Use of smart devices for health and safety audits
The invasion of smart devices
Smart devices are everywhere these days; even my 5 year old granddaughter has something called the Leap Pad which is apparently a junior version of the adult devices. Sometimes I think I’m the only person on the planet who doesn’t have one of these things: I’m still struggling with my 6-year-old standard mobile phone.
I don’t know how long I can stay a Luddite at this. The increasing use of these devices for everyday things like grocery shopping; paying your bills and so on will probably outweigh my desire to stay out of this communication revolution. One of the things that is driving me to think about changing is the growth of apps that enable the use of smart devices for health and safety audits, which may affect my ability to continue working in the field.
Advantages of using Pads and Phones for Auditing
The great advantage of these devices is the speed with which a client can receive an audit report. Since I don’t have one, I don’t know how quickly this happens, but the providers’ websites imply that it’s almost instantaneous. You complete the audit, connect your gizmo to a network, and print the report, at least a preliminary version of it. Some applications even allow you to integrate sound, video, and photos to complement your report. Pretty clever stuff, huh?
Weaknesses of using pads and phones
One of the weaknesses I can see with using smart devices for H&S auditing is that you must have an internet connection. The software does not appear to reside on your device, rather it appears that the app configures the device to download and upload information to and from a server somewhere. So no internet connection, no auditing unless you go back to the “old school” method of pencil, paper and camera (although some of these devices store information like photos and others have text editing capabilities and even word processing, so you might not miss it all) if you’re in the desert).
Most of the apps seem to be focused on a single country, which is quite reasonable I suppose, given the variation in legislation between jurisdictions. However, it is something you would like to check: an OSHA compliance template will not be of much use in Europe. An alternative is to make sure you can upload your own templates instead of being limited to the provider’s templates.
Health and safety audit applications
The websites I’ve looked at don’t provide much detail about their applications; what they do or do not do; how you interact with them, whether you can use your own audit templates or must use them to use theirs; the configuration and format of the reports, what audit templates are available. Not many provide access to free temporary accounts so you can try before you buy. So in many cases the buyer needs to be careful as not many providers seem to offer any money back guarantee.
Protecting your smart device
One thing that probably goes without saying is making sure your smart device is protected.
We all have stories of mobile phones and the like falling into storage tanks, down the toilet; from the roof or hood of automobiles, etc. Many survive, but many don’t, and since most of this type of equipment comes with touch screens, I don’t think it takes much for them to not work. If all of your audit information is stored on your tablet or mobile phone, you’ll want to make sure it’s kept in good condition, at least until you can get it somewhere where you can download the information to a more robust device.
It’s probably worth investing in a fairly sturdy case that has a wrist strap or something similar just to be safe.
last word
Overall, I can see many benefits to using smart devices for health and safety auditing. They are compact, transportable, can be reasonably flexible and allow better service to customers. As time goes by, I’m sure developers will create better software with more options and more flexibility. I have no doubt that just as the digital camera replaced film cameras, smart devices will replace paper-based health and safety audits – it’s the way of the future.
