Each day we hear something new about the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19. Most countries have begun to see a decrease in active cases, which have led to discussions on how to slowly and safely reopen domestic economies. This has forced most businesses to drastically rethink how they do business, and adapt to the challenges of today’s world which involve physical distancing.
Physical distancing can be difficult to maintain in an office environment, which is why safety measures need to be amended and adapted on a continual basis until a treatment or vaccine for COVID-19 is readily available. However, monitoring these new safety measures for efficacy and ensuring that proper training is provided on a continuous basis can be difficult to achieve without the help of safety software.
Utilizing Safety Software
Most organizations and businesses use a variety of technologies when it comes to their day to day operations. But, safety software in some industries is still not as widely used as it should be.
A traditional paper-based system is sometimes used for filing incident reports, providing training materials, and even logging employee hours. This is no longer effective, or efficient in today’s digital world. As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, businesses need to look towards the future, and how it is changing.
As people can no longer socialize, or even meet in person at conferences, and other business events there is a need to move towards a model that is almost entirely digital. This is where safety software can help, as it pertains to employee safety both working from home and in the case of essential workers, working in the workspace.
Keeping Employees Safe
Most software designed to keep employees safe offers simple features like the ability to upload online safety modules that workers can complete on a rolling basis. They also offer some filing capabilities, like uploading digital copies of incident reports, or quick bulletins informing employees of training protocols. Like any software though, there are certain kinds that set themselves apart from the cheaper run of the mill varieties. The kind of software that organizations should be using when it comes to employee safety, is one that is comprehensive and dynamic.
Regulations change, which means that compliance must constantly be maintained to ensure that employees are following safety protocols and being kept safe by their employers. The software that allows for the creation of individual employee profiles, short forms that an employee can fill-in before each shift to perform a COVID-19 symptom check, and the ability to flag employees who may be ill is what this excellent software will provide.
When making the move towards technology to monitor health, all businesses and organizations need to make sure they are utilizing one which offers all of the features needed, not just some of them.
This will help to keep employees healthy, and productive during this uncertain time. It may also help businesses to see how processes can be streamlined in the health and safety department, and notice trends extracted from big data surrounding the current safety protocols unrelated to COVID-19 and how they may need to be amended themselves. A paper-based system could never do this.
