Who is this article for?

Administrators responsible for program management.

Administrator role is required.

The Compliance Calendar organises compliance tasks into a clear hierarchy, with each level building on the one above it. This structure lets safety teams create high-level programs, break them into categories, define recurring templates, and finally assign tasks directly to users or sites.

This article breaks down the hierarchy to help you better understand how to manage events within your platform.

1. Hierarchy

Ideagen SafetyStratus uses a tiered hierarchy for organising your tasks:

• Program - Top level of the hierarchy, acting as a parent to subprograms.
  • Subprogram - Next level of the hierarchy, helping break down more complex compliance requirements.
    • Framework - Next level of the hierarchy, providing the structure that ensures compliance tasks are issued consistently over time using events.
      • Event - Most detailed level of the hierarchy, representing the individual compliance tasks.

This layered approach allows administrators to build organised, scalable compliance structures. Safety teams can develop comprehensive programmes, categorise them, set recurring templates, and assign tasks to users, departments, or locations.

Start broad by creating programs that mirror your organisation’s top-level EHS categories. Then, drill down through subprograms, frameworks, and finally calendar events to build a compliance system that is tailored, automated, and audit-ready.

Below are some examples to show you how the hierarchy can be optimised for each industry.

2. Programs

Programs are the top level of the hierarchy, under which all compliance events are organised.

Example

Academia - Laboratory Safety or Environmental Compliance

Manufacturing - Machine Safety or Quality Assurance.

Construction - Site Safety or Equipment Inspections

Industry - OSHA Training, Emergency Preparedness, or Hazardous Waste Management. 

To get the most out of programs:

• Define programs broadly to represent high-level compliance areas, not individual tasks, for consistent event management.
• Create programs first, then add subprograms, frameworks, or events to ensure logical grouping and better reporting.
• Deactivating a program pauses all related subprograms, frameworks, and events. For example:
  • Academia - Disabling Lab Safety stops chemical inventory and lab inspections.
  • Construction - Disabling Site Safety halts daily or weekly inspections.
• Generate reports to monitor compliance status across entire programs for quick performance reviews.
• Before editing or disabling, check linked frameworks and events to avoid disrupting compliance workflows.
• Use frameworks to balance compliance, consistency, and efficiency; always assess impact on events and users before saving changes.
• Avoid overlapping reminders (e.g., multiple “7 days before” alerts); stagger timings (e.g., 14/7/1 days) to reduce noise and improve compliance.

3. Subprograms

Subprograms are subdivisions of programs, breaking broad compliance areas into specific groups. This helps manage complex compliance requirements across departments, facilities, or user groups more effectively.

Example

Academia - Lab Safety Program might have subprograms for Chemical Safety, Biological Safety, and Radiation Safety.

Manufacturing - Machine Safety program might have subprograms for Lockout/Tagout, Machine Guarding, and Noise Exposure.

Construction - Site Safety program might have subprograms for Fall Protection, PPE Compliance, and Scaffolding Inspections.

Industry - Emergency Preparedness program might have subprograms for Evacuation Drills, Fire Safety, and First Aid Training. 

4. Frameworks

Frameworks are templates used to generate recurring events.  They define when events occur, how often they repeat, and any additional requirements for closure.

Example

Academia - A framework could define Annual Chemical Inventory with automatic events created every July. 

Manufacturing - A framework may generate Monthly Machine Calibration events tied to production assets. 

Construction - A framework might schedule Weekly Scaffold Inspections independent of completion. 

Industry - A framework could establish Quarterly Emergency Drill events that require supporting documentation before closure.

5. Events

Events, also referred to as Calendar Events, are automatically generated based on program, subprogram, and framework configurations, and define the actual work required to maintain compliance.

Example

Academia - Annual lab safety inspections, quarterly fume hood certifications, monthly chemical inventory checks.

Manufacturing - Monthly machine calibration, annual OSHA training, weekly noise monitoring.

Construction - Daily scaffold inspections, weekly site safety walk-throughs, PPE compliance checks.

Industry - Quarterly evacuation drills, annual fire extinguisher inspections, routine hazardous waste pickups.

Further reading

• Adding a program
• Adding a subprogram
• Adding a framework
• Adding an event