Is Your Safety Program Still Relying on Paper? The Six-Step Guide to Unsticking
The largest concern that many firms have, despite their readiness to do away with paper records, is “How can this switch away from spreadsheets and clipboards be smooth and seamless?”
This is your road map to a smooth digital conversion. Put on seat belts. Here we go.
Step 1: Gather all of your paper checklists and any spreadsheet-based data that you are keeping track of.
Why not treat this as a treasure hunt since it can feel that way? When defining your objective, consider the kinds of data that your EHS program has historically gathered and archived. Where, also?
Take into consideration whether there are any forms that are special to a department (and just that department) for purposes such as their lockout/tag-out program, in addition to safeguarding the “usual suspects” (injury reporting forms, etc.). To find out what and how each departmental team uses, gathers, stores, and shares data, enlist team members.
Second step: Condense all of this into a manageable project schedule.
A primary cause of software implementation failures is too ambitious a project scope from the beginning.
When defining your goals, use the SMART technique (specific, measurable, actionable, reasonable, and time-bound) and be realistic. You may wonder what a SMART goal is. They are all covered in detail here.
Don’t forget to start small. After considering what is feasible to accomplish in the upcoming 30, 60, and 90 days, decide what steps to take next.
3: Set priorities for the tasks at hand
This includes setting priorities for which forms to complete first in addition to gathering the ones that will be converted to digital format. It might be a good idea to start with the OSHA 300 logs and work your way down to more data collection and feedback on corrective and preventative measures.
This step does not have a universal formula. Nonetheless, a well-thought-out project plan and the assignment of internal owners to each one will facilitate the procedure.
To help you get started, consider these questions:
Who is going to gather each of the different checklists?
Who will ensure that each user logs in successfully?
Who will make sure that every piece of data is entered into the system?
Who will organize and oversee the EHS software training program?
Who is going to convert the checklists associated with paper and spreadsheets into online tools for accident and incident management, or online audits and inspections?
The beginnings of a strong project plan will emerge if you pose questions like these and record your responses in writing for all parties to see and discuss!
Get an executive sponsor in step four.
This does not entail obtaining approval for the effort from the corporate vice president or CEO. Getting someone at the top of the management chain who is prepared to attend meetings, clear the way for others, and take genuine ownership and leadership of the process is necessary to accomplish this.
Seeking an executive sponsor who is not directly involved with environmental health and safety is something you might even want to consider doing. To be sure, a vice president of environmental health will be thrilled to get to work digitizing spreadsheets and paper safety checklists. However, enlisting the support of additional C-level executives, such as the CEO, VP of Operations, or CFO, might demonstrate that your project has the support of the highest levels of authority.
Step 5: Maintain focus and be realistic
Verify that all parties are dedicated to the shift to digital EHS data management. Safeguarding public health and safety is everyone’s responsibility, as you are already aware. Furthermore, it is irrelevant where the EHS function is located. Although the safety program must ultimately be overseen by someone, successful EHS outcomes can only be achieved when the entire organization is dedicated to a safe workplace.
In fact, the first step in doing this is making sure that employees carry out their tasks securely. Lastly, the most important selling point you can make to the employees is probably how much easier their lives will be if they use EHS software to gather, store, and retrieve information!
Step 6: Demonstrate, not explain, how this shift to digital technology benefits workers
Here’s one instance:
Suppose you have a janitor who is unsure about the potential risks of combining ammonia and Clorox or if disposing of those chemicals down the drain could harm the environment.
By concentrating on user participation, you can:
Show the janitor how simple it will be to verify the chemical handling procedures.
Provide useful details regarding how to get rid of them properly.
They can then feel secure knowing that they aren’t taking any actions that could jeopardize public safety or contaminate stormwater. For what reason? because safety data sheets are instantly available to them.
The organization’s digital transformation should be communicated, but the true message should be about why and how the change will make the workplace safer for the workers because they will have instant access to safety data sheets and other important information.
Here’s just one more brief example:
Every shift begins with the forklift operator going through a safety checklist, but today the laminated card with the checklist was left halfway across the warehouse. However, this employee is eager to begin their shift since they need to move a number of pallets before someone files a complaint.
The forklift operator must sprint across the warehouse to obtain the card, fill it out, and then present it to someone else who will enter the data into a spreadsheet to verify the forklift inspection took place in the world before digital EHS. In the actual world, this individual will have to spend maybe fifteen minutes rushing around and performing tasks they don’t particularly enjoy.
However, what if you could demonstrate to them how simply accessing the forklift inspection checklist on their phone can enable them to complete their safety responsibilities with just two or three clicks, freeing them up to continue moving pallets?
And one last illustration. (This is how to win over staff members whose only administrative participation in safety matters.)
Suppose that each time there is a safety problem, the workers’ compensation coordinator has to dash from the upstairs back office to the factory floor to see if everyone is alright and if anyone requires more extensive medical attention or first aid.
They constantly forget the incident paperwork they need to fill out since they’re in a hurry to get to the shop floor to triage the situation. They may be able to take notes on their phone or in a notepad, but in order to finish their report, they will still need to dash back upstairs to get the form and then back downstairs to locate witnesses.
In summary, this is an instance of how EHS software can save this coordinator from difficulties encountered while working. Since they most often always have a phone with them, it might be a great help to them if they can call for the resources they require and receive real-time guidance.
And one last illustration.
(This is how to win over staff members whose only administrative participation in safety matters.)
Suppose that each time there is a safety problem, the workers’ compensation coordinator has to dash from the upstairs back office to the factory floor to see if everyone is alright and if anyone requires more extensive medical attention or first aid.
They constantly forget the incident paperwork they need to fill out since they’re in a hurry to get to the shop floor to triage the situation. They may be able to take notes on their phone or in a notepad, but in order to finish their report, they will still need to dash back upstairs to get the form and then back downstairs to locate witnesses.
In summary, this is a more instance of how EHS software can save this coordinator from difficulties encountered while working. Since they most often always have a phone with them, it might be a great help to them if they can call for the resources they require and receive real-time guidance.
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