"Incidents of all sorts and sizes occur, from property damage in the workplace, to accidents or injuries. It's critical that in all workplaces staff are empowered to report incidents that happen”
Prevent a crisis, report incidents The Challenge:
ABC Suites SHEQ Manager needed a simple yet effective means for staff to be able to report incidents that could require remedial action before it became a serious safety concern. The current process was complex and time consuming with the net result that very few incidents were being reported.
He had been requesting a company to develop a mobile App for some time, and this seemed to be taking forever to build. He turned to the epic 'Let us Know' feature and requested help. The See Something, Say Something solution was developed in no time and was immediately available to all registered epic Users in the company - a powerful, customised and 'fit for purpose solution' that could be implemented across the factory immediately.
How ABC Suites uses epic:
QR codes that can be scanned from any smartphone have been placed at strategic locations around the plant.
This provides an easy link directly to the mobi.epic App for staff. The link can be saved on the mobile browser for ease of access in the future.
Alternatively, a photo of the item of concern can be taken for later use ie submitting from a desktop/laptop computer.
Reporting a concern
Staff are encouraged to report concerns (and departments are incentivised with points) for this. If someone sees a concern, they simply go to the epic mobi App, login to epic, open the See Something, Say Something feature, take a picture, answer some relevant questions relating to the concern and submit.
Information required is customised. In ABC Suites' case, headings with drop down lists to choose from (Area; Category; Message; Immediate Action; Comment etc) makes it user friendly for staff and provides a structure that ensures accuracy & context.
What happens to a submission?
The Manager assigned to the area receives an alert and can access all the relevant information, including the picture (with GPS map/satellite image).
Information required can be customised. Examples below:
Timestamp: Includes date and time
Responsible Person: Name & Department
Area: Chosen from a drop down list of relevant areas
Category: eg Safety Suggestion / Plant Condition / Near Miss / Other
Status: eg Reported / Investigated / Resolved etc
Message: eg Manhole cover missing, safety hazard
Immediate Action: Chevron tape set up
Comment:
Submitted by: Name
Once submitted, the person responsible for that area can investigate and update status accordingly. When a submission is flagged as 'Resolved' the person who submitted the concern is notified. Reports are available
The person (or persons) who have overall responsibility for the Plant condition, including safety, receive all submissions and they have a view of the full report. Reports can be downloaded per time period eg for the month.
What is the impact?
Report capturing all information incl. pics The increased focus on Pro-active reporting, before the concern becomes a potentially serious issue, (ie leading indicators) has resulted in a marked reduction in incidents (Lag Indicator).
Because of the relative simplicity of the reporting process (all staff have access to a smart phone) there has been a big take-up on the use of the 'See Something, Say Something' feature in epic