Working to a budget is a lynchpin of managing an efficient and profitable organisation, whether within logistics, grounds maintenance, utilities and construction or another business that needs to protect its workforce’s safety. But ensuring staff have all the PPE and workwear they need while maintaining tight controls of spending can take a disproportionate amount of health and safety procurement staff’s time. To help, Contego Safety Solutions’ Online Management Portal has a suite of tools to simplify controlling PPE and workwear budgets.
Establish a robust approval process
To set upper limits on spending, and to avoid unauthorised purchases, Contego Safety Solutions clients can decide to:
- Designate which staff members are authorised to order from us, and what items they are permitted to order, eliminating the requirement for management approval
- Set spending budgets per user
- Choose to trigger email approvals on spends over a specified amount, so that a manager authorises the spend
- Opt for a dual-layer approval where two management approvals are needed, when an order exceeds a predetermined budget, or a particular safety item is requested
- Request further information from the purchaser, so that an order cannot be placed without inputting information such as the employee name, or the reason for re-ordering
These parameters are individually tailored to each client’s needs, depending on their business’s size and complexities. At any point, purchasing managers and senior management can access the Online Management Portal for a live budget update, or make changes to the authorisation processes. The parameters and authorisations are easily altered within the portal, dynamically reacting to staff changes in an organisation, and quickly expanding to extend to new departments when required.
Set up time-saving measures
Not only does setting purchasing restrictions can help keep robust controls on spending and the equipment being ordered, but they can eliminate the need for health and safety staff to approve or decline individual orders. This frees up the health and safety manager’s time to focus on other health and safety priorities.
A client’s bespoke Online Management Portal makes repeat orders easy. If there’s a new starter in the team that needs a collection of workwear and PPE, a new starter template order can be set up in the portal, ready to click for individual sizes. This process ensures consistency and uniformity across the workforce and can include customised workwear that’s embroidered or heat-sealed with company branding or job roles.
Be ready for safety audits
The Online Management Portal offers at-a-glance insight into what products are being ordered, and how often. Not only does this help to quickly identify if products are being requested more than they should, but it also helps to ensure safety compliance. It’s simple to see if an employee needs a product that has reached the end of its safety life. A helmet or safety mask, for instance. This feature is also a time-saving measure for external safety audits, providing clear insight into which employees have which products and when they were last replaced.
Contego Safety Solutions stocks a wide range of corporate workwear, protective clothing and PPE, including our WEARMASTER® range. We also provide a bespoke uniform design and manufacture service to ensure you get precisely what you are looking for in a company uniform. The friendly and expert team at Contego Safety Solutions is always on hand to give advice and guidance on the right PPE and protective clothing for your needs. Contact us now on 0800 122 3323 or sales@contegosafety.co.uk to discuss your requirements.
