Handling safety incidents the old-school way is probably the least efficient method out there. Honestly, who wants to deal with stacks of paperwork, fill out forms by hand, and spend forever looking for permits every time there’s an issue? It's crazy, right? Yet, we keep making the same blunders.
It’s time we learn from our mistakes and move to a better, more efficient strategy.
That's why we brought in Chad Romancho, Quickbase's solutions consulting manager, to share an improved method for managing safety protocols at our Empower 2024 session.
Here's a quick rundown of the main points from the session.
The Problem with Traditional Safety Management
Many industries that deal with safety management are used to tracking them with paper-based forms and manual data entry, but this approach is full of drawbacks.
For example, when an accident happens, you have to fill out three different forms by hand—Forms 301, 300, and 300A, each with different details about the incident. Then, you spend weeks at the end of the year compiling data for OSHA reporting and hope you don't get fined for any errors. Mistakes in paperwork can lead to hefty fines, and slow reporting can mean missing important safety issues.
This whole process is not just time-consuming and stressful, but also expensive and risky. 45% of 2,000 workers surveyed by Quickbase report spending over 11 hours each week just chasing information across various systems. Think about how much more value they could bring to their companies if they used that time for tasks that really matter.
How to Modernize Your Safety Management Practices
There's a better way to manage safety incidents. You need to adopt modern safety management practices that use technology to make processes easier, faster, and more accurate. Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Go Digital: Instead of using paper forms, use digital solutions to report and manage safety incidents. Digital platforms let you update information in real-time, making sure you capture everything accurately and promptly.
- Automate Your Processes: Automating the tracking and management of safety incidents can help you avoid human error and comply with safety regulations. Automation can also make it easier to prepare reports, such as OSHA's Form 300A, so you don't have to worry about meeting regulatory deadlines.
- Do Regular Audits: Doing regular safety audits is essential for keeping a safe work environment. Digital audit tools can help you standardize the process, making sure that you check everything consistently and thoroughly for potential hazards. These tools can also help you schedule and document audits, making it easier to address safety issues proactively.
- Assess Your Risks: Having a systematic way to identify and assess hazards is crucial for minimizing workplace risks. Digital platforms provide you with customizable checklists and risk matrices that help you prioritize and address safety hazards effectively.
Stay Safe and Get Things Done
Workplace accidents are bad news. They hurt people, cost money, and cause legal trouble. But you can prevent most of them with effective safety management. The trouble is, many companies still use old-fashioned methods that are slow, risky, and don't work well.
Quickbase has a better way. Our Safety and Incident Management apps help you digitize processes and automate your safety protocols, making them faster and smarter.
OSHA Incident Tracking
No more paper forms. Our OSHA Incident Tracking app lets you enter and update data on the spot, using a digital Form 301. This connects with Form 300, making it easy to track and handle safety incidents. You save time and avoid mistakes, making sure your data is right and reliable.
For safety officers, this means no more headaches when reporting to OSHA. The system does it for you, making it quick and accurate. Plus, you can send your reports online, thanks to the link with OSHA's API, cutting down the paperwork.
Site Safety Audits
Manual audits are unreliable and risky. They can miss important problems that lead to accidents and safety breaches. You need a smart checklist and a proactive strategy to prevent problems before they happen.
Quickbase’s Safety Audits app gives you that. You can set up regular or one-time audits and use detailed checklists for different areas. The app tracks your compliance and warns you of any issues right away, so you can fix them fast.
You can also see your audit status and results in clear summaries and dashboards, helping you spot and focus on the areas that matter. This way, you can stay ahead and improve your safety and performance.
Hazard Identification and Risk Assessments
Paper checklists and manual inspections can cause big trouble. They can overlook serious hazards, leading to accidents and legal issues. Without a central system, managing risks is a pain and usually too late. You end up fixing problems after they’ve gotten worse, making it hard to see real safety improvements.
Quickbase’s Safety Audits and Hazard Assessment app helps you find and fix safety hazards faster. It offers checklists and assessment tools that help inspectors spot and deal with issues. The app's dashboards make compliance tracking easy and give you quick, useful insights. The risk matrix feature shows potential risks clearly, letting you prioritize and tackle the most important areas. Quickbase turns safety management from a chore to a strategy, making it easier to keep your workplace safe.
Permit to Work App
Imagine a large manufacturing company still stuck in the old way of managing safety permits. Every time a risky task, like welding or working in tight spaces, comes up, workers are stuck in paperwork, waiting for approvals that take ages. Permits are all over the place, and no one knows who has what. This approach not only slows things down but also increases the risk of someone skipping a key safety step, which could lead to disaster.
Quickbase’s Permit to Work app makes the whole process simple, acting like a digital hub where everyone can get the information they need. Permits are organized and updated in real-time, so there's no confusion or delay.
Plus, the app is made for different roles—whether you’re a permit coordinator or on the work team, you only see what’s relevant to you, making it easy to stay on track. The app helps avoid mistakes and keeps the team safe and compliant by making sure everyone has the right credentials and safety gear.
Real-World Impact: Making Safety a Priority
Using modern safety management tools does more than make processes smoother—it actually helps cut down on workplace incidents and save costs. For instance, companies using these solutions have seen up to a 30% drop in reportable incidents and a 70% decrease in lost time. These gains not only keep workers safer but also lead to big savings, potentially cutting $300,000 to $400,000 in workers' compensation costs.
Modern Solutions for Safer Workplaces
Making safety a priority doesn't have to be a pain. Work management apps are built to make things easier, reducing paperwork and increasing efficiency. This leads to fewer accidents, saving money, and creating a safer work environment.
Ditch the old-school ways and manage safety and compliance effortlessly. These tools keep you updated on regulations and make your daily tasks simpler.
Check our work management solutions and see how they can upgrade your safety routines. Let's make safety management simple, smart, and effective.
