Tech For Safety Professionals. Are You Using It?

With workplaces striving to become safer in every way, more and more safety managers are turning to new technologies for better organizational performance, employee safety as well as data safety. Computer-based software and gadgets such as mobile phones, tablets and apps are being used to streamline and simplify workflow in a variety of areas, including:

Information systems
Auditing
Safety training, reporting and tracking
Incident investigation
Post-incident reporting

As we have seen from the latest Consumer Electronics Show in Los Angeles, the world is already looking at a new era of the Internet of Things, where there will be far more connectivity than there is today. Think smart offices where devices “speak” to one another, smarter security and other efficiency and safety-enhancing devices that will completely change the way businesses operate.

Now is the time to rethink the way your business handles safety and to embrace technology, if you haven’t already done so. Well-designed mobile apps can help to transform tablets and smartphones into high value devices that let safety professionals work smarter and far more effectively than ever before.

Today’s technologies are allowing one person to do the work of several, largely automating workflow and increasing efficiency as well as focus on more critical tasks. Information is accessible more easily. Employees are always connected and everything from Big Data to wearables are being used to help improve workers’ safety across all industries. When it comes to information systems, technology is encouraging paperless operations and electronic storage, making it easier to safeguard sensitive information.

If you are a safety manager, here is a look at some of the tools that can make your everyday safety and risk management duties simpler than ever before.

Note-Taking With Apps

Managing notes (or any kind of paperwork for that matter) is a managerial nightmare, and missing or misplaced research that you have spent valuable time collecting can eat into valuable time when you are trying to write a report on site assessments. Technology makes it easy for you to have all your notes in one place and access from any device, including your smartphone or tablet. The notes can be smartly categorized with ‘tags’ and labels so that you can pull out the relevant note whenever you want.

The popular Evernote app, which is also my absolute favorite app in the world, is one of the best note-taking tools that we have at our disposal today. Available in a free or paid version, the software lets you type notes, “ink” them in with a stylus, attach images, snapshots, webcam or audio recordings, edit your notes, highlight important areas and much more. It lets you store your notes in specific “notebooks” and sync them remotely in the cloud. No matter which device you use Evernote on, you can access all your notes in one place. Evernote also offers a chat feature for collaboration with your safety coordinator and others on your team.

Microsoft’s OneNote is another excellent note-taking app that will let you save notes on the cloud, access from most mobile devices, and edit. With awesome apps like this at your disposal, creating simple notes, mind mapping and creating your reports will become a breeze.

Apps For Tracking To-Do Lists

Safety managers no longer have to lug around giant diaries or paper notebooks to check their schedules and tick off jobs as they are done. Speed up workflow and get more done with productivity apps like Toodledo and Todoist.

Both are online, and accessible from multiple devices. In fact Toodledo goes a step further and lets you access your schedule from your Apple watch too. It is also lets you write long notes, create outlines, make custom lists and track your habits. It has a collaborative platform to let you share your list with colleagues in an instant.

Todoist is a similar tool that lets you access your tasks from across fifteen platforms. If you’re out on a job site inspection, simply pull out your mobile and access your to-do list via a browser, your mailbox or any other device you have on you. Label your tasks, save projects and access your schedule at a glance for the next 7 days. Todoist is undoubtedly the best task manger app that I’ve ever used and just recently, added the ability to integrate with Evernote. Amazing!

Managing Projects with Apps

If you’ve been using Excel spreadsheets for managing projects, you’ve probably had a hard time building dependency relationships between tasks or creating Gantt charts. You could end up with ambiguous dependencies when trying to create multiple relationships. Excel is great for simple project management where you are trying to track cost or time against a forecast. But why painstakingly create the tools that you need on spreadsheets, when project management apps like Basecamp give you these tools straight out of the box?

Basecamp is a super simple platform designed to organize chaos, as their website reassuringly points out. It is a highly efficient collaborative tool that connects all the relevant people together, lets you send project status reports, keep all your communications in one place, manage different projects smartly without getting lost in the maze of data and much more. It has a refreshingly simple visual interface that is easy to get around. You can access your account from anywhere – email, PC, Mac, Android or iOS device. I’ve been using basecamp for about 4 years now and I have a hard time imagining my life without it.

Paperless Auditing

Even auditing can be paperless, without the hassle of carrying a clipboard, paper and pen around with you. Simply download an auditing and inspection software like the Knowledge Vault (meant for use with Microsoft Office 365) or Symbiant Tracker for risk assessment and internal controls management onto your mobile device. Carry out analytics, reporting, auditing and other management tasks on the go.

iAuditor Pro by Safety Culture has completely transformed the way my team and I performs audits. With the ability to build dynamic, customized check lists, export audits into multiple formats and annotate images on the fly, this app is a safety professional’s dream.

Safe, Electronic Storage of Information

Of course, one of the biggest advantages of technology for business is in the safe storage of information, electronically. Cloud storage has become safer with secure encryption, keeping data safe from competitors as well as from natural hazards. Electronic storage eliminates the need for bulky filing cabinets, office supplies and extra storage areas. Any existing paperwork can be scanned in and filed on your electronic document management system. Costs of maintenance are very low, and the data can be accessed by any employee from anywhere. Compare this with traditional paperwork that has to be requested, retrieved and then delivered to the person requesting it.

Such technologies are guaranteed to immediately affect your productivity in the workplace, improve workflow in all your risk management processes and duties, decrease injury rates because of timely response and offer so much more for workplace safety. If you haven’t already jumped on the tech bandwagon, get moving, it’s never too late to start.