Digital safety tools now mandatory for success
Covid-19 has delivered a tsunami of new challenges for businesses across the globe. The crisis changed the way that factories operate overnight. Manufacturing tasks that were previously considered safe became high-risk, instantly. Safety has become mandatory for success, as businesses seek to align with new expectations from consumers, and increased compliance obligations from regulators.
As the manufacturing world reopens, safety processes are being examined more closely than ever. Innovative digital tools are helping businesses to accelerate their return and develop an edge over competitors.
Global energy manufacturer, Schneider Electric, empowers customers around the world with sustainable energy and automation solutions. Now, digital checklists are helping Schneider Electric to deliver faster audits and provide leaders with real-time access to critical safety information.
Paper hurdles curtail efficiency
Completing field audits is an essential part of Schneider Electric’s commitment to maintaining high safety standards. However, the team recognised that paper-based checklists and manual data entry were consuming hours of their engineers’ time. Previously, health and safety engineers would complete audits using paper checklists, then capture photos separately using their phones. Finally, audit data was manually transferred into Excel spreadsheets, as engineers returned to the office. The cumbersome, paper-based process took 15-30 minutes to complete and slowed down the flow of audit data.
Digital checklists accelerate field audits
Schneider Electric turned to iAuditor to increase audit efficiency and deliver enhanced visibility of critical safety data. Digital checklists have helped Environmental Health and Safety Engineers in the team reduce their audit times to 3-4 minutes, achieving an 80% reduction in completion time.
“Now auditors can finish their near miss reports, take pictures, and it all incorporates into one document. You can send it right from the field.” – Environmental Health and Safety Engineer at Schneider Electric.
The increased audit efficiency has resulted in Schneider Electric’s team of thirty engineers saving around sixty hours of labour per week. In addition to increased productivity, iAuditor has allowed engineers to quickly access more data in real-time and share the information with the entire team.
“I can reference old audits and look for trends or improvements in any area. I can see ongoing improvements and report on them.” – Environmental Health and Safety at Engineer Schneider Electric.
The manufacturing world has changed
For many manufacturers, Covid-19 represents one of the most challenging periods that their business has ever experienced. Unprecedented external conditions have disrupted everything from supply chains to factory meal room layouts. The world has changed, and activities previously considered safe have quickly become high-risk. Paper-based processes introduce delays that prevent organisations from responding effectively when external conditions change. Safety is now everyone’s responsibility, and manufacturers require new tools to empower their teams, maximise safety, and protect customers. In the past, safety was considered a box-checking exercise for compliance. Now, robust processes are mandatory for continued success. Innovative digital tools like iAuditor are helping manufacturers everywhere to respond faster and take decisive action on safety.
Resources for getting safely back to business
The team at SafetyCulture has introduced the Safely Back to Business initiative to help manufacturing businesses return to producing faster. Empower your team with free manufacturing specific-resources to streamline your reopening and download the most popular templates here: