How to run a successful wrap-up using technology

Technology, especially mobile technology, has become increasingly popular on construction sites. Most safety personnel are very familiar with inspection apps that may have “canned” inspection checklists that are not suited to their specific projects. It is important to keep up with the times and leverage technology for jobsite safety, but it is equally important to find the right fit. A wrap-up has specific risk and safety concerns that should be evaluated before choosing technology to deploy at the site level.

Consider the project goals

With most projects, a safety goal is established. Often, it’s a vague goal about “zero incidents” or “zero lost time.” These goals are OK, but a SMART goal is recommended so that the data collected by site personnel can be compared to a benchmark and improvement can be tracked. The Haz-Trac app allows information to be categorized by contractor, trade, work area, and other metrics. This allows site management to decide where to allocate more attention including increased safety oversight, worker training, and material purchasing.

Consider the end users

Whatever safety and risk initiatives you choose for your site, make sure to consider who the end users are. The Haz-Trac app is an intuitive platform for anyone familiar with smartphones and tablet devices. Construction workers are likely to carry a cell phone, so it is not an extra burden to add the Haz-Trac app to the phone that is already an essential for workers. When a hazard is identified, a worker should first think of the actions they will need to take to make a correction so that the area is safe for them and their peers. Next, instead of logging their activity on a paper inspection form, a quick photo can be taken and a simple caption added to record what was done. The worker can then move on with their day and site management can be confident that personnel have a safety mindset.

Consider costs

The cost of using technology on the project is not related only to devices used or subscription costs for apps that are used by multiple people on the site. An indirect cost of deploying technology solutions on a project is productivity. If workers are using technology but it is slowing them down, the technology needs to be fine-tuned or source an alternate solution. The Haz-Trac app has a quick deployment schedule that can easily fit in to a workers’ daily site routine.

Most construction personnel are familiar with smart phones, so there is minimal orientation to the navigation of Haz-Trac. The app does not require the user to input a lot of information, and often a photo with a simple caption can convey all the information needed to communicate a hazard or positive observation.

With the Haz-Trac app deployed on a wrap-up site, the costs at top of mind are the those that are saved when workers consistently use the app!

 

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