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.
How Can Safety Audit Software Help You?
How do you know if your risk assessment in the workplace complies with OHS legislation Australia? Risk assessment in construction is not an exact science and mistakes can be made. As a manager or business owner, it’s your legal responsibility to ensure your workforce is safe and compliant, or else you risk the regulator’s wrath.
How to Complete a Risk Assessment?
The traditional method involves streams of paperwork that is both a hassle to fill out, file and find if regulators ever submit a compliance request. There are safe work method statements (SWMS), risk assessment matrices not to mention the risk assessment process itself. A compliant risk assessment workflow involves all of these different bureaucratic functions but it doesn’t have to stunt your productivity. In fact with the help of construction risk assessment software, your productivity should improve.
How to Improve Productivity?
We’ve developed a digital alternative to the paper-based method that saves time and money. Called SafeWorkPro, it’s simple risk assessment software designed in consultation with construction workers and managers. One of its many features is as safety audit software – a function that stores risk assessments, SWMS and other related documents as a PDF. Should any regulator request risk assessment documents, you can access them in one computer file and email it instantly. It cuts out administrative overhead and gives you more time for other jobs.
A lot of mistrust gets thrown at risk software because the paper-based method, although seriously flawed, has been around for years. But to improve productivity while remaining compliant, you’ll need to move into the digital world with SafeWorkPro.
Construction Safety Software: avoid the sting of regulation
High risk construction work is a never-ending list of potential dangers and could be hazards that eventually result in tedious paperwork. Some workers just ignore risk assessment for construction and instead hope the painful sting of regulation doesn’t find them. With all the paperwork that’s involved, risk assessments take too much time and when you’re on the job, time is money. So who can even afford doing a totally compliant risk assessment in construction anyway?
But let’s think about construction risk assessments differently for a moment. In Queensland, if you are a worker with a noncompliant construction risk assessment form, you could face a fine of $50 000 and that’s just if your worksite is not up to the standards of OHS legislation Australia. If an injury or death were to occur, then you’d be looking at $300 000 and a five-year jail term.
Now let’s ask a different question: who can afford not doing a totally compliant risk assessment in construction?
The answer is no one.
A dozen national and sub-national regulators monitor compliance with the construction risk management process. But the required paperwork including risk assessment forms, safe work method statements and the numerous types of the OHS risk assessment matrix, take up too much of your time and drain productivity. There is an alternative however and it comes in the form of construction risk assessment software. This takes the paperwork out of the risk assessment process without compromising your safety. Find out more about the software solution right here.
Risk Assessment Documents
Here at SafeWorkPro we recognise the limited time business owners have. At times it can feel like risk assessment forms get either lost in the filling cabinet and are just unavailable. There is a solution to this problem through risk assessment software, but just in case you are not looking for that, we though a simple risk assessment form would also be helpful.
Blank risk assessment forms are hard to come by but for your convenience we’re offering free risk assessment forms. That’s right – a standard risk assessment form free of charge with no catch or hidden commitment. Check out SafeWorkPro’s Resources for your free safe work methods statements or our Blog for more free risk assessment forms.
