the root causes of the incident.
"Since the implementation of the tool at SA Bioproducts, there is a heightened awareness across the organisation of incident-causing actions and the importance of safety measures," says Gavin Halse, MD of ApplyIT.
"The success of this tool shows the combination of well defined incident management procedures with the right technology in an environment where people are encouraged to put these into practice."
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