Industry
Critical controls you can prove were verified
Mining does not have a risk identification problem. It has a verification problem - showing that the controls on the principal hazards were actually checked, by whom, on what date, with what evidence.
What is critical control verification, and why do spreadsheets fail at it?
Critical control verification is the practice of checking, on a defined frequency, that the controls protecting against a principal hazard are actually in place and working - and recording that check as evidence. Spreadsheets fail at it because the verification happens elsewhere: in a paper book, a pre-start app, a supervisor's inspection, none of which flow back to the control being verified. The register can then say the control exists but not that it works. Frontline links every verification activity to the control it tests, so coverage and failure rates are reportable numbers rather than assertions.
- Verification scheduled to a named person, with unassigned controls visible as such
- A failed check raises an action against the control, not a note in a book
- Coverage completed on time becomes a leading indicator a board can act on
- Capture works offline underground and syncs on reconnect
The reality
The register is not the hard part. The evidence is.
Every site has a principal hazard management plan. Very few can produce, on demand, the verification record for a critical control on a given shift.
Critical control management is a good idea that spreadsheets cannot carry. The control is defined, an owner is nominated, a verification frequency is written down - and then the actual checking happens in a paper book, a pre-start app, a supervisor's inspection, and none of it flows back to the control it was verifying.
So the register says the control exists. It cannot say the control is working. When an investigation asks the difference, the gap between those two statements is the finding.
- Verification activity linked to the control it verifies
- Coverage visible per control, per site, per period
- A failed verification raises an action, not a note in a book
What it handles
The work a site safety team carries
Principal hazards
Each principal hazard with its management plan, its critical controls and the verification regime behind them.
Critical control verification
Scheduled checks that report against the control, so coverage and failure rates are numbers rather than assertions.
Contractor management
Companies, people, competencies and inductions tracked before mobilisation, not discovered at the gate.
Mobile plant and equipment
Pre-starts, defects and servicing against the asset, with history that follows the machine between pits.
Isolation and permits
Permits issued, held and closed with the evidence attached to the work they authorised.
Occupational hygiene
Exposure monitoring - dust, noise, diesel particulate - against similar exposure groups and standards.
Incidents and HPIs
High-potential incidents captured from the field, investigated against the control that should have held.
Statutory reporting
The regulator's return assembled from live records instead of rebuilt each period.
Obligation mapping
Where each obligation lives
The obligations a statutory position holder carries, and the register that evidences them.
| Obligation | What it requires | Where it lives in Frontline |
|---|---|---|
| WHS (Mines) - principal hazard management plans | A plan per principal hazard, with controls and review | Principal hazard records with linked critical controls and review dates |
| Critical control management | Controls defined, verified on a frequency, effectiveness demonstrated | Control register with verification schedules, coverage reporting and failure escalation |
| High-potential incident reporting | Notify, investigate, identify the control that failed | Incident records linked to the control they tested, with investigation and actions attached |
| Contractor competency | Verify competency and induction before workers enter site | Contractor and people registers with competency expiry and pre-mobilisation checks |
| Occupational hygiene monitoring | Exposure monitoring against standards, records retained | Monitoring records against similar exposure groups with results held on the person and the group |
| ISO 45001 - clause 9.1 | Monitoring, measurement, analysis and performance evaluation | Analytics with leading indicators - verification coverage, action closure, overdue drift |
Mapping is indicative and reflects the Australian model WHS (Mines) laws. Requirements vary by jurisdiction - we'll walk yours on the call.
Critical control verification
How a control gets proven
The control is defined against the hazard
Not as a paragraph in a plan, but as a record with an owner, a verification frequency and a definition of what good looks like.
Verification is scheduled to a person
The check appears in someone's list with a due date. Unassigned controls are visible as exactly that, rather than quietly unverified.
The check happens on the tools
Completed from a phone at the face or in the workshop, with a photo where a photo is the evidence.
A failure raises an action, not a note
When a control is found ineffective, the action is created against the control, with an owner and a due date, and stays visible until closed.
Coverage becomes a reportable number
Verification completed on time, by control and by site, is a leading indicator your board can actually act on.
Questions we get asked
Does this work where there's no signal underground or in the pit?
Capture works offline in the browser and syncs when the device reconnects, so a shift in a dead zone does not mean a lost verification record.
We already run pre-starts in another app. Do we replace it?
No. Results flow in and attach to the asset and the control they relate to. The point is that a pre-start stops being an isolated form and starts counting as verification evidence.
Can contractors be tracked without giving them licences?
Yes. Their companies, people, competencies and inductions live in your registers, and they submit through a link rather than a seat.
How does this handle a statutory position holder's obligations?
Ownership is explicit on every control and every plan, and the change history shows who signed what and when - which is the record a statutory holder is relying on when they are asked.
See it on your sites, your risks, your language.
We'll load a slice of your real data when your spot comes up so you're reacting to your own operation, not a sample one.
- We take a few teams at a time
- Configured to your framework
- No IT project