What is QHSE/SHEQ/HSEQ?
The definitions are:
QHSE = quality, health and safety, environmental management systems
SHEQ = safety and health, environmental, quality management systems
HSEQ = health and safety, environmental, quality management systems
QHSE/SHEQ/HSEQ all stand for the exact same thing though. Be it quality, health and safety, and environmental management systems. Although, these three acronyms, all represent different management systems, different countries across the world use different acronyms when discussing these standards.
Below we have compiled the most important principles of any QHSE system, and what to be looking for.
- Management Commitment Having commitment to your integrated management QHSE system from Senior Management is a number one priority. Having that commitment will drive more commitment further down the business.
- Participation from All Employees One of the core principles of a QHSE system is for all employees to participate and be able to use the QHSE system. As an example your QHSE system should contain workflows to allow your lower level employees to report issues and then relevant management is alerted to this and can take action.
- Process Approach Most businesses have three core systems - accounting, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and compliance. The accounting system is the proven way of meeting your financial obligations. It’s how you manage your financial processes and meet your tax responsibilities. The ERP system is the way you realise your product or service. It manages purchasing, inventory and production/service delivery times in order to meet customer expectations. Your compliance system is where you manage your regulatory requirements in an ethical way. It helps manage staff behaviour and meet your legal obligations for a safe working environment, as well as the expectations of your stakeholders. When using a QHSE system, it is important to establish a process for all of the core systems in the company. This will ensure an effective QHSE system.
- Improvement An improvements module in a QHSE system controls your organisation’s issues. Easy configuration ensures you can easily record, control and report on all of your organisation’s complaints, improvements and non-conformances. This allows your company to address issues as soon as they arise, and use your problem solving skills to continually improve your company’s processes.
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