Working in the construction industry comes with its fair share of risks: roughly 20% of all worker deaths occur at construction jobsites, with the top four causes of these fatalities including falling, being struck by an object, electrocution, and getting caught/compressed between two objects. In order to help keep workers risk-free and jobsites compliant, a holistic safety program needs to be implemented. Pair a mobile-first solution for data capture and analysis with the following three-pronged plan to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

Education

Empower your workforce with the knowledge to eliminate safety risks.

Train employees to anticipate certain hazards and understand the proper protocol to prevent them from happening. Toolbox Talks are a great example of short sessions that are designed to keep safety at the forefront of employees’ minds. Document attendance and test comprehension with electronic forms on mobile devices, and reference this information in the event an incident occurs.

Prevention

Eliminate job site hazards before they arise.

Inspections exist to ensure people, equipment, and jobsites are complying with all safety measures put in place. Digitizing your safety inspection process with electronic forms helps validate and authenticate your construction job site safety program through features like automatic time stamps, GPS location capture, photos and videos, and electronic signatures. The annoyance of incomplete forms goes away with the ability to flag fields as required, or requiring all fields be filled in for submission. Going electronic keeps employees accountable and jobsites compliant.

Response

Well-defined accident response plans in the event that an incident occurs.

With an electronic/mobile incident-response process in place, an alert can be pushed out to notify all the right people at one time, as soon as an accident occurs. As the notification is sent, pull up the correct form on a tablet from the jobsite, and submit it directly to the office. No need to worry about getting ahold of someone on the phone, paper forms getting lost or destroyed – everything can be done on one device. A process like this also allows you to track safety information in analytics dashboards to spot trends and take corrective action.

Incorporating a mobile-first solution for data capture and analysis with a three-pronged safety program ensures compliance without compromising time, resources or your bottom line. This approach reduces overall expenses by lessening job site costs and stoppages due to accidents, holds workers accountable for managing risk, ensures rapid and efficient response to OSHA inspections and allows you to make more timely and informed business decisions by identifying trends and responding accordingly.