App Spotlight: WorkplaceAware

WorkplaceAware started in the field with an employee who needed a simple, organized solution for reporting near-miss safety issues.

“We have a customer—a food manufacturing plant—that needed to find a way for employees to communicate problems to upper management quickly and efficiently,” Rob Sweeney, creator of the app.

“We had invented this cellular printer—and she wanted employees to be able to text in near-miss incidents which would then print in the company’s safety office.”

Sweeney wanted to improve on that idea by creating a mobile app, so employees could document the incident onsite and send a picture of the location or accident along with the report. The company went from having nine total near-misses reported over an entire year to 35 near-miss reports made in the first quarter of the next year alone.

“We saw that and thought, ‘We’ve got something good here,’” Sweeney said. From there, a more robust app and dashboard for WorkplaceAware was developed. The team worked with a number of construction companies, public works departments and manufacturers to develop a new and improved WorkplaceAware.

How do I get it?  The app is available for download at the App Store and Google Play for use on iOS and Android devices.

How does it work?  The app is basically a tool to create a safety report and submit it to management. In the process of creating the report, the user can capture a picture of the incident, the time it happened, and a location of where the incident took place. The report includes a map with a pin drop of the location. Because the reports are immediately sent, safety managers are instantly notified, can easily see the issue and take steps to mitigate further risk or an injury.

The app makes it easy for crews working across several different jobsites to send incident or near-miss reports to one central office or location. After receiving the report, the safety manager can then make several quick decisions. He/she has the option of categorizing the issue, assigning it to a specific department, getting someone to act on it or forwarding it to a superintendent, subcontractor or another employee.

Each report created comes with a link that can be copied and sent to anyone that does not have the app. A feature called the “escalation button” automatically sends an email to upper management to alert them of the incident report. Anonymous reporting is available, too. At times when a near-miss occurs, employees may not want to report the incident for fear of retribution. With WorkplaceAware, your company promotes a culture of safety and encourages employees to report incidents, regardless of who was involved or at fault.

Why do I need it? WorkplaceAware creates a one-stop solution for employees to report accidents and near-misses, instilling a culture of safety within your company or on a particular jobsite. Not only does the app provide an easy-to-use reporting function, but it also allows safety managers to share near-miss or incident reports with other crews, subcontractors or superintendents. This helps employees go home safely to their families each night. WorkplaceAware is available globally.

How much does it cost?  Licensing starts at $3,995 per year per company, and provides unlimited mobile apps, reports and alerts sent to employees.

Current users: 35 companies using the app

For more information, visit WorkplaceAware.