Smartphones and tablets have become like a third appendage in today’s technology world, especially among the mobile workforce. The pens and paper required to fill out traditional safety reports can be hard to find, and are often inconvenient to use during an employee’s busy workday.
WorkplaceAware’s Safety Management System enables companies to transform safety reporting from a paper-based document system to a mobile app and web database. With the WorkplaceAware mobile app, employees can instantly submit photos and report details to management saving valuable time between reporting and response. The WorkplaceAware Safety Management System also lends employers the opportunity to study incidents with a level of detail previously impossible, which can produce better training and preemptive interventions resulting in fewer accidents occurring in the future.
Private industry employers in 2014 reported nearly three million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While this number is lower than previous years, the question that remains is how many near misses occurred in the workplace and were not reported that could lead to future incidents. Heinrich’s widely accepted accident triangle theory states that for every major injury, there were 29 minor injuries and 300 near misses. Additionally, OSHA estimates that employers pay over $50 billion a year for direct workers' compensation costs alone.
There are many reasons for near misses not to be reported, and the WorkplaceAware mobile app helps companies eliminate barriers to reporting. In addition to simplifying the reporting process of near misses and accidents for employees, WorkplaceAware also streamlines the tracking and managing of reports resulting in quicker resolution. Business owners, safety officers and managers can access the WorkplaceAware web-based dashboard from their desks or on the road to generate PDF or CSV historical incident reports that can be tailored by type of report and other parameters. Through the web-based dashboard, reports can also be escalated to a particular employee or management group or forwarded electronically to the appropriate individual or department for immediate intervention.
All reports submitted through the employer-branded WorkplaceAware mobile app are geo-tagged based on the users current location. This unique feature makes it possible for managers to respond to incidents faster and with more accuracy. In the moment, when creating a report, employees may not remember to include location details in the text they submit with photos. The WorkplaceAware Safety Management System eliminates the extra step of a manager or business owner trying to contact the employee for more information regarding exactly where an incident occurred. Vital minutes of response time are saved through this automated process within the app.
“WorkplaceAware eliminates many of the reporting barriers companies must overcome to make workplaces safer,” said WorkplaceAware CEO Rob Sweeney. “There are many reasons employees choose not to report a near miss incident including fear of retribution, a desire to avoid red-tape or to avoid interrupting pace of work. By using WorkplaceAware, companies can allow employees to report incidents from the field, without having to fill out pages of paperwork or holding up the work day. And if employees choose, reports can be submitted anonymously. Our customers see an increase in near miss reporting days after engaging WorkplaceAware, and their businesses are safer and more productive as a result.”