Info
- Date: April 2022
- Category: Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Compliance Management
- Client: Cambridge City Council
The Challenge
Cambridge City Council (CCC) faced several technical and operational issues regarding the management of their risk and compliance. Their ability to comply with the demands of evolving legislation was becoming a challenge. These processes had previously been run on Excel spreadsheets installed on local PCs and had been an imperfect solution. It, therefore, lacked the security and operational resilience CCC required and an adequate and immutable audit trail with version control capable of dealing with the large data sets involved resulting in more than 5000+ active tasks.
This came to a head when a CCC staff member who was leaving their employ exposed a potential vulnerability which could have led to operational delays and possible non-compliance. It also highlighted the need for a framework that would allow managers to set and track compliance KPIs to monitor staff and contractor performance more efficiently. It became clear that a more robust and integrated technology solution was required to enable CCC to address these issues and, more importantly, prevent others from arising that could lead to non-compliance.
CCC agreed they needed help to meet their compliance goals and respond to the evolving legislative and compliance landscape. Staff also needed an easy way to stay current with risk and compliance-related tasks. The required solution should include tracking and logging all compliance-related jobs per estate, building, risk area or asset. A compliance management solution that records that a competent party has completed every task and that the necessary compliance evidence is gathered on time. This data should be securely stored as it is needed to feed operational dashboards, compile reports and be easily accessible for audit purposes. The solution should therefore include API access to all data collected or derived. This ability to share data securely in real-time was paramount for CCC moving from an older mainframe-based data system to modern cloud-based digital platforms.
INCEPTION
The Cambridge City Council Health and Safety Team selected and reviewed possible solutions from several of the UK’s leading digital risk assessment and compliance providers before selecting Risk Warden to address the Council’s specific challenges and evolving regulatory landscape.
Risk Warden’s seasoned risk and compliance experts were on hand to guide and support CCC throughout the implementation and user adoption process. It was clear from the outset that the Risk Warden compliance management solution was more than capable of handling the full spectrum of issues that CCC had been experiencing and providing a future-proof digital platform upon which to address future risk and compliance challenges that new regulation is set to bring about.
Exploration Phase:
During the initial “Exploration Phase,” Risk Warden’s team of experts helped CCC form the basis of a transformation programme, starting with a clear definition of the business vision, goals and success criteria. The joint team then aligned all subsequent activities to meet these criteria.
Realisation Phase:
During the “Realisation Phase”, Risk Warden translated the business requirements of CCC into software reality, configuring and tailoring elements of the software to meet CCC’s specific needs.
The first two phases of any such project are crucial; Risk Warden understood that CCC’s dilemma was real and could impact its business operations. Without due care in the planning stage, implementing any new technology platform and related business processes can lead to genuine issues. Risk Warden was on hand throughout to ensure that this critical preparation was completed successfully and signed off by CCC.
Deployment & Run Phases:
During the initial “Exploration Phase,” Risk Warden’s team of experts helped CCC form the basis of a transformation programme, starting with a clear definition of the business vision, goals and success criteria. The joint team then aligned all subsequent activities to meet these criteria.
WHAT SOLUTION WAS DELIVERED?
Risk Warden has provided Cambridge City Council with a “best-of-breed” risk and compliance management solution. One that is cloud-based, highly secure and infinitely scalable. A digital platform delivers user-level access control, real-time dashboards, granular reporting, and an immutable digital audit trail. Its ample document storage and retrieval ensure real-time access to building information and compliance evidence for all parties, including dynamically for on-site assessors during an inspection. The compliance management solution also provides email reminders and escalation procedures for all tasks, including PPM across all risk areas and assets. Real-time dashboards also offer powerful insights that clearly illustrate how CCC’s goals are being met against agreed KPIs.
AFTER DELIVERY
Following implementation and migration, CCC understood how Risk Warden could make improvements to ensure that all of CCC’s properties, blocks, and assessable areas were in synch and interconnected.
Using its phased “Inception” strategy, Risk Warden’s compliance management solution has added more value to the CCC platform and surpassed client expectations.
The Risk Warden compliance management solution is constantly updated to address the changing regulatory landscape and user demands.
WHAT DOES THE CLIENT HAVE TO SAY?
This journey has been both educational and relatively stress-free.
Security and reliability were key factors in our decision process, so Risk Warden being based on Amazon’s AWS cloud technology platform was very reassuring so that nothing gets lost. Our rapidly expanding data histories are now immutable, auditable and available on-demand to my team members 24/7.
Risk Warden’s ability to automatically convert Risk Assessment Actions into actionable tasks which are then automatically delegated to the relevant team member, was another critical feature. Live dashboards and reports enable us to track every task through to completion, including storing all associated (before and after) images and related compliance documentation.
Most important to us was how the Risk Warden team has continued to work not just as a supplier but as our strategic technology partner. They are constantly innovating and developing the Risk Warden compliance management platform to address our needs within the changing regulatory landscape, delivering a constant flow of product updates and enhancements, which are helping us to optimise the ROI from our investment in the platform.
In our opinion, they truly offer the best unified risk assessment and risk management platform on the market.
Get started with your free trial now
If you are looking for personalised advice, don’t hesitate to reach out to one of our experts and we’ll be happy to assist you with all your risk assessment, management or compliance requirements.
Use Risk Warden to streamline, automate and visualise your processes to increase efficiency, lower costs, reduce risk, improve strategic performance, gain a competitive advantage and more.
