When new regulations are introduced, one of the first questions businesses ask is “How much more work is this going to create?”
It’s a fair question. Waste businesses are already busy managing customers, jobs, vehicles, staff, subcontractors, paperwork and compliance. The last thing anyone wants is another administrative process.
But digital waste tracking doesn’t necessarily have to mean more administration. It could actually be an opportunity to remove some.
The problem with doing everything twice
Consider a typical process.
- A driver completes paperwork.
- The information comes back to the office.
- Someone checks it.
- Someone enters information into a spreadsheet.
- Someone prepares the information for reporting.
- Someone submits it.
- Someone files the response.
That’s a lot of opportunities for duplication. And a lot of opportunities for something to be missed.
Capture it once
The principle behind Okappy’s proposed DEFRA functionality is simple. Capture information once and use it wherever it’s needed.
The proposed workflow would build on information already captured through Okappy jobs and Waste Transfer Notes rather than requiring users to recreate everything from scratch.
Let the system do the checking
Another opportunity is validation. Instead of relying entirely on someone to remember every required field, the system can check the information before submission.
The proposed Okappy workflow includes validation for required receipt information and clear messages where something is missing or inconsistent. That can make compliance easier for the person doing the job.
Give managers visibility
Managers shouldn’t have to ask “Have all our receipts been submitted?” The system should help answer that question.
The proposed Okappy dashboard would show receipts that are submitted, outstanding, failed, have warnings or are approaching the reporting deadline. That’s particularly important when DEFRA requires records to be submitted within two working days. (GOV.UK)
Compliance can become part of normal work
That’s the real opportunity. Rather than creating “DEFRA administration” alongside everything else the business does, the aim is to make reporting part of the normal job workflow.
- The job is completed.
- The information is checked.
- The receipt is submitted.
- The response is stored.
If something needs correcting, it can be corrected.
That’s the future we’re working towards
At Okappy we’re actively developing the functionality with the objective of making digital reporting as straightforward as possible for our customers. Because compliance shouldn’t have to mean creating more work.
Done properly, digitalisation should make work easier.
