A leading provider of engineering and construction services relies on Scantron’s SafetyCapture to drive worker participation in its successful Behavior-Based Safety (BBS) program.
The Challenge
This firm faced challenge familiar to many construction and engineering organizations: how to process high volumes of safety observation forms and get key safety insights into the field faster to reduce workplace injury rates.
Its BBS program relied on a scanning solution that created significant lag times on exposing leading indicators that caused hazards. If left unchecked, these hazards would lead to workplace injuries. As a workplace striving to reach a “zero injury” safety culture, this result was unacceptable.
“With forms coming in from more than 30 different production sites, we found it difficult to keep up,” said James, the firm’s EHS Manager. “It would often take one to three weeks to get safety observation forms into our central office, where they would often pile up. By the time we reported safety observations back to the field, the data was so far removed from the observation that it was challenging to put corrective programs in place.”
Lag time in identifying trends and reporting back to the field also handicapped employee engagement in the BBS program. Employees had more daily paperwork to handle but they didn’t see a positive impact of their diligent observations on workplace safety. The erosion of program participation threatened the integrity of the organization’s overall safety culture.
The company turned to Scantron’s SafetyCapture to help bring its BBS program to maturity and make a meaningful—and measurable—impact on the well-being of employees.
The Outcome
Driving Leading Indicators into the Field Reduces Recordable Injuries
Using SafetyCapture, the company now delivers safety insights back into the field in a fraction of the time. Safety information previously trapped in stacks of paper now has a direct impact on worker safety, morale, and BBS participation.
“With Scantron’s more efficient scanning solution, we can now put our observation data to work to predict—and try to prevent—future injuries,” said Peter, EHS Director.
“We can now get safety observations in one to three days. We can put leading-indicator reports into the hands of team members by the start of the next week so they can work to prevent incidents from taking place. Workers are motivated to participate in the program—they see how the information they provide is being used.”
Same-Day Reporting Speeds Communication from Top Floor to Shop Floor
The company now has near-realtime access to safety observation data and trends. “We’re very impressed that we can now scan observation forms and get reports produced on the same day,” adds James. “We used to spend an entire day troubleshooting and sorting through reports, but now we can produce company-wide reports in less than five minutes. We press a couple of buttons and we’re done—it really is that simple.”
“With SafetyCapture, we can now get near-real-time access to safety observation data that is having a proven impact on our ability to reduce injury rates, while showing workers how vital their participation is to overall safety program goals.”
EHS Director, Company Confidential
With reports getting to all levels of personnel more quickly, the company now makes informed, timely decisions that have a direct impact on safety.
“Our BBS program is a key part of building a zero-injury workplace,” adds Peter. “Now that we can distribute more current, targeted reports through the organization, we can show our executive team key trends and make faster decisions about the programs and training we need to reduce the risk of workplace injuries.”
“Better reporting also helps us tie the workers in the field to the decision makers—our leaders can now clear a path to get work done safely and efficiently.”
Fewer Workplace Injuries Directly Improve the Bottom Line
The company’s focus on a zero-injury safety culture is a company-wide commitment that is now delivering proven financial results. Scantron’s SafetyCapture is playing an important role in this effort to reduce workplace injuries and associated worker’s compensation losses.
“Our Scantron scanning solution is one of several zero-injury concepts that we’re implementing to create a safer environment for workers, while also reducing the financial burden of workplace injury claims,” adds Peter.
“Overall, our worker’s compensation losses are down 85 percent year over year and the Scantron solution is making an important contribution to that result. The system has met or exceeded our expectations, and we are seeing a direct correlation between the number of reported observations and reduction in injuries.”
Closing the Loop
“After five years of running our BBS program, this is the first time we have truly been able to close the loop by turning safety observations into timely, actionable trends and insights,” concludes James.
“Across the organization, our teams now know what they did last week—not last year. Moving forward, that gives us confidence we can continue to move toward a zero-injury safety culture.”
