This is the third installment of a four-part series. Click the URLs to read Part 1 and Part 2.
A construction company’s workforce is one of its major assets, making its protection a top priority. By incorporating safety mobile forms, enterprises can deliver a safe environment, safe equipment, and safe procedures to ensure workers’ health and safety.
How Safe Are Your Workers Really?
According to Safe Work Australia, the Australian construction industry has grown by 33% between 2004 and 2015. While injuries and fatalities were lower in this period, the industry is still considered a high risk industry.
A 2017 survey for the Work Safe report further revealed 25% of laborers in industries such as construction don’t believe they’re safe. Their fears may be well-founded as the following statistics were released by Safe Work Australia.
- 30% of injuries were due to falls from ladders
- 20% of serious claims were for back injuries
- 58% of fatalities were the result of falls from a height
- 13% of serious claims were lodged by carpenters and joiners
- 53% of injuries were traumatic joint, muscle and/or tendon injuries
- 15% of deaths were caused by electrocution on site
- 16% of deaths were caused by vehicle collisions
Serious claims also take their toll on the firms themselves. Safe Work Australia reports workers take 6.4 weeks off from work following a serious claim. Moreover, firms pay a median compensation of $11,000. Other consequences include hefty lawsuits and heavy fines by regulators such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Benefits of Mobile Forms for Occupational Safety
Using safety mobile forms and checklists can effectively lower injury rates, improve overall site safety, and prevent firms from wasting time and money. These are achievable due to the following advantages of safety mobile forms.
Better Incident Management
Mobile forms are effective in incident management as they facilitate initiating, recording, and managing injuries, exposures, and events. With that information delivered in real time, health and safety management professionals can protect other employees quickly and more efficiently.
Accessible Safety Checklists
Lugging around paper documents and binders can actually distract workers and lead to serious injuries. On the other hand, having checklists on their devices allows them to easily and safely keep track of their progress.
Efficient Employee Tracking
By tracking employees’ adherence to health and safety guidelines via checklists, firms can provide direct feedback to those putting themselves and projects at risk. They can reward safe employees and eliminate poor performers in the future.
On-Site Employee Training
New mobile forms can be added on the fly, teaching employees how to ensure their safety through videos and photos. You can also use devices’ notification feature to alert workers on new tools of the trade or even the latest from regulatory bodies.
Enhanced Safety Programs
As data is collected quickly via mobile forms, trending analysis can be conducted swiftly. This, in turn, allows safety experts to improve their safety programs and prevent further incidents even before they occur.
Designing Safety Mobile Forms the Right Way
In order to get the aforementioned benefits, your safety mobile forms should be designed with a few things in mind. Here are some expert tips from Team TransformTek.
- Select the Right Colors – Certain colors can be too distracting, defeating the purpose of mobile forms for worker safety. You can accurately choose which colors to use in your forms after learning about the psychology of colors.
- Keep Fillable Fields to a Minimum – Avoid adding too many fields which require users to type. Instead, use form controls such as segmented controls for multi-selections and sliders for ratings.
- Include Image and File Upload Fields – Include input controls which allow image and file upload. In many cases, an image, video, or sound recording are more effective than paragraphs of text. So, use these controls if provided by your mobile form designer.
- Add Microcopy – Microcopy is a term which refers to the small bits of text which explain certain tasks. Adding this to your mobile forms ensures employees are on the right track. Make sure, however, to limit the text in the microcopy to avoid distracting users.
- Test the Forms on the Field – Always design with the end user in mind. To ensure that your forms are effective, make sure to test them on a small segment of your employees. You can improve the forms based on their feedback until they perfectly serve your safety crew’s needs.
- Be Inspired by Our Ready2Use Forms – Ready2Use Forms is a collection of ready-to-use mobile forms for safety, business development, projects, and human resources. You can download the app for free and try the safety forms yourself. You can later replicate the forms with your own changes by signing up for Transform Studio and designing your own forms.
