The step people most underestimate — do it right
Moving your records into a new system is the part people most underestimate. The trick is not to dump everything across: bring what matters (your current hazard register, training records, open actions and key documents), clean it on the way, run the old and new side by side briefly, and verify before you retire the old system. Done carefully, you keep your history and lose nothing; rushed, you risk corrupting or losing the records you most need.
Bringing records across from spreadsheets, paper or another system is consistently underestimated. Real-world data is messy — duplicate hazards, out-of-date training records, inconsistent formats — and that takes time to clean, map and check before it imports cleanly. Rushing it at the end of a project is the classic mistake, and it's how records get lost or scrambled. Treat migration as its own task with its own time budget.
| Bring | Notes |
|---|---|
| Current hazard register | Your live hazards and controls — drop duplicates and anything no longer relevant as you go. |
| Training & competency records | Who's trained or certified in what, and when it expires, so reminders work from day one. |
| Open incidents & actions | Anything still in progress needs to land in the new system so nothing falls through. |
| Key documents & SDS | Your policy, procedures and safety data sheets — the current versions. |
| Asset / plant register | Equipment that needs checks or maintenance scheduled. |
Bring what's live and what you're required to keep; archive the rest rather than cluttering the new system with history.
Clean the data before you import it, and map your old fields to the new system's. Migrate in stages rather than all at once, and run the old and new systems in parallel for a short window so nothing is lost while people switch over. Verify a sample of records imported correctly — counts, dates, attachments — before you rely on the new system, then retire the old one and keep a read-only archive of your history. A good vendor will help with this; see how to implement a system.
Get hands-on help to migrate your records. Book a demo and we'll show you how it works — free 30-day trial included.
It's very doable, but it's usually underestimated. Real data is messy and needs cleaning, mapping and checking before it imports cleanly, so treat migration as its own task with its own time budget rather than a quick final step.
Your current hazard register, training and competency records, open incidents and actions, key documents and safety data sheets, and any asset or plant register. Bring what's live and what you must keep, and archive the rest.
Yes, briefly. Running them in parallel for a short window means nothing is lost while people switch over, and you can verify the new system is working before you rely on it.
Clean the data before importing, map old fields to new, migrate in stages, and verify a sample of records — counts, dates and attachments — before retiring the old system. Keep a read-only archive of your history.
A good vendor will. Ask during evaluation what migration help is included — data cleaning, mapping and checking — because hands-on support here makes the difference between a smooth switch and a painful one.
