👉 1st White Paper on the digitization of plant operational management 👈

How can I keep track of my teams' operational authorizations in 2023?

Introduction

Ensuring your employees' safety, complying with regulatory standards and, above all, optimizing your company's performance: find out why clearance tracking is an essential practice not to be overlooked. In this article, we'll explore the positive impact this strategy can have on your working environment, and how combining it with skills mapping, scheduling and annual training can propel your organization to success.

What is habilitation?

Authorization corresponds to the legal capacity to exercise certain powers and perform specific acts. Clearances play a crucial role in ensuring the safety, compliance and efficiency of operations. They designate the authorizations granted to individuals to perform certain tasks, handle equipment or gain access to restricted areas. They are defined in terms of the skills, knowledge and certifications required to perform specific activities. It is the employer's responsibility to ensure that the professional in question possesses this clearance prior to recruitment for work at height.

Presentation of the crucial importance of operational clearance follow-up in the professional world

In today's business world, where security, regulatory compliance and operational efficiency are major concerns, the tracking of operational clearances is of crucial importance. Furthermore, clearance tracking is of paramount importance in ensuring that only qualified and authorized people are assigned to particular responsibilities. This plays an essential role in accident prevention, risk management and the preservation of corporate reputation.

I. Employee safety

Accident and injury prevention

Tracking operational clearances significantly reduces the risk of accidents and injuries in the workplace. This helps protect the health and well-being of employees, while avoiding the costs associated with workplace accidents.

Operational authorizations

Reducing occupational risks

Operational authorizations play a key role in managing the occupational risks associated with specific tasks. They ensure that employees are trained and authorized to carry out these tasks safely, reducing the risk of errors, mishandling or incidents. As a result, a safer working environment is created, helping to prevent property damage.

Creating a secure working environment

Tracking operational clearances also fosters a culture of safety within the organization. Emphasizing employee training, qualification and authorization sends a strong message about the importance attached to safety. It encourages employees to be vigilant, to respect safety procedures and to adopt safe behaviors on a daily basis. A safe working environment boosts productivity, reduces accident-related absenteeism and boosts employee confidence.

II. Regulatory compliance

The importance of complying with current standards and regulations

Standards and regulations are put in place to ensure worker safety, prevent environmental risks and maintain ethical business practices. Operational clearance tracking enables companies to ensure that their employees are qualified and authorized to perform specific tasks in accordance with these standards and regulations. This helps to maintain high standards of safety and quality within the company.

Avoiding sanctions and legal consequences

Failure to comply with standards and regulations can result in financial sanctions, fines, penalties and even more serious legal consequences. By ensuring that operational clearances are properly tracked, and that employees comply with regulatory requirements, companies can avoid these costly and damaging sanctions. Clearance tracking documents proof of compliance and demonstrates the company's commitment to complying with current regulations.

Guaranteeing the company's reputation

A company's reputation is closely linked to its ability to comply with standards and regulations, which is essential for its long-term survival. Customers, business partners and stakeholders attach great importance to regulatory compliance. By demonstrating their commitment to compliance and security through the tracking of operational clearances, companies reinforce their reputation as a responsible business that cares about the quality of its products or services. You'll not only gain new business opportunities, you'll also have strengthened stakeholder confidence.

III. Skills mapping for effective monitoring

Definition and objectives of skills mapping

Competency mapping enables you to identify who can do what in your organization. You can manage your employees by allocating their skills, operational authorizations and all necessary information. The main objective is to identify skill gaps and implement measures to close them. It facilitates the definition of empowerment criteria and helps to define required skill levels.

When you understand the skills required for each position, it inevitably becomes easier to define the necessary clearances. In fact, this will enable you to make informed decisions on the clearances to be granted to each employee.

By comparing required skills with employees' actual skills, you'll then be better able to identify gaps. It also makes it easier toidentify training and developmentneeds to close these gaps.

Identify the skills required for each position

Competency mapping identifies the technical skills, specific knowledge and qualifications required for each position. It helps clarify the essential skills needed to perform tasks successfully, define empowerment criteria and establish performance standards for each role within the company.

Planning training and development needs

By identifying the skills required for each position, skills mapping facilitates the planning of employee training and development needs. It makes it possible to set up targeted training programs, design professional development plans and promote a culture of continuous learning within the organization. This process enables employees to develop the skills required to excel in their field, and to prepare for future developments.

IV. Schedules for optimal management of operational authorizations

Planning rotations and assignments based on authorizations

To make effective use of the skills of your operational teams, it is essential to plan rotations and assignments taking into account the operational skills of each member. Make sure you have a clear understanding of each employee's skills and qualifications, so that you can assign them to tasks corresponding to their clearance. In this way, you'll avoid problems of inappropriate access to resources and optimize your team's overall productivity.

Planning rotations is also crucial to maintaining a high level of skills in each team. By organizing regular rotations, you enable team members to acquire new skills and improve their versatility, thus enhancing your company's flexibility.

Tracking expiration dates and renewals

Operational authorizations do not last forever, and need to be renewed periodically. It is essential to keep a close eye on theexpiration dates of your operational teams'authorizations. Failure to do so can result in significant security and compliance risks for your company.

To avoid any disruption to business, set up an automated alert system to inform you in advance of operational authorizations about to expire. This way, you'll have the time you need to initiate renewal procedures, and your teams will be able to continue operating without interruption.

Optimizing human resources and workloads

Optimal management of operational authorizations also means optimizing human resources and distributing the workload evenly. Take into account each team member's clearance when planning projects and tasks. Take care to avoid situations where certain essential authorizations are concentrated on a limited number of employees, creating potential bottlenecks.

A balanced distribution of operational authorizations and tasks will improve your team's overall efficiency, while avoiding situations where some employees are overloaded and others under-utilized.

V. Annual training to maintain skills

Importance of regular training to update knowledge

Operational authorizations define the tasks and responsibilities that each employee is authorized to perform. By planning rotations and assignments according to these clearances, companies can ensure that the right people are assigned to the right tasks. So you can be sure that qualified and authorized employees are in charge of the activities assigned to them, contributing to safety, productivity and quality results.

Identifying training needs in line with industry trends

Operational authorizations have expiry dates, and it's essential to keep a close eye on them. When you plan and monitor expiry dates, you ensure that clearances are renewed on time. Training therefore helps to avoid situations where employees continue to perform tasks without the required clearances, thereby reducing risk and ensuring regulatory compliance.

Follow-up of training courses and certifications obtained

With strategic empowerment planning, companies can optimize the use of human resources. They are able to identify the operational capabilities of each employee, and then allocate tasks in a balanced way, taking into account the skills and availability of each individual. The result is simply maximized operational efficiency, reduced waiting times and optimized workloads for the whole team.

VI. Tools and best practices for monitoring operational authorizations

Use of authorization management systems

Companies can take advantage of operational authorization management systems to centralize and automate the monitoring process. These systems store information on employee authorizations, set reminders for renewals, and generate reports on compliance. They facilitate the traceability of authorizations and provide real-time visibility on the status of skills within the organization.

The role of skills planning and tracking software

Competency planning and tracking software can be used to effectively manage employee authorizations. These tools make it possible to view current clearances and expiry dates, plan training and renewals, and track changes in skills over time. They simplify authorization management, reduce administrative tasks and promote a proactive approach to skills management.

Importance of documentation and updating authorizations

Accurate documentation of operational clearances is essential to ensure regulatory compliance and traceability. It's important to keep clearance records up to date, retain evidence of training and renewal, and document any changes or updates. This provides accurate, up-to-date information on employee clearances, facilitating monitoring and informed decision-making.

Conclusion

In conclusion, tracking operational clearances is crucial to your company's safety, compliance and success. By ensuring this, you prevent accidents, comply with standards and strengthen your company's reputation. Skills mapping, scheduling and training keep your teams performing at their best. The use of management tools facilitates monitoring, while documentation ensures traceability. Investing in follow-up demonstrates your commitment to excellence and responsibility, strengthening your position in the market.