Safety is only as good as the records you have! For many generations, safety has been deflected to the foreman or the supervisors.
Studies show that having all the workers contributing to safety record keeping increases safety awareness and ownership!
There are a lot of benefits to having site staff fill out safety forms and some other paperwork on their own.
By involving your site staff in the process, you’re arming them with all the knowledge they need to operate safely. If they’re not nose-to-nose with the paperwork, it may be easier for them to ‘forget’ to do some checks that could endanger them and their coworkers.
Just as filling out safety forms can make sure site staff understand safety protocol, it can also allow workers with boots on the ground to educate safety protocols. Safety procedures and checklists should reflect the reality of the workflow on site.
Since time is money and we want all the workers producing, how can they take the extra time to record their daily movements, too?
That’s a good question. Luckily, it’s not as tough as it may seem.
Using the old way with papers, clipboards, and even filling out spreadsheets is time-consuming and poses several problems getting the information where it needs to go.
First, the site team has to have enough blank forms on hand to fill out, carry the papers along with them as they complete the checklists, and keep track of the completed forms until they can submit them. It could be days or even weeks before office staff get their hands on the information.
Luckily, safety procedures checklists and forms aren’t as hard to manage on site as they once were.
Technology now exists that allows workers to quickly access safety documents and enables them to quickly complete records with their smartphones.
Advanced and progressive companies are taking on simple and economical management systems that have integrated safety reporting.
Advanced construction solution providers have even set up notification systems that automatically notify key individuals once forms are initiated and finished.
The forms update in the system automatically, so anybody can access and assess the latest version no matter where they are, and issues can be dealt with promptly.
Ready to get your site team more involved in the safety process? Find out how SMARTBUILD can help you set up collection systems to collect reliable, accessible, and organized information about the safety of your sites.