Observe now to avoid later.
In today’s fast-paced environment, where the need to get results runs high, one topic cannot be left aside. We are talking about safety. Ensuring a secure and hazard-free work environment is crucial for the well-being of all industrial organisations and for all those who contribute to their success. A safe work environment should be a priority and a constant pursuit for these organisations.
To do this, organisations should develop and implement mechanisms to anticipate and identify problems that may cause incidents. Additionally, it should also implement preventive measures to neutralize those problems.
This can be done by implementing Safety Prevention Observations into the organisation’s daily operations. This procedure will help to ultimately achieve not only safety in the work environment but a whole new organisational culture focused on the continuous improvement of workplace safety.
SAFETY PREVENTION OBSERVATION IN MANUFACTURING
Manufacturing environments are characterised by complex machinery, challenging processes, and a large number of moving parts. This provides the ideal recipe for a hazardous environment where machines, people, and the whole environment around them must work in harmony to ensure there are no accidents.
This procedure is all about vigilance, aiming to identify and address potential risks before they escalate into accidents. It involves a continuous and structured process of observing, analysing, and acting upon potential hazards before they can pose a threat. This proactive approach shifts the focus from reacting to incidents to preventing them from happening in the first place.
WHEN IS IT DONE?
This procedure should be conducted regularly. The frequency of this procedure can vary depending on the specific environment and the potential risks involved. In some cases, it may be carried out daily, while in others it could be done weekly or monthly. The key is to establish a consistent and proactive approach to identify and address potential hazards to maintain a secure environment for all.
WHY IS IT DONE?
Safety observations are conducted to create a secure environment, prevent accidents, protect lives, and promote a culture of safety, well-being, and efficiency. It can prevent accidents and injuries and mitigate the risk associated with various activities. This way it can help ensure the well-being of workers leading to an increase of productivity and efficiency by identifying areas of improvement.
BENEFITS OF SAFETY OBSERVATIONS
As previously mentioned, incorporating this procedure brings several benefits, contributing to a safer, more efficient, and thriving environment for individuals and organisations. Such benefits are:
Accident Reduction
By identifying and addressing potential hazards before they escalate, the procedure significantly reduces the probability of occurrence of accidents and injuries.
Compliance Assurance
Conducting this procedure regularly can help organisations to adhere to safety regulations, avoiding legal complications. This is crucial, especially in industries with strict regulatory standards.
Cost Savings and Productivity
Preventing incidents leads to cost savings associated with medical expenses, equipment repair, legal processes, and downtime. This way it can also help enhance productivity and operational continuity by reducing disruptions caused by accidents.
MAIN CHALLENGES
Safety observation procedures involve several challenges in the manufacturing industry. Here are some examples of challenges that organisations may face when trying to implement this procedure in their daily operations.
Complex Environments
Manufacturing facilities often have intricate machinery, multiple processes, and diverse work areas, making observation and risk identification challenging.
Real-Time Monitoring and Analysis
Monitoring and addressing safety concerns in real time to prevent immediate risks may pose logistical problems. Also, analysing the data generated from observations may require time and resources.
High Turnover and Low Engagement
Frequent workforce changes can impact the consistent implementation of the procedure and training efforts. Also, ensuring active participation and engagement from all workers including new or temporary staff can be hard.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SAFETY PREVENTION OBSERVATIONS BY DIGITALISING IT
Digitalise your safety prevention observations is the best way to overcome some of the challenges listed above. You can transform this procedure by digitalising it with the new Augmented & Connected Worker platform.
DIGITAL WORK INSTRUCTIONS
The procedure digitalisation streamlines the entire observation process, enhancing consistency and standardisation of the procedure.
This solution centralizes all information and simplifies data collection, allowing to create standardised digital checklists to provide more information about how to conduct the observation on a step-by-step basis.
In more complex manufacturing processes observations it is even possible to use guidance makers through Augmented Reality to increase guidance on the shop floor.
EFFICIENT REPORTING AND TEAM COLLABORATION
In addition to simplifying data collection, digitising the procedure also facilitates data recording and analysis, reducing administrative delays related to paper documentation.
The solution also enables easy reporting of safety observations in real-time. Workers can quickly report important or urgent problems directly to the responsible teams. This enables efficient communication between teams and a fluid reporting of safety concerns to relevant personnel.
REAL TIME MONITORING AND ANALYTICS
In safety observations, the gathered information is extremely valuable. The Augmented & Connected Worker platform gives access to all valuable data, enabling real-time monitoring, data analysis with dashboards, and extraction of reports.
Providing immediate insights about the procedure enables fast identification of potential risks. This allows to quickly define and implement corrective measures to anticipate incidents.
HOW TO MIGRATE A SAFETY PREVENTION OBSERVATION TEMPLATE TO THE PLATFORM?
Digitalise a safety observation checklist is simple and can be done using the Augmented & Connected Worker platform. In the platform back office, you will be able to create a digital procedure template.
Migrating the procedure checklist is easy due to a user-friendly form creator that allows one to replicate former paper instructions. It’s also possible to request the most varied types of questions and inputs with different answer formats. You can also ask for proof by requesting that photographic evidence about what is being watched be uploaded.
- Create an Issue template (eg: Safety Prevention Observation)
- Create your tasks (eg: Work Practices, Training and Awareness…)
- Create your checklist and instructions (eg: Are safety devices in place and working?)
- Create an issue using the previously created template
- Assign the issue to a team or worker
IN CONCLUSION
Digitalising your safety observations with our solution can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your procedure. Allows quicker and more accurate information gathering, at the same time transforms all your actions into data-driven decisions. This, in turn, leads to improved risk management, enhanced work safety, and a culture of proactive safety measures.
If you want to know more about Safety Prevention Observations and other procedures that can be migrated from paper to digital visit our website procedures page and discover The Augmented & Connected Worker benefits. In addition you can also request a Safety Observation procedure template.
Learn More
Interested in learning more about digital solutions and how they are changing shop floors? Explore our use cases or reach out to our team to schedule a free demonstration to understand the full potential of Glartek’s Augmented & Connected Platform.
