Safety

Smartphones and Worksite Safety

If your project managers and other employees work in remote locations, you have to keep everyone on guard and away from danger.

 

How safe is your worksite?

If your project managers and other employees work in remote locations, you have to keep everyone on guard and away from danger.

In an earlier blog post, we mentioned that “companies must pass inspections and audits and perform necessary incident investigations to comply with government safety standards.” Although it can be difficult to pass the endless checklists of safety inspections, you must make safety your number one priority on the job.

Fortunately, you can leverage mobile technology to help your workforce become safer and more efficient on your remote worksite locations. Here are five different ways a smartphone can improve safety on your worksites.

1. Download Apps for Protection

If your workforce consists mostly of lone workers, you need to take extra precautions to ensure everyone makes it home safely at the end of the work day. Lone workers often have no way of communicating with managers or other employees and may not have the necessary tools to get themselves out of an unsafe situation.

Make safety a priority and protect your lone workers with any of the following GPS-centered safety apps:.

If your project doesn’t require employees to work alone, you can still use a number of safety apps on your worksite. These safety apps include:

Apps are a great way to use your smartphone or other device and ensure worksite safety.

2. Implement Video Conferencing for Unity

Many projects include multiple worksites spread across different locations. If you want to keep your team up-to-date on the latest safety methods but don’t have a way to meet together at the same location, use video conferencing. Video conferencing will help you connect to every worksite and project manager at the same time.

Popular video conferencing applications include the following:

If your meeting requires you to connect with more than three different worksite locations, Google Hangouts is probably the best application for fast connection speeds and multiple users.

3. Use the Internet for Continuous Education

You and your employees can never know too much. Use smartphones and other mobile devices to stay up-to-date on modern practices, methods, and safety standards. Browse Google to find out what information your employees need to know. Once you’ve determined the necessary information, send out a text message, email, or phone call and invite all employees to brush up.

One popular continuous education option on your smartphone or mobile device includes the Safety Culture Excellence® podcast. This weekly podcast delves into different industries and helps project managers understand how to obtain an excellence in safety.

4. Use Applications for Inspections

If a project manager has to carry out a safety inspection, look no further than a smartphone to get the job done. Smartphones have video and picture-taking options that will help safety inspectors do the following:

  • Perform ergonomic analysis
  • Offer real-time feedback

If your inspector can take video and pictures of a worksite, you won’t have to deal with so many denials, rebuttals, and complaints from employees. Everyone will stay on guard and more safe and efficient on the worksite.

Other applications that will enhance the efficiency of safety inspections include the following:

These three apps will help your inspectors instantly load information into a database and easily navigate through inspections.

5. Log in to Report Hazards

If your project managers or inspectors constantly find hazards on your worksite, take control of the situation with help from the Skitch app. Skitch is a user-friendly app that allows an inspector to take a picture, mark it up (circle problem and/or hazardous areas), make special notes, and send it on to a supervisor.

Why does Skitch beat a regular camera? Skitch simplifies the process. When you use Skitch, you don’t have to worry about uploading the photo to a separate database. You don’t need to make a different report in a complicated application and attach the report to your picture. Instead, all you must do is open one app and keep all of your information neatly nestled in that application alone.

Invite all of your inspectors and project managers to download Skitch and start to see changes throughout their worksite.

Whether you need special apps to protect lone workers, video conferencing to ensure every worksite is on the same page, internet capabilities so your employees can continue to learn, unique applications that will help you carry out safer and more efficient inspections, or a special tool that will simplify your hazard reporting, technology makes it all possible.

Download one of the applications mentioned above to ensure your worksite is up to safety standards. If you need additional assistance or want to hire technicians that offer quick, on-site evaluations, contact your local specialists today.