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Whatever approach or combination- of approaches you take, each has advantages and disadvantages.
H&S software systems-or any Enterprise Resource Planning-- class (ERP) system for that matter -pan allow you to view information in dif ferent ways. Often, such a system may provide a set of pre-built reports that can be used out of the box. These pre-built reports are generally useful only up to a certain point. Whether a company must adhere to government, organizational, site, or a boss's requirements, there is always someone who wants to see the information a different way.
Sometimes, the requirements can get out of hand. At an organization we worked with, people made so many minute report changes that they ended up with 46 reports deemed necessary. We streamlined them down to six, making it easier for people to see their information.
There are several options available to OHS software vendors regarding which report-writing mechanisms to offer their clients, such as providing a set of pre-defined reports, including a report writer available within the software, and allowing the user to develop his or her own reports with an external reporting tool. Whatever approach or combination of approaches you take, each has advantages and disadvantages.
Reporting Options Within the System
Some OHS software packages have a mechanism for generating reports from within the system, whether ad hoc or something more advanced. More often than not, clients need to be able to modify such reports or to create their own reports.
If the system comes with its own report writer(s), someone needs to learn how to use it, and must understand the OHS software's underlying data structure. Although an ad hoc-type report writer. might offer an easy point-and-click interface and function with little or no training on the user's part, it may be limited when more exotic reports need to be generated. The following is a sample of what an ad hoc report writer might be capable of: A more advanced report writer may offer its own programming language and reporting environment.
Ideally, it might use a reporting language that would involve little or no learning by a person tasked with writing a report. Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is one such example. For those familiar with Microsoft Office, the...