Corporate safety programs have become an important part of organizations of all sizes and throughout all industries. And training is a key component of these programs to ensure employees are aware of safety hazards, follow correct procedures and are equipped to respond to incidents when they do occur.
In the United States, worker injuries, illnesses and deaths continue to decline, thanks in part to corporate safety programs that include ongoing training. Consider the fact that in 1970, there were 38 worker deaths per day across the nation. By 2014, that number had decreased to 13.
Ensuring safety at your organization requires careful planning, effective communication and ongoing training. Today, many corporations are challenged to meet safety requirements and regulations due to a shrinking workforce and the need to keep costs low. It’s no wonder many are turning to advanced technologies to streamline corporate safety planning, communication and training.
Mobile Corporate Safety Technology
Traditionally, many organizations housed their workplace safety documents in hard-copy format, which presented several challenges. Employees and other stakeholders could not easily access the information when they needed it most. In addition, making updates to the hard-copy documents was time consuming, difficult and, at times, costly.
As mobile smartphones and tablets have become increasingly ingrained in our day-to-day lives, many organizations have incorporated the technology into their workplace safety programs.
Using a mobile platform, a company can digitize its safety guidelines, procedures, incident forms, contact data and checklists. The solution provides mobile access to this vital data to all stakeholders via an app, which helps to improve the organization’s compliance and minimize response times during a crisis. As a result, their overall safety record can improve significantly.
Improved Training
Not only does a mobile crisis app benefit an organization during an incident; it also greatly improves the training process.
Since all documents are digitized and available through the app, most training occurs through the app itself, which provides a streamlined and highly focused training experience. Trainers can walk employees through the various components of the app, its documents, features and capabilities as a way to guide the session and stay focused.
Trainers can even conduct test scenarios to ensure understanding. For example, they can challenge employees to use the app to report a mock safety incident, such as a chemical spill, and then follow the protocol document until the crisis is resolved. Running through these types of drills helps employees to not only feel comfortable with the app, but also with your organization’s established safety protocol.
Finally, since training is conducted through the app, your organization can easily verify which employees have and have not completed required training sessions. For example, let’s say you require that all employees attend annual corporate safety training. Using the mobile app platform, you can instantly view who has gone through the session and who has not. In large organizations, this can save significant amounts of time.
Now that corporate safety planning is moving into the digital world, training is becoming easier and more streamlined than ever before. Today’s employees respond well to safety apps, because they are already using similar platforms in other areas of their lives. As a result, they benefit from a faster, more convenient training process, while your organization enjoys a higher level of corporate safety.
How does your organization currently handle corporate safety training? How often do you hold training sessions for stakeholders?
