How can you effectively monitor HSE regulations and ensure compliance?
Faced with the multitude of regulatory texts and requirements applicable in every sector of activity, the HSE regulatory monitoring process cannot be taken lightly: rigor, method and expertise are required.
However, despite its indispensability, it is not always systematized within organizations, due to lack of time, resources, tools or knowledge.
As the manager of a site, an industrial group or an HSE function within your company (health and safety manager, environmental manager, HSE coordinator, etc.), you understand the importance of this approach.
How do you set up an HSE regulatory watch and define effective action plans to manage your compliance? Here's a complete guide on the subject!
What is the purpose of regulatory monitoring?
An HSE regulatory watch is an organized and formalized approach within a company, with the aim of :
- detect,
- analyze,
- detect, analyze and make use of information relating to regulations applicable to its operations.
It enables any organization to be aware of its obligations, in order to organize and monitor the compliance of :
- its activities,
- its equipment
- infrastructures,
- processes.
In particular, it serves to limit the risks of non-compliance, with positive spin-offs such as :
- reduction of certain costs (e.g. fines or non-indemnification in the event of accidents or claims),
- sound management of labor relations,
- lower accident rates,
- maintaining productivity, etc.
☝️ This monitoring activity is even becoming a necessity for all companies with ISO 14001, ISO 50001, OHSAS 18001 or ISO 45001 certified management systems. It is imperative that they keep abreast of regulatory developments.
6 steps to an effective regulatory watch
Step 1: Define your monitoring methodology
You can organize your monitoring activity by adopting a project-based approach. By allocating time, objectives, resources and responsible people to the process, you can guarantee its effectiveness.
Start by framing your project:
- identify your objectives: what do you expect from the monitoring procedure? Identifying precise operational results will optimize the time you devote to it;
- Set aside time for its implementation: to deploy your monitoring activity and make it exist as such, allocate formal time to it in your schedules;
- appoint a project manager: define the role of the regulatory watch manager, and of the other players involved in the project, both internal and external (management, employee representatives, local authorities, shareholders, etc.);
- define the scope of your regulatory watch:
- What information are you looking for?
- What form or format will it take?
- According to what criteria? (how often will the database be updated, how will it be used for conformity assessment, etc.);
- determine the means to be put in place: in addition to human and financial resources, what means are required: tools, training, budget, etc.?
💡 Whether you choose to run your intelligence project in-house or outsource it, you can detail all project-related expectations in clear, precise specifications. This way, the process will meet the organization's needs, and everyone involved will be able to refer to it.
Step 2: Identify reliable and relevant sources
Depending on your industry or field of activity, sort through all existing sources of information, retaining only the most relevant.
To do this, list all the regulations and texts applicable to the HSE compliance activities of your site or industrial group.
When making your selection, give priority to regulatory sources (legal texts, ministerial decrees, etc.) rather than popularized content, which is more accessible but often simplified. This type of source may make it easier to understand and summarize requirements, but the official text must prevail.
Finally, focus your monitoring on the regulatory requirements applicable to your company's activity.
Step 3: Draw up a regulatory reference framework
Once the sources have been identified, you can build your regulatory repository, to structure your information gathering. This is a register or document base containing all the regulatory requirements applicable to your organization and its specific features:
- business sector,
- number of employees
- legal status,
- ICPE classification, etc.
To guide your research and classify the information, you can create a logical tree structure, using themes specific to your organization, then subdivide into sub-directories.
List all applicable texts and make sure to associate them with key information such as :
- type,
- title
- creation/update date
- source, etc.
💡 It will also be important to identify which medium to use (spreadsheet, project/task management software, etc.) for a practical repository that is useful to everyone and easy to update.
Step 4: Process and analyze HSE information
Once all the information has been collected, centralized and classified, the aim is to process it so that it can be used for the company's needs.
This requires an in-depth analysis of the regulatory texts, sometimes drawing on legal or technical skills not always possessed by the company's HSE function.
In this case, you'll need to identify experts capable of scrupulously analyzing each document, cross-referencing information and making it comprehensible to all concerned in the company.
💡 You might also consider using a dedicated tool for this tedious and complex step, especially if you don't have all the particular skills in a technical field, nor sufficient legal background. We'll come back to this question of specialized software later in the article.
Step 5: Share your intelligence content
The results and deliverables of your regulatory watch must be disseminated to all relevant people in the company, whose activities are directly impacted:
- set up a strategy and means of communication to carry out this transmission (email, thematic feed on the intranet, project management software or collaborative platform, etc.) ;
- disclose all relevant information: reference texts, expert interpretations, recommendations and expected deadlines;
- provide references or additional documentation to support the implementation of new regulations.
Step 6: Prepare for HSE compliance assessment
The HSE regulatory watch is also a preparatory step for the conformity assessment. Continuous and rigorous observation of the technical and legal standards landscape enables you to compare theoretical requirements with the way they are applied in practice within your organization.
The monitoring activity must make the information gathered usable in order to :
- anticipate regulatory changes in order to prepare for compliance, where necessary ;
- measure the company's compliance rate by checking that processes, infrastructures, equipment, etc. comply with the regulatory framework;
- demonstrate ongoing compliance operations, in the event of an inspection, with the establishment of an action plan for each non-compliance identified.
What tools can simplify your HSE regulatory watch?
As you can see, managing HSE regulatory monitoring is crucial for any company wishing to comply with the law and protect its employees. However, it can quickly become an arduous and time-consuming task, requiring rigorous organization.
In this context, digital technologies, and in particular specialized software, offer multiple advantages.
The editors of these solutions already integrate this monitoring work, to keep them up to date with regulatory developments. What's more, these tools enable you to centralize information (your repositories, your single document, etc.), making it more accessible and manageable. Last but not least, a good QHSE software package includes dynamic dashboards providing up-to-date data on your organization's situation and the actions undertaken to bring it into compliance.
All the more reason to save time and improve the accuracy of your HSE monitoring work!
⚒️ Examples of tools :
- Previsoft is a powerful, collaborative online software package dedicated to occupational health and safety management. Previsoft's consultants keep a constant watch on regulations, so they can support you in your QHSE policy and keep the solution compliant. In terms of functionalities, the platform helps you to assess risks, edit your DUERP, and then deploy the necessary actions to reduce them, in line with the regulations for your sector.
- Red-on-line is a comprehensive, flexible solution that includes tailored content and personalized services to facilitate your HSE regulatory watch. In particular, you can benefit from comprehensive regulatory repositories tailored to each of your operational sites, the support of internationally-based HSE legal experts, and tools to better manage your compliance processes.
Final tips to ensure your HSE regulatory compliance
To conclude, here are a few best practices you can apply to make the most of your regulatory watch:
- keep the database up to date: set up tracking and alerts on the texts in your document pool, so you can stay up to date and regularly reassess your level of compliance;
- define indicators to measure both the status of your watch and the progress of your action plan, assessing the impact of your corrective actions, and adjusting if necessary;
- prioritize requirements and associated risks for any non-conformity, so you can prioritize your actions more effectively;
- capitalize on collaborative work: gather feedback on the implementation of your approach, so you can always put its effectiveness and added value into perspective. You're part of a continuous improvement process, optimizing the overall process so that everyone wins.
Article translated from French