In order to keep your organization efficient and productive, staying abreast of emerging trends in health and safety technology is essential.
This article delves into three pivotal trends that are shaping the future of field service businesses globally.
Discover how you can navigate the challenges posed by climate-induced risks to workplace safety, embrace mental health initiatives, and adapt to new mobile technology for data-driven safety out in the field.
Contents:
1. Mobile Tech for Data Collection
Field service businesses often face unique health and safety challenges due to the nature of their work. They include, among others, worksite hazards, delayed incident reporting, equipment safety, emergency response planning.
Mobile data collection can be an efficient solution to these challenges thanks to the widespread use of smartphones and tablets in the field, advancements in mobile apps, and the connectivity options for remote workforce.
One of the ways it does it is by facilitating real-time incident reporting. Field service teams can instantly capture and document accidents, injuries, or near misses using mobile devices, enabling prompt reporting and response.
This real-time safety reporting mechanism enhances the organization’s ability to investigate incidents swiftly, identify root causes, and implement corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
Incorporating mobile data collection into routine safety inspections is another benefit form using mobile technology. While traditional paper-based checklists and manual data entry can be time-consuming and prone to errors, mobile applications allow field officers to conduct inspections using digital checklists on their devices, ensuring more accurate and efficient data collection.
Other usages of mobile data collection that make it a big health and safety trend:
- Enhancing the quality and reliability of safety data.
- Conducting risk assessments and implementing preventive actions in real-time.
- Tracking and managing the well-being of field service employees.
- Effective communication for safety between field workers and management for better operational efficiency.
- Protection of sensitive field health and safety data.
What’s also important, with the increased awareness of data security and privacy concerns, modern software is designed with robust security measures, with encryption, authentication, and secure transmission protocols protecting sensitive health and safety data.
Read More: How to manage health and safety documentation for compliance and workplace safety using Fluix
2. Climate-Induced Risk Management Strategies
Although field ops are used to braving the elements, in recent years, there’s been a rise in extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, storms, and increased rainfall.
Extreme weather can cause physical damage to infrastructure on sites, which can pose immediate risks to employee safety. This danger can present in a number of ways, such as structural weaknesses, slippery floors, or blocked emergency exits.
Electricity, water supply, and communication networks can also be damaged by the weather. This can impact the functionality of equipment and operational systems, and even prevent contact with emergency services.
Additionally, heatwaves and extremely cold conditions can directly affect employee health. High temperatures may cause dehydration or heatstroke, while cold could lead to frostbite or hypothermia.
To mitigate these risks, it’s essential to have the appropriate health and safety management system and checks in place.
This includes:
- Establishing clear protocols for extreme weather situations and ensuring employees are aware of them.
- Regularly maintaining workplace infrastructure and inspecting equipment to minimize risks associated with unpredictable weather conditions.
- Providing employee training on emergency procedures, first aid, and hazard recognition.
- Implementing flexible work policies during extreme weather events to prioritize employee safety.
- Staying informed about weather forecasts and alerts to prepare adequately for potential hazards.
By fostering a culture of safety and implementing the necessary technologies and processes, workplaces can better protect their employees during periods of intense weather.
3. Mental Health Awareness
Increased mental health awareness in the workplace is a growing health and safety trend.
Now, more than ever, employers across sectors ranging from aviation, to construction and renewable energy are recognizing the importance of supporting the emotional well-being of their employees, and this can be attributed in part to the consequences of the COVID pandemic.
Within construction and engineering, 45% of workers have taken time off work due to mental health. Also, figures in the aviation industry are alarming, with more than 12% of pilots experiencing depression.
With 81% of Gen Zs and 68% of millennials stating they have left jobs for mental health-related reasons, organizations that aren’t prioritizing employee well-being are the most likely to lose out.
Implementing innovative digital solutions can go a long way to improving access to support in the workplace.
This can include:
- Apps to support mental well-being
- Online counselling and therapy sessions
- Wellness platforms
- Peer support networks
The specially designed software allows HR professionals to implement automated processes for risk assessment and welfare management.
These processes can be used for a variety of reasons, including employee well-being and harm prevention.
Reporting can create time-consuming paperwork for field and onsite teams, so automating these tedious and laborious tasks through digital workflows can take some of the workload off, elviating the risk of work-related mental health issues such as stress and burnout.
Keeping on Top of Health and Safety Technology with Fluix
Fluix is workflow automation software that helps field service companies manage their health and safety activities more effectively with automated workflows and field data collection tools:
- Automated workflows replace traditional paper-based workflows, and health and safety documents can be easily created, accessed, and managed in a secure digital environment.
- The mobile app allows field service workers to capture and submit health and safety information in real-time using their mobile devices.
- The approval cycle is fully automated, with changes or updates to health and safety documents instantly communicated to relevant stakeholders.
By embracing these and other Fluix’s digital workflow solutions, you can enhance workplace safety, streamline operations, and improve overall efficiency, while maintaining compliance.
/blog//blog/
