The workplace is constantly changing, requiring frequent adjustments of health and safety processes. Managing an ever-shifting safety program can seem overwhelming. A digital safety management system eases the burden, allowing your company to focus on the business tasks at hand.
What is a safety program?
A safety program is an organized, written action plan used to identify and control hazards, define safety responsibilities and respond to emergencies that result in the prevention of accidents and occupational diseases. Safety programs provide guidelines that direct procedures. They include checklists that can make work environments safer by preventing mishaps. Workers are required to know safety procedures that need to be followed in their specific department or area.
The disadvantages of a paper-based safety system:
Safety programs are essential and they cost money! Handling the mounting demands of due diligence is logistically impossible on paper. Consider the time and cost of a paper-based safety system:
- Distributing revised forms/manuals/materials to, and from, office and field
- Wages of employees to accomplish the process
- Scanning, photocopying, uploading, filing, and storing paper
- Stationery, printing and office/field expenses
- Time spent preparing for internal or external audits
The advantages of a digital safety management system:
A paperless safety management system allows your company to move your entire safety program from clipboards and filing cabinets to mobile apps on the web. A digital system significantly eases the burden of both time and cost. It provides speed of task completion, visibility of data, ability to track activity, the accuracy of record-keeping and ease of data analysis.
- Advantages of digital safety management in the office:
- Access to the entire safety program at your fingertips
- Schedule frequencies for each form, and assign to specific workers for on-time completion
- Reports/compliance can be monitored and consulted in real-time by the safety coordinator regardless of the location of the work
- Forms are automatically sorted by location, form name and worker’s signature
- Daily safety feed helps hold workers accountable for required forms
- A common level of safety standards can be enforced across all job sites
- Easily absorb any new administrative burdens placed upon the employer
- Time-stamped and location-stamped photos provide incontrovertible evidence that a hazard was corrected
- All safety activities are available in an electronic form allowing you to get information in real-time
- Quickly collect sample documents for an audit
- Makes it easy to track expiring and expired certifications with digital copies of training certificates and a certification feed
- Frees up supervisors to focus on spending time in the field and ensuring projects progress safely and on time
- Easily find documents with a search feature
- Reduces incidences of illegible handwriting, missing documents and time spent searching for documents
- Enables live updates to policies and procedures
- Allows the creation of custom forms (FLHA’s, Toolbox Talks, Inspections, Incident Investigations, JSA’s, Near Miss/HID Forms, etc.)
- Increases the speed and ease of distributing safety documents (company policies, safety manuals, SDS, SWP, SJP etc.)
- Able to complete internal audits using COR Audit features
- Easy to learn and fast to use
- Advantages of digital safety management in the field:
- Access to the entire safety program at your fingertips
- Allows for on-the-spot employee and location additions
- Toolbox talks can be selected, read to a crew and signed by each worker
- Workers can log in on their phones or tablets to view and complete all safety documentation
- Voice dictation can be used to fill forms
- Forms are instantly signed in the app with Date/Time/GPS stamps
- Never run out of room on a form
- No lost or damaged forms
- Find documents easily with a search feature
- Add photos, comments and annotations for the purposes of clarity/accuracy
- Allows you to chat directly with workers
- Able to automatically download and/or email forms
- Easy to learn and fast to use
A digital safety management program helps you maintain the highest level of safety possible, making your safety program more efficient, effective and significantly enhanced. You won’t miss your clipboards and filing cabinets!
Interested in digital safety management software? Looking for professional safety consultants that are passionate and knowledgeable? Want a safety consultant that responds in a timely manner and provides teaching at every opportunity? Seeking customer service that exceeds your expectations? Get in touch with 1st Quality Safety Consulting. We provide safety programs, monthly consulting packages, digital safety management software and online and in-person courses.
