News
9 June 2010 - Results and Feedback from the New Features Survey
We had a great response in the new features survey, with over 110 people letting us know what to build next, and sending in suggestions. It's been great to get so much good feedback, and we now have a clear view of what would be most useful to build next.
One of the most common suggestions we received related to increasing the laboratory scheduling view up to 4 weeks into the future. We have now added this option.
On average, people rated the features as follows:
Very Useful (we will focus on these first!)
- Having a quick search screen for finding information on chemicals / equipment / living things without doing a risk assessment
- RiskAssess providing disposal information (this is under way, however it is a big job!)
- Being able to attach documents (eg, pictures, word documents, scans, etc) to a risk assessment
Useful
- In the laboratory scheduling screen, providing a way to say that an experiment has been prepared (eg, a tick box), and making a note about the experiment
- Being able to delete risk assessments
Slightly Useful
- Sharing of risk assessments between schools
Other Suggestions
We also had a lot of great suggestions in the free text box. We have gone through them and taken them on board. Some of the most suggested were:
- longer view on the scheduling screen up to a month
This is now available! - more solutions / concentrations
Currently, we only provide information on concentrations from authoritative sources, and this is only available for a few industrial chemicals such as acids and bases. We will consider options for providing more advice regarding the risks posed by common concentrations of common chemicals. - more physics equipment
We will focus on adding more physics equipment into the database, in the next update. Some people have kindly sent in lists of their common physics equipment - extension of RiskAssess to other activities such as excursions, field work and other school subjects
This is a great idea, and we hope to do this in the coming years.
5 June 2010 - Longer Scheduling View
We've had quite a number of requests to provide a longer view into the future on the scheduling screen, to help with ordering and planning. You can now see the laboratory schedule 4 weeks into the future. Note that days will only be displayed if they have risk assessments / practicals scheduled.
29 May 2010 - What new features would you like?
With the new scheduling system now up and running, we are deciding what new features to build into RiskAssess next.
Click here to let us know what to build next!
We've had quite a few suggestions coming in, and we thought the best way to decide what next to build was to ask our users what would help them most. So we've put together a small page on which you can choose the new features that would be most helpful for you. Click the link above to participate.
15 May 2010 - New Laboratory Scheduling Feature
Over the last few months, as a result of feedback from our users, we have been building a laboratory scheduling system into RiskAssess. We have had a lot of advice and feedback from a wide group of laboratory technicians and teachers, and we expect that it will save a lot of time. For laboratory technicians, it provides a day-by-day view of upcoming experiments, so that it is no longer necessary to keep track of these on a board or calendar. For teachers, it is no longer necessary to email or otherwise let laboratory technicians know about upcoming practicals entered into RiskAssess. Please the sections below for details.
Laboratory Scheduling Screen
Note: the scheduling screen will only display risk assessments entered after today, as there has been a small change to the risk assessment form to support the new scheduling system.
From the home page, you can now choose to view the laboratory schedule for "Today", "Tomorrow" or "One Week". The laboratory scheduling screen is a day-by-day view of upcoming experiments. It shows summary information about each experiment, and also provides a link to the full risk assessment for further details and/or electronic signing. As soon as a new risk assessment is entered in the system for an experiment, it will automatically show up in the scheduling screen.
In many schools, teachers prepare risk assessments and then send them to laboratory technicians for review, signing and preparation. The scheduling screen helps this process by giving the laboratory technicians an up to date list of experiments that they can review, sign and prepare. Since laboratory technicians can do all this all from the scheduling screen, it is generally not necessary for teachers to email risk assessments to laboratory technicians, or notify them by other means.
It can often be beneficial to have a "cut off time" for practicals to be lodged in RiskAssess (e.g. one or two days before the practical), to allow the laboratory technicians time to prepare in advance, and get an accurate listing of upcoming practicals. In rare cases where the "cut off time" was missed, teachers could still email the risk assessment to laboratory technicians to ensure that they are aware of it (although it will show up automatically on the scheduling screen).
In schools where laboratory technicians prepare the risk assessments, the scheduling screen is still useful to help co-ordinate preparation and give a calendar view of upcoming risk assessments.
Note: You will only see risk assessments entered into the system after today showing up in the scheduling screen. This is because we have made some changes to the risk assessment form to make the scheduling system possible (see below).
Changes to the Risk Assessment Form
Please note that the scheduling section on the risk assessment form has changed slightly. Rather than having one box for room, period, date information, this information is split into separate boxes. You can enter the date directly (eg, 10/5 for 10 of May 2010) or click the calendar icon to choose from a calendar view. If you have more than 2 classes for the experiment, click 'More classess...'. Each time you click it, 2 more rows will be added for class details. You can also enter additional scheduling notes for the laboratory technician in the big text box.
If you have any questions or suggestions around the new scheduling system, please contact us.
19 Mar 2010 - Sorting Search Results
When you do a risk assessment search, you can now sort the results by clicking the column heading you want to sort by. For example, click on the 'Date' heading to sort all of the search results in order from most recent risk assessment to oldest risk assessment. Clicking a second time on the column heading will reverse the sort (eg, from oldest to most recent). The arrow next to the column heading shows the direction of the sort.
31 Jan 2010 - Major chemical database update
The database now covers 1004 unique chemicals (plus all their synonyms) which should cover virtually every chemical found in Australian and New Zealand schools. If you have a chemical that is not listed, please let us know.
20 November 2009 - New ISO standard for Risk Management: RiskAssess goes global!
Today, the Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 4360:2004 was accepted by the International Organization for Standardization as an international (ISO) standard, with only slight modifications and additions. The new standard is called "Risk Management - Principles and Guidelines" and has been renamed AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009.
The history of this change is interesting. The joint Australian - New Zealand Committee that oversees the standard on risk management decided in 2004 that, rather than review the standard again in 2009, it would submit the standard to the International Organization for Standardization for consideration as the first international standard on risk management. The AS/NZS standard was used as the first draft. Following extensive consultation, the standard was adopted with only changes in the definition of risk, more explicit statement of principles, greater guidance on risk management, and an Annex on enhanced risk management. So, the Australian and New Zealand Standards Committees have made a significant contribution to improving risk management for the entire planet.
For RiskAssess, the changes are tiny.
The certification sections now reference the new standard and the old guidelines. The old guidelines are still current, but will probably soon to be updated, since they reference the old standard. The processes in RiskAssess do not change. The new standard states explicitly that "The process described for managing risk is identical to that in AS/NZS 4360:2004".
Your school should purchase a copy of the new standard, AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009, since this is now the practical and legal basis of RiskAssess and all your school's risk assessments.
Since RiskAssess now follows an ISO standard on Risk Management, RiskAssess is applicable in every country and in every organization that follows the ISO standard system. This means that skills you acquire with RiskAssess are international. In practice, you can use your risk assessments in virtually every country on the planet.
31 October 2009 - RiskAssess Release 2 now live for Australia!
The upgrade of the RiskAssess system to Release 2 went smoothly today. Release 2 is now ready for you to use. We recommend that you read the release 2 user guide to ensure you get the most out of the upgrade.25 October 2009 - RiskAssess Release 2 User Guide Now Available
Download the RiskAssess Release 2 User Guide in PDF format.
25 October 2009 - Australian RiskAssess upgrade to Release 2 on 31 October
RiskAssess Release 2 has now been tested by a number of schools and is working well. We are providing Release 2 as a free upgrade for all subscribers. As RiskAssess is web based, the upgrade is automatic - there is no need to install a new version on your computer.
On Saturday 31 October, we will be upgrading the main RiskAssess server to Release 2. Please note that RiskAssess will not be available for use on this day. After this date, when you next log in, you will see the new Release 2 of RiskAssess. There are a number of new features that will save you time and help with risk assessment documentation.
Release 2 Features
Release 2 allows you to store your risk assessments online. Once one staff member at your school has created a risk assessment for an experiment, other staff members can view and copy this risk assessment, and customise it accordingly. This is an improvement on Release 1, since each staff member will not need to create the risk assessment from scratch.
You can carry out part of a risk assessment on one day, store it online, and return to it at a later date. Risk assessments can also be reviewed online as part of your annual review process, copied, and re-used for the following year.
With Release 2, you can continue doing your risk assessments in exactly the same way as before, and gradually introduce streamlined work practices as appropriate for your school. When you email a risk assessment to another person, the second person can click on a link in the email to go straight to the editable form of the risk assessment, for completion and electronic signing. The RiskAssess system will automatically archive the risk assessment after an electronic signature has been entered by both the teacher and the laboratory technician. Storing risk assessments with two electronic signatures avoids the need for paper records. You do not need to print your risk assessments, if you do not wish.
Archival risk assessments can no longer be modified. This means that you have an electronic record for reference, and for legal purposes in the future. We will do our utmost to ensure the long-term security of these records, but recommend that you save a copy on your own computer as a backup.
The file format in Release 2 has been changed from HTML to PDF, which means that risk assessments will print more reliably and use as few pages as possible.
With Release 2, you will notice the site is running significantly faster. We have set up a new server in Australia, and made a number of optimizations, so that the site responds very quickly.
We have also improved the help system. If you put your mouse pointer over a button, or box, you will be shown help information in a yellow box.
Using Release 2
Release 2 has all the functionality of Release 1 and more. To use Release 2 just like Release 1, simply log in and click "Start Blank Risk Assessment >". To learn more about how to use the new Release 2 features, see the user guide.
Please note that Release 2 uses PDFs for electronic documents. The PDF format prints better than the HTML format used in Release 1 and is also better for a legal record. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader installed (it is free and most people already have it installed), we recommend you download and install it from http://get.adobe.com/reader/. If you use Firefox on an Apple Mac, you will need an additional plug-in available at http://code.google.com/p/firefox-mac-pdf/
Pricing
Since Release 2 provides much more functionality than Release 1, we will be increasing the annual subscription cost of RiskAssess from $80.00 to $120.00 (plus GST), for all renewals and new subscriptions, effective from 31 October 2009. This means that when you renew your subscription, it will be at the new price. We have spent a year designing, building and testing the Release 2 upgrade, and we are confident that you will find it a big improvement.
If you have already been sent a renewal invoice for $80.00 for your subscription, you only need to send the $80.00 +GST to renew. Please email us a copy of the invoice to take advantage of this offer.
Future Upgrades
Over the coming months, we will continue to expand the equipment database, adding more detailed disposal information and adding a risk matrix. As with previous upgrades, they will all be included in your subscription.
Thank you again for your continued support of RiskAssess. If you have any suggestions, comments or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
9 September 2009 - RiskAssess Release 2 coming soon!
We have been working hard to bring you an improved version of RiskAssess that will allow you to store your risk assessments online in the RiskAssess system, and save you time by improving workflow. The improved system, called Release 2, is planned for release in late October. There will be no additional cost for current users. Closer to the release date, we will be sending subscribers a user guide to help you get the most out of Release 2. The rest of this post gives pre-release information about Release 2.
Release 2 allows you to store your risk assessments online. Once one staff member at your school has created a risk assessment for an experiment, other staff members can view and copy this risk assessment and customise it accordingly. This means that each staff member does not need to create the risk assessment from scratch, as with Release 1.
You can email a risk assessment with your electronic signature to another person who can complete it and add a further electronic signature. The RiskAssess system will then automatically archive any risk assessment with two electronic signatures as an electronic document, which can no longer be modified. This means that you have an electronic record for reference and for legal purposes in the future. We will do our utmost to ensure the long-term security of these records.
You can carry out part of a risk assessment on one day, store it online, and return to it at a later date. Risk assessments can also be reviewed online as part of your annual review process, copied, and re-used for the following year.
The file format in Release 2 has been changed from HTML to PDF, which means that risk assessments will print more reliably and use as few pages as possible.
With Release 2, you can continue doing your risk assessments in exactly the same way as before, and gradually introduce streamlined work practices as appropriate for your school. When you email a risk assessment to another person, the second person can click on a link to go straight to the editable form of the risk assessment, for completion and electronic signing. The RiskAssess system will automatically archive the risk assessment after the second electronic signature has been attached, unless there is a change by the second person. Storing risk assessments with two electronic signatures, obviates the need for paper records.
You do not need to print your risk assessments, if you do not wish. Risk assessments are stored on the RiskAssess system and you can store risk assessments for your school electronically on your own school system for your reference and as a further backup.
How secure are your risk assessments stored on the RiskAssess system?
Release 2 operates from a new (and faster) server in Australia, with continuous backup to a server in the USA. Both servers are backed up by their providers. In addition, we carry out regular backups to a computer in Australia, which is also backed up. While we give no guarantee that RiskAssess will preserve your data, we have made the new system as secure as we can. In the rare event that the Australian server goes down, we have arranged RiskAssess to switch automatically to the server in the USA. During that time, RiskAssess will be unavailable for 15-30 min while the transfer is in progress. There are also occasional periods of a few minutes duration, usually late at night, when the system is unavailable while upgraded databases or software are being uploaded. We will do our utmost to ensure secure long-term data storage, but we cannot warrant that RiskAssess will forever store your records. We recommend that you securely store your risk assessments on your own school system, as an additional backup.
Thank you to all those who have made suggestions for improvements to RiskAssess. Your suggestions have all been noted and many of them have been implemented. We will add as many of the requested features as quickly as we can. After we have Release 2 of RiskAssess up and running to everyone’s satisfaction, the next major development will be disposal information for chemicals. We will also continue adding items to the databases, especially the equipment database, so that a wider range of items can be located without needing to enter them in the 'Other risks' text box. RiskAssess is still work-in-progress.
We hope that the new features of Release 2 will considerably help you in your work.
Please contact us if you have any questions or if you wish to discuss RiskAssess Release 2.
1 September 2009 - Improved equipment database
As a result of customer feedback, we have recently added a further 150 items to the equipment database to help you. We will continue to add new items over the coming months.
3 Feb 2009 - Payment by electronic transfer
Schools can now pay for RiskAssess using electronic transfer.
1 Feb 2009 - Chemical user codes & year group
There is now an optional field for teachers and laboratory technicians to enter their chemical user codes. The system will stop the user from completing a risk assessment which requires teachers or laboratory technicians to handle chemicals which are outside of their user codes.
Also, you can now choose the year group from a list, rather than having to type it in each time. Please tell us if there is anything that you think is missing from the year group list. Note that if you choose 'Other' from the year group list, the old box will be displayed that allows you to enter free text for the year group.
24 Nov 2008 - Automatic date entry for risk assessments
Risk assessments now use the current date and do not allow or require users to enter a date for the risk assessment, as they did previously.
14 Nov 2008 - Send risk assessments to multiple email addresses
Previously, it was only possible to email a risk assessment to one person at a time. Now, you can enter multiple destination email addresses, separating them with a semi-colon (;).
7 Oct 2008 - Electronic Signatures
Teachers and laboratory technicians can now sign off risk assessments electronically.
22 Sep 2008 - Enhanced Data & Other Risks field
Significant enhancements and additions to the data provided on chemicals, equipment and living organisms. Also, the "Other Risks" field is now regularly reviewed for items to add to the database, so that you will not need to use it in future.
9 Aug 2008 - User Name for Easier Log In
Previously, you needed to log in to Risk Assess with your full school name, even if this was quite long (eg, Sydney Grammar School For Boys). You can now have a short user name to log in with (eg, SGS), while still having your full school name displayed on Risk Assessments. Contact us if you would like a short user name set up for your school.
8 Aug 2008 - Improved Search
Improved search to include plurals. This means that you can now search on 'test tubes', and you will find 'test tube'. Previously, you needed to search for the singular versions of equipment and living organisms to find them.