Since the introduction of the smartphone, people aren’t able to live without it. Despite the huge impact the mobile phone has on our current life, these devices have had a limited introduction in QHSE management. Lots of companies still aren’t able to bring their QHSE management system to the smartphone and put it in the hands of employees, regardless of their physical location. Obviously, there are considerable benefits to this.
Reduce Obstacles
One of the most important pillars to improve the QHSE culture is removing obstacles. We talk about this a lot, but it really is critical to make it easy for employees to interact with the management system. By bringing the QHSE management system to their pocket, one big obstacle (physical location) has been taken out of the equation. People have access to the management system where ever they are. This allows them to easily file an NCR or unsafe situation. By taking away this obstacle, more QHSE-related data will start to flow through the organization, which lead to more data-driven decision-making. This again leads to more focused improvement projects and more streamlined processes.
No Need to Have It All
Yes, taking away the barriers for the employees is ideal, but keep in mind that you don’t have to do it all. There is no need to have all the processes, procedures and every part of the QHSE management system on the phone. There is limited screen space, so splashing tens of pages of the documents onto the screen is overwhelming. When deciding which part of the management system is available on mobile, make sure a proper assessment is done based on readability and frequency of use of the documents. Always try to avoid cluttering the phone of the employee with unreadable documents. Some examples of documents that could be shared on the phone are documents like evacuation plans and certificates.
What Is Needed
Of course, there are some basic requirements of the highly functional mobile rollout of the QHSE management. It is key that people can access their tasks on the mobile phone. They perform the tasks in the shop or in the field. Being able to add proof by adding a photo to the performed task takes away the cumbersome action from the task. They simply snap a picture and have their evidence filled in. It also makes it much easier for the QHSE managers to assess the effectiveness.
Another major win is providing checklists on the phone. People can simply walk around, make their observations and perform their checks on-the-go. This makes it so much easier to do these checks. Again, the option to snap pictures allows employees to easily and quickly add proof to their observation.
In the end, in order to improve the culture, the most important aspect is taking away obstacles, but don’t try to take them away all at once. When too many changes are introduced at the same time, people will start to resist.
