Sites could be dangerous places with all the heavy machinery, equipment and a lot of people moving around. In order to manage sites and to prevent mechanical hazards and work accidents, managers need to have proactive measures such as site inspections which are assessment tours to check and inspect specific phases of work, equipment and machines to ensure that everything is working as it should be. Site inspections are mainly used to keep people safe and effectively control and prevent hazards. Carrying them out regularly, you can people find minor issues which can be rectified before becoming big problems and blowouts that cost more time, effort and money.
One of the most reliable procedures to perform a site inspection are the checklists which allow you to check off if several elements, that are particularly relevant for the job, are functioning properly and don’t represent any risk for workers. The person doing the inspection has to verify that each component of the equipment is working properly. To be effective, a checklist needs to be very specific and cover each necessary component.
Manual checklists or digital checklists
Now that we know that site inspections are essential for a wide range of industries, we can learn how to manage them and how use site inspection checklists to carry out the procedures efficiently whilst optimising time and resources. Until recently, site inspections have been managed without using modern technologies or software. Today, many companies still use manual checklists, excel spreadsheets and paper-based forms to implement and track their site inspections. However, digital technology is becoming more popular and it is changing the way that we communicate and work. Digital technology allows you to capture, organise and track your site inspection checklists more efficiently. In addition to speed, digital site inspection checklists bring many benefits because they make the full process easier and more transparent.
Advantages of using digital site inspection checklists
- You can centralize and manage all your auditing processes, automate your reports and immediately update your team.
- The process can be completed from any device, and the checklists could be designed and formatted for each specific one.
- Digital forms have smart logic which guides people through the process and streamlines the tasks to only feature questions which need to be asked and answered.
- When forms are ‘completed’, the information is automatically upload into the server or the cloud where it is automatically stored.
- Workers, supervisors and site inspectors can take photos, videos and markup PDFs and drawings to support the inspection and these items can be attached to the main file to keep all the relevant information together.
- You can keep the templates and use them for the next occasion saving time and whilst improving record keeping.
- Instead of having a lot of people (trained engineers, project managers and administrators) combining data, a software can combine and add new data automatically.
- The information pulled from site inspections can be shown in real-time, so you can see exactly what’s happening when it happens.
- You can see how many inspections have been completed; how many checklists certain teams or individuals have completed; and see the status and outcomes of these inspections.
- This type of technology allows you to reduce the amount of paperwork in your office and, by stores the files digitally, they are more secured and it is easier to access them when necessary.
These are just a few of the benefits of using digital site inspection checklists.
The transition to new technologies can be complicated. For that reason, it is advisable to manage it gradually. If you are not entirely sure to ditch the manual method, you can experiment with a digital form for safety or site inspections, gather feedback from your team and analyse the outcome.
If you are interested in streamlining all of your site inspections and want to try our site inspection checklists, contact us to learn more about our software.
DataScope is a platform which allows various industries to streamline, organize and evaluate the work of their field staffs thanks to online forms which provide real time indicators 100% adaptable to any field.
