Improving safety culture through employee engagement and increased reporting

It is widely accepted that workplaces with a strong safety culture correspond with improved safety performance, meaning lower incident frequency and severity. The key to this is the relationship between unsafe behaviors and their eventual safety consequences, which is also illustrated by models such as Heinrich’s Safety Pyramid. Improving safety culture to address these unsafe behaviors early on therefore needs to be a priority of safety programs.

While tackling safety culture is a complex issue, two vital aspects for improving safety culture are better employee engagement and improved reporting and tracking. Digital forms and video analytics are helpful in both these areas, though video analytics shows the most potential when it comes to compliance tracking.

Looking just at the applications for digital forms, they are very useful for developing accountability among both teams of workers and independent workers, engaging them to promote a positive safety culture. Digital forms can be used to facilitate behavior-based safety observations (BBSOs) for example, which encourage workers to be mindful of the work going on around them in order to identify if specific actions agree with what should take place in a truly safe work environment. This could mean inspecting the conditions of one’s personal protective equipment (PPE), noting whether coworkers use good form when lifting heavy items, or observing whether a workspace is kept tidy and free of clutter.

Generally speaking, paper forms could be valuable for encouraging these kinds of behavior as well, however, the ability to use digital forms almost anywhere means workers do not have to worry about running out of documents or about them becoming damaged at the jobsite. They also provide the ability to integrate dependent questions that only appear for certain responses, the ability to capture and attach photos, and prompts to encourage workers to acknowledge unsafe behaviors they may otherwise overlook. For example, a digital field level hazard assessment (FLHA) with well-structured navigation could encourage workers normally focused on only major hazards such as overhead power or heavy equipment operations to also consider smaller threats, such as uneven or slippery surfaces that could lead to a slip, trip, or fall incident. In this way, the digital form can take advantage of a clever user interface (UI) to keep workers engaged and ensure they do not skip steps. If a slip/trip/fall hazard is identified, a digital form can then prompt workers to cordon off the area or install hazard markers, such as yellow caution tape, and then ask them to confirm that this is done prior to starting work.

Digital forms also clearly outmatch paper-based forms when it comes to tracking and reporting. Not only do they upload responses directly for immediate access by AI systems, but they also limit tampering. Take an inspection log for example, which could be set up to require that workers complete certain steps in order and confirm them with required photos. Once the record is finalized and submitted, it can automatically be sent off for secure, audit-ready storage with an accompanying timestamp.

Digital forms for FLHAs, inspection logs, and other safety documentation also means notifications can be sent to the appropriate team members so that they can ensure compliance with EHS&Q requirements. For example, notifying an area operator or jobsite supervisor when all pre-work checks and documentation are completed, so that, if equipment is operating without the proper documentation and safety precautions, they can address it before an incident occurs.

While digital forms are a definite improvement for reporting and tracking activities, video analytics provide access to a wealth of new data in these areas. This could include identifying employees not wearing PPE while using sharp tools, or monitoring and flagging issues like restricted area access and employee proximity to hazardous equipment or hazardous areas. All of these accumulated metrics help to not only inform jobsite supervisors and local EHS&Q team members of specific, actionable measures needed to address immediate safety risks, but they also inform top management and EHS&Q leaders of widespread trends and the areas of interest for future safety campaigns.

While video analytics is primarily useful for this kind of compliance tracking, the information collected here can also be used for identifying and engaging workers in their own safety. By identifying specific, actionable items, such as an employee who crosses a high traffic area as a shortcut instead of using designated crossing areas, video analytics can prompt management to stop the unsafe behavior before it becomes a habit, such as by sending the employee for specific safety training. This also then prevents the habit from normalizing with other employees and encourages them to watch for similar unsafe behaviors.