An SG-SST consultant and software: allocating work, costs and responsibilities
A business can hire an SG-SST consultant and still rely on email to find out what was done, what remains outstanding and where evidence is stored. It can also own software without the technical judgement needed to assess risks or prioritise controls. Results depend on how work is allocated between people, the organisation and the tool.
The purchasing decision should start with the process that must be maintained throughout the year. The entry on the OSH management system provides the framework. This article develops an operational allocation that supports clear deliverables and continuity.
Separate responsibility, advice and delivery
Colombia’s Decree 1072 of 2015 (in Spanish) assigns SG-SST obligations to the employer. External support does not make a consultant or software a substitute for those obligations. The organisation needs internal owners who can make decisions, provide resources and verify delivery.
For each process, distinguish four roles: preparing the technical proposal, approving it, carrying out the activity and checking the result. One person may hold several roles where appropriate, but they should be explicit. Avoid assigning “all OSH work” to a generic consultant account.
| Process | Illustrative allocation |
|---|---|
| Annual plan | Consultant proposes; management allocates resources; owners deliver. |
| Hazard assessment | A competent professional analyses input from people performing the work. |
| Actions | The operating department implements; OSH checks evidence and follow-up. |
| Documentation | The author prepares; a designated owner reviews; the company retains access. |
This table illustrates an organisational arrangement, not a universal statutory allocation. Adapt it to the business’s size, risks and capabilities.
Check professional suitability for the specific assignment
Requirements for designing and implementing the system vary across the situations covered by Resolution 0312 of 2019 (in Spanish). Verify the qualifications, licence, experience and permitted scope required for the commissioned work. A course certificate alone does not establish suitability for every professional OSH function.
During selection, request anonymised examples of deliverables and discuss a case from your operation. Assess whether the consultant explains what information is needed, how they will visit the workplace and how changes will be handled. A delivery schedule is more useful than a general promise to “bring everything up to date”.
Budget for operation as well as initial documentation
Separate diagnosis and design, ongoing support, visits, training, specialist studies and preparation for reviews. Identify which services include travel and which require another professional. This enables meaningful comparison between proposals with different scopes.
In parallel, identify software costs: configuration, users, migration and support according to the actual proposal. Read the total cost of OSH software alongside internal effort. Data collection and decision validation still require departments to allocate time.
An example of monthly coordination
In a fictional technical services company, the consultant reviews inspections and proposes actions. The operations manager assigns owners and dates; supervisors attach evidence; the designated OSH owner verifies results and presents unresolved barriers to management. The monthly meeting works from the same record.
If an action requires equipment procurement, the consultant can explain the preventive rationale, while procurement and management must resolve the purchase. The software should show who owns the next step and why the case remains open. The article on overdue actions develops this follow-up.
Keep knowledge when the consultant changes
Digitalisation of prevention should reduce dependency on personal folders. Agree where documents remain, who administers access and how work is handed over at termination. Use individual accounts and review permissions when the team changes.
Test handover with a simple exercise: ask an internal colleague to locate the latest assessment, identify the open actions and explain the next review without contacting the consultant. Any missing link indicates a documentation or ownership issue worth resolving before it becomes an operational dependency.
At the end of the assignment, prepare a handover record covering current documents, outstanding work, internal owners and review dates. The company should check that it can open the files and retrieve their relationships before withdrawing the consultant’s access.
In a Sabentis demonstration, test the route from a technical proposal to an implemented action. Connect the test to the annual work plan. The objective is a system the business can understand, update and use between consultant visits.
Checklist for starting work with an SG-SST consultant
A useful first meeting establishes decisions and access needed between visits. Use this list to identify where the consultant depends on the company and prevent progress from stopping because the right internal contact is missing.
- Select a priority process and appoint an internal person able to approve resources and resolve the proposals they will receive.
- Check the competence and authorisation applicable to the contracted technical work and identify activities outside the agreed assignment.
- Provide only the data needed for the first assignment and agree an exchange channel and a document-version review process.
- Confirm that someone within the company can retrieve deliverables, including appendices and decisions, without using the consultant’s account.
- Set an initial progress review and a route for urgent matters that cannot wait until the next scheduled visit.
Frequently asked questions
Can the consultant be the platform’s only administrator?
That creates a dependency worth avoiding. The company should retain a contact able to manage its provider relationship and recover the information it is entitled to hold. Define individual access and replacement arrangements so holidays, team changes or contract termination do not stop the system operating.
How can a monthly fee be compared with a deliverables-based offer?
Map both to the same scope: processes, visits, analysis, updates and follow-up included. Add internal effort, licences and out-of-scope work. A lower price may cover fewer tasks; a useful comparison explains the result to be delivered, its frequency and the company’s own contribution.
What if the company fails to provide information the consultant needs?
Record the missing information, its internal owner and its effect on the work. Agree a decision or revised date with someone able to remove the barrier. Do not present an incomplete document as a final deliverable or suggest that software replaces information nobody has validated.
Does buying software remove the need for technical OSH knowledge?
No. Software organises records and workflows within its available scope, while technical assessment requires competent people. Identify which knowledge the company retains, which it contracts and who reviews decisions. Continuity depends on that allocation and on documentation that allows others to understand the work performed.
Legislation and consulted sources
- Decree 1072 of 2015. Colombia: employer responsibilities and SG-SST organisation, including where external support is used. Spanish text.
- Resolution 0312 of 2019. Colombia: minimum standards and competence criteria for the functions it regulates; check applicability to company size and risk. Spanish text.
Sources consulted on 6 October 2026.
