Despite enormous industry investment in safety, construction work continues to be one of the most dangerous jobs in America.
Everyone knows the risks, yet complacency and a “never-me” attitude result in many injuries annually. These injuries lead to substantial costs for construction companies, including fines and legal fees. They also cause work stoppages and negatively impact EMRs (Experience Modification Rates). This, in turn, leads to higher insurance premiums and lost job opportunities.
Danger is part of the industry. However, a modern, data-driven safety program can reduce risks. It helps to proactively identify and address problems before they lead to catastrophic events.
Safety and compliance reporting at scale
An effective safety program protects both the immediate and long-term. First, it must enable quick identification and remediation of hazards. Second, it should provide an easily accessible record of incidents that enables safety managers to discover recurring or systemic problems.
Paper inspection checklists don’t do that, and certainly not at scale.
With an automated platform, workers use their smartphones for daily inspections, simplifying the process. Managers instantly see the results. Additionally, anyone who spots a hazard can document it with a photo. This method saves time and enhances communication. All records are securely stored in the cloud. They are accessible via a web dashboard. This allows safety managers to identify trends and recurring issues. Such insights enable foundational improvements. Ultimately, this approach helps companies optimize their safety programs. It aims to protect workers, reputations, and EMRs more effectively.
Fulcrum’s construction safety apps
With Fulcrum’s mobile data collection and workflow automation platform, you can digitize any checklist to streamline your safety processes, whether they are mandated by OSHA or internally developed.
Once an inspection is complete, users can automatically generate reports to kick off new workflows — for example, by notifying your repair technician when a piece of heavy equipment has failed.
Fulcrum provides unique geospatial insights, too, by automatically attaching GPS coordinates to every action that your workers take, which enables you to:
- See exactly where a team member was standing when they took a picture that triggered an action
- Visualize the locations of the worst offenders and biggest hazards in your workplace
- Track how long it takes for your workers to travel from one location to another to complete their inspections
Try that with paper.
As workers conduct their regular safety inspections throughout the day, the records sync to the Fulcrum dashboard so managers can see, in real-time, the effectiveness of their safety programs. In areas without WiFi or cellular service, team members complete their inspections as normal, and the data syncs to the dashboard once connectivity is restored.
Fulcrum safety and compliance use cases
Here are just a few examples of how our users are improving safety and compliance with our platform:
Site safety inspection. From documenting dangerous working conditions and observed hazards to misuse of equipment, this form enables construction managers to ensure a safe working environment that is compliant with OSHA regulations.
Hazard reporting. Turn your entire workforce into safety and compliance officers and give management instant visibility into potentially dangerous situations before they become a problem.
Job safety analysis. Conduct a systematic examination of a job to identify safety hazards and reduce risk of accidents and injuries and ensure that your workers are trained on proper protocols.
Construction incident investigation. Use this form to perform a thorough investigation of construction incidents to determine the factors that lead to it and prevent similar occurrences in the future.
You can download any of the pre-built forms in our app gallery and modify them to accommodate your needs or create custom inspection forms from scratch using our drag-and-drop app builder — no coding required.