Ultimate Guide to Safety Management Software for Construction

Construction firms rely on paper forms to complete many essential tasks on job sites. But anyone that’s had to fill out paperwork knows how inefficient, error-prone, and time-consuming the process can be for everyone involved. That’s why organizations are moving to construction jobsite management software and mobile forms to alleviate these concerns.

Going from paper to digital software and forms allows construction companies to:

• Avoid losing paperwork. Paper sheets can get lost over time, creating additional risk for the business when information is misplaced or accidentally destroyed. Going digital keeps information secure in the cloud and available in real-time whenever it’s needed.
• Limit human error. Paper sheets or spreadsheets can open companies up to human error with mispellings, deleted or missing information, and much more. Going digital allows companies to require what information is submitted, leading to better data quality and standardization.
• Save time and money. Considering the direct and indirect costs to a business from paper usage, companies can save time and money by switching to digital forms and software. Automate processes, streamline workflows, and reduce the time everyone spends on busywork.

There is a very compelling business case for construction firms to embrace digitization with software and mobile forms. With the amount of paper and forms needed for safety management programs, there is a significant advantage for firms that can digitize their operations.

This article explains how safety management software works, with examples of the types of solutions utilized within a safety management program. Continue reading for our guide to the types of safety management software and forms that are available to construction firms today.

Use Cases for Safety Management Software and Forms

Incident Reporting

Construction firms use incident reports to formally document any accidents, events, or near-misses in the workplace.

Software and forms are designed to help companies capture information from the job site when incidents happen. The technology helps to document the incident and create a report detailing the events that occurred. This type of solution is used in situations like damage to company property, injuries, safety issues, misconduct, and other types of incident reporting. 

Going digital with incident reporting simplifies the process for everyone involved.

Templates can be customized with the exact information that needs to be collected on every incident report. Companies can create unique digital forms for the various types of workplace incidents that occur.

Software solutions are designed to significantly cut down the time it takes to create a report. Reports are typically generated automatically so they can be distributed in real-time via email to OSHA, management, and anyone else that needs the information.

Companies chose to use this type of software and forms for incident reporting to streamline workflows for employees and give greater visibility into operations for management.

Mobile Inspections

Inspections happen during the entire lifecycle of construction projects to make sure that safety standards are being met. While paper forms can be used for inspections, there are many benefits to going digital with software and forms for inspections.

Most inspection software will allow companies to build checklists, conduct inspections, and file all reports from a mobile device or tablet on the job site. This helps to streamline the process for inspectors by giving them a standard set of criteria to look for in the inspection. All of the data for reporting is collected using required fields that ensure data is formatted correctly. 

Digital inspection software can also enable businesses to use a dispatching feature to send workers in the field to the correct locations. The entire inspection process can be recorded digitally, signed off on with digital signatures, and saved in the cloud to be accessed by whoever needs to see it. 

Software and forms for inspections give companies greater accountability and visibility into their operations, allowing management to spot trends and look for ways to improve their safety management programs in real-time.

Safety Meetings

Construction safety meetings are held regularly as group discussions that focus on one specific safety issue. Companies typically hold these meetings on a monthly, weekly, or daily basis.

Effective safety meetings can deliver significant and proven safety and cost benefits to an organization. Implementing safety meetings can help to decrease insurance rates, legal costs, employee turnover, damaged equipment, and medical costs.

Construction firms can use safety management software to formalize their safety meeting programs across job sites.

With software for safety meetings, your team can complete safety documentation from any mobile phone or tablet. Using required attendance logs, you can collect the names and IDs of every employee at each worksite to ensure they are present for the latest safety information. 

Companies can also capture details related to the job site location, project manager, as well as date and time stamps for every briefing. An integrated signature capture field means employees can verify their attendance and signatures can be collected from a foreman or any other safety representative who makes an onsite visit.

Using software and forms for safety meetings helps to ensure that compliance measures are met for every meeting and management teams get greater visibility into overall safety trends. 

Job Safety Analysis

Job Safety Analysis is a step-by-step procedure that splits each job into manageable training tasks, identifies the safety components in each task, and trains employees on how to avoid safety hazards.

Job safety analysis pinpoints specific areas that have potential safety risks and helps you keep your workers safe. It also helps your company become compliant with safety guidelines thus reducing your employee turnover and instilling trust in your customers. 

Software and forms for JSA are helpful for construction companies to cover safety procedures on job sites, including personal protective equipment, safety training, and machinery safety. The construction safety analysis can be customized to suit the unique needs of a company. 

Job safety analysis is another important component of safety programs and going digital can help to streamline the process across construction job sites.

Safety Data Sheets

For companies that manufacture, distribute, or import chemicals, safety data sheets are required to inform employees of the hazardous materials they are handling. 

As more companies invest in digitization, it means that companies are moving towards housing much of their critical information in secure, cloud-based platforms using software and mobile forms. 

When it comes to SDSs, OSHA indicates that safety data sheets can absolutely be stored as digital documents. OSHA just requires that these SDSs are easily accessible for all employees who need to understand the hazardous chemicals that are being used for their job site. 

Having these documents stored digitally and made available through a mobile application will help your team manage the documents and ensure that your workers know where to find the latest version of the SDS. 

In the rare case of a power outage or emergency situation, it makes sense to have a hard copy of your SDS available for workers. But otherwise in today’s digitally connected world, it’s going to make sense to have digital copies available for your SDSs that can be readily accessible in a secure mobile device on-site.

Analytics

Data analytics is quickly becoming one of the greatest assets for improving productivity, ensuring safety and compliance, and tracking and reporting on key elements of business operations.

Another key component of a safety management solution using is the ability to have analytics and data insights available.

This type of software solution is helpful for providing meaningful insights in real-time. Instead of compiling information on paper forms and manually creating reports for analytics, companies are adopting this type of analytics solution as part of their technology stack.

Having this type of insight into the business helps inform decision-making for management and operations, giving unprecedented insights into where there are opportunities to improve.

Software and Forms with GoCanvas for Construction

GoCanvas is a mobile platform that makes it simple for businesses to automate how work is done, replacing outdated processes and expensive paperwork. The GoCanvas App works on smartphones and tablets, helping companies easily collect information across their organization, share it instantly with others, and gain real-time insight into their business. Construction firms rely on GoCanvas to increase productivity, promote workplace safety, and create a competitive advantage. You can learn more about all of our safety management software solutions and forms here on our website.