3 Signs Safety Software Might Be The Solution For You
Safety software is a relatively new solution to an old problem. Have you ever thought to yourself, there has got to be a better way to stay complaint with safety regulations? Do you ever get frustrated that you have to fill out so many assessments and statements on paper. Do you find yourself missing things in your assessments because you are worried that it’s not in the right format?
These are just some of the frustrations that come with the process of staying compliant with safety regulations. It can have significant effects on your safety culture if you find the process of safety too difficult. If you have ever ran into any of the above, it might be time to consider finding a solution before it becomes too much of a headache that safety goes out the window and all your effort is spent just to be compliant.
In this article we will cover in depth 3 signs that it might be time to consider utilizing safety software before your safety is ignored for compliance.
You’re worried about compliance incase of an incident
Running a business is no easy task. It’s like juggling 10 things at once. When things are going well, it’s a great feeling. But it only takes one slip up or incident to cause everything to come crumbling down. The stress and anxiety of a WHS incident happening in your business is enough to keep anyone up at night. On top of that, if you know you might get slapped with a fine after the incident you’ll always be stressed or worse, you’ll delay reporting an incident. This can lead to huge fines and even jail time. No one wants that.
Safety compliance in the modern day is no simple task. There are a lot of regulations and legislation that you must adhere to in your day to day business. This can become quite a headache and adds to the stress of making sure you have ticked all the boxes. Or worse, leads you to ignoring your requirements and hoping that an incident doesn’t occur. As we have covered in a previous article, incidents happen to even the best of employers who are proactive with safety, its simply the reality of probability. If there is a chance, eventually it will happen.
Ask yourself this. If there was an incident at your workplace tomorrow and it lead to an inspection, would you be confident you would pass? Have you got a solid and refined risk assessment process in place to identify, assess and control risks in your workplace?
If the answer is not a confident yes then it might be time to look at solutions. Safety software like our platform SafeWorkPro allows you to focus on your process more while making the document compliance side of things a worry of the past. While SafeWorkPro won’t solve all of your safety worries, it will help you be more effective with your time so you can spend less time filling out forms and more time focusing on the actions that lead to a safer workplace. We have talked about how your process is more important than your documents in a previous article. In the eyes of the law, the concern is about what you actually do to keep people safe.
If you want to spend more time on safety and less time on the books, then safety software might be the solution for you.
Safety software makes documentation simple and easy
How long does it take you to complete a risk assessment from start to finish? What about a SWMS? Do you find it difficult to complete documents because of all the back and forth that is required between the site, office and in between your workers? If your documentation process is top notch and you have no issues with filling out lengthy paper documents then this might not apply to you. But for those that get frustrated with how much time away from work they have to take to complete documents, this one might be for you.
When the bottle neck for starting a job is the paperwork you need to complete for safety compliance it can become frustrating. It can sometimes feel like too much time is being wasted on paperwork when you could be working. This can lead to rushing through it which defeats its purpose. It also means that you are more likely to skip the processes that really matter to keep people safe.
If you are on a site that needs a SWMS and something changes that requires you to re-evaluate your SWMS, the process starts again and the tools are down until it is done. With safety software, the process of completing documentation is significantly easier. In principle, it is the same but in practice you’re saving time that would otherwise be spent filling a document and running around to get it signed. SafeWorkPro’s simple form based builder allows you to build custom documents which are super simple for your workers to complete on site when needed.
Save the hassle of the back and forth trying to get your documents read and signed by those on site. Have workers fill and sign documents from anywhere on site and have them submitted to the cloud for you to review from any location. SafeWorkPro even lets you get notifications when certain actions happen like a risk rating on a risk assessment matrix being too high or an incident is submitted. SafeWorkPro can help you save time on compliance and let’s you focus on what you do best.
Safety software helps you find old documents quick
Ask yourself this, can you find your risk assessment or SWMS from a job 2 years ago? If you were audited, could you produce it? This is something that isn’t obvious until it is an issue and by then it’s too late. How much of an impact on your day to day operations would a surprise audit have? Would you need to go digging through the back office folders to find the documents required? What a headache!
Even while you are on site, your documents like a SWMS need to be available for everyone to see. While they are there, they are likely to get damaged or degraded by weather. Sometimes, by the time they get stored for safe keeping they are almost falling apart.
With the safety of cloud document storage, SafeWorkPro can store all of your important documents online forever. With all of your documents in one place and neatly organized it’s super simple to find the documents you need, even if they are from years ago. Our software also makes audits quick and easy with next to no disruption in your operations. Export all of the data from your SafeWorkPro site for review without having to spend hours digging through folders, photocopying and physically delivering documents.
Conclusion
If any part of this article resonates with you, it might be time to consider trying out a better solution to using a manual safety process. Beyond just the convenience, SafeWorkPro can help you focus your time on the actions that truly make people safe, not just the actions that make you compliant. At the end of the day, that is what you will be judged on if you have an audit or investigation. Documentation is required of course, but that is simple the surface level when it comes to safety.
If you want to learn more about how SafeWorkPro could help you in simplifying your WHS, reach out to our friendly expert staff for a free, no obligation live demo.
Job Safety Analysis Forms
Everyone hates paperwork but even in this digital age of instant messaging and computer technology, it remains a necessary evil. Job safety analysis forms are an essential part of the risk assessment process and crucial to job safety.
Although OHS legislation Australia is complicated and the job safety analysis process is lengthy, the paperwork itself is easy enough to understand. Just have a look at this job safety analysis example taken from the Victorian WorkCover Authority.
This job safety analysis sheet is simple enough. The high risk work, associated hazards and the control measures are listed next to each other while there’s space for the responsible duty holder to sign off. At the top of the job safety analysis form are the company and workplace details, date, activity description and space for the person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) to approve the job risk assessment.
So job safety analysis forms are pretty easy to understand but they are still one of those annoying tasks that just have to be done regardless of how stressed the paperwork makes you feel.
But there is a better way.
Job safety analysis software takes the paperwork out of the risk assessment process and gives you more time to get on with other work. This software solution is even easier to understand than the job safety analysis forms. Click here to learn more.
Workplace Safety Checklist
Across all industries and workplaces here are common factors that should be included in a safety checklist. These are vital safeguards that work not only to normalise a culture of safety but also to prevent workplace accidents. But what exactly does a safety checklist look like? Well for starters it is more than just a […]
The SafeWorkPro Safety Management Dashboard
No matter the type of industry, whether it’s mining, construction, manufacturing or even basic labour, risk is a constantly evolving threat. Dangers associated with any type of work threaten not only the well-being of workers, but also how productive and profitable a business can be.
The logic is simple. An effective and efficient OHS management system will result in quicker, safer and more compliant safety procedures. This means workers spend less time writing safety documents and more time getting the job done. Moreover, an efficient management system gives safety managers the tools to improve safe work practices and boost productivity.
Therefore safe systems of work need to be established which are smart and flexible enough to adapt with continually changing workplace environments. Previously on the SafeWorkPro Blog, we’ve written about how our software empowers managers and workers to create their own safety documents but now there is another feature which produces even better OHS results.
The Dashboard: using data driven decision-making to improve OHS procedures
A decision that is backed up by strong data will always produce better results. That’s why the dashboard feature has been implemented into the SafeWorkPro software. The dashboard is a place for managers to track the progress of their OHS policies and procedures, and see how well these are actually being implemented. Data relating to what safety document was used for a job, who completed it and the risk involved, are just some of the business insights that the dashboard feature provides. In all, four components break the data down into easy to understand terms.
1: The number of safety documents for each site
Understanding what safety documents are being used for which job site is important for helping managers keep their finger on the pulse of a business. The image to the right is taken from the Dashboard of an existing SafeWorkPro user and shows which jobs have the most risk assessments associated with it. This information can tell a manager where most of their workforce is being used and which jobs require the most occupational health and safety procedures.
2: The cumulative safety document count
This line graph shows the number of risk assessments a business has produced over a long period of time. The data is broken into monthly figures, which provides managers with an insight into the number of completed safety documents as well as any rise or drop that strays from the overall trend.
3: Today’s safety documents
Knowing who is doing a job is just as important as knowing what the job is. This part of the Dashboard shows which worker completed the safety document (in this case a risk assessment) for which job. The steps associated with the safety document are listed as well as the number of hazards. This instantly shows which job is the most risky and allows managers to review the completed safety document, thus improving the efficiency of how documents are shared and complied with.
This feature also allows managers to search for specific dates and find the safety documents associated with any job no matter how long ago it was finished. Moreover, a PDF of the document can be downloaded which makes satisfying compliance requests as easy as sending an email.
4: The safety document count
This line graph examines the number of safety documents completed on each day of any given week. It provides a short term insight into daily safe work practices conducted by workers as well as the OHS demands of each job on the respective day that it’s being worked on. For instance, on the left graph the number of completed safety
Summary
Although occupational health and safety is often viewed as a drain on time, it does not necessarily have to be. The Dashboard is the perfect place for managers looking optimise or streamline parts of their business. It benefits management by offering in-depth data that can be used as a basis for future decision making while it provides workers with an easy to use platform that tracks their current and past safety documents. In all, the Dashboard is another great feature for users of the SafeWorkPro software. If you would like to boost productivity without compromising workplace safety, try SafeWorkPro for free.
