A proactive approach

10 independent nurseries and garden centre chains have already implemented the web-based software into their business operations to simplify and centralise health and safety management.

Safety Cloud allows garden retailers to manage a full and detailed audit trail, providing complete and instant visibility of current compliance, across risk assessments, audits, accident management, training and maintenance.

Otter Nurseries, which has one of the UK’s largest garden centres spread over 100 acres in Ottery St Marys, is one retailer to benefit from Safety Cloud. With over 500 staff employed across five sites, Otter Nurseries chose Safety Cloud to improve the delivery and management of employee health and safety training and ensure all risk assessments, equipment checks and accident reports are kept up to date.

Safety Cloud’s wide range of e-learning training modules, including manual handling, lifting, and slips and trips, was one of the key factors for its implementation, as John Giblin, General Manager at Otter Nurseries, explains: “With multiple sites across the south of England, it was a challenge to provide the latest training to all our employees. We have used Safety Cloud to manage our staff training for nearly two years now and the transformation has been fantastic. Being able to instantly see which e-learning modules each employee has completed and whether they need refreshing provides a clear trail of due diligence that helps us achieve compliance.

“One of the main issues we were also encountering was ensuring that training for new employees was being delivered and recorded. One of the best features of Safety Cloud is that new employees receive all of their training through the app before they begin their employment, which means they are up to date and understand the business from their very first day.” 

John continued: “With so many employees working across different sites and fulfilling different roles, it is vital that all documentation is stored in one location. Safety Cloud has made this process a lot more manageable, allowing us to upload risk assessments and equipment checks on a daily basis to one central portal and reminding us when assessments and audits need to be reviewed.

“This also allows us to assess which areas of the business pose the highest risks and require further attention. Previously, these documents were stored in a filing cabinet and we had no real knowledge of when they needed reviewing and the areas we needed to improve.”

With over 50,000 users, Southalls is one of the UK’s fastest growing providers of cloud-based health and safety management, which can be customised to the specific needs of individual clients. Uniquely developed by knowledgeable health and safety professionals, Safety Cloud works across a variety of industry sectors, including retail, manufacturing, engineering and education.

For further information on Safety Cloud and other health and safety services available from Southalls, visit www.southalls.com.