We occasionally have customers express some concern about moving to an online safety management system for receiving, approving and storing safety records.  The thought being that faxing, emailing, or scanning and uploading completed forms to the system would somehow expose them to breaches in confidentiality.  The purpose of this blog post it to tell you that the exact opposite is true.  Online systems are MORE secure than distributing and storing paper records.

Consider the old-school alternatives.  If paper records are submitted to head office in a mailbag, anyone sending or receiving mail can potentially see confidential data.  Some companies have their employees fax records to a central fax machine.  Again, anyone walking by the fax machine can potentially see the confidential information.  And whenever paper copies exist, the approval routing process means these papers end up in various inboxes, outboxes, and sometimes simply lying around on desks.  Then lastly, the paper documents must be filed in cabinets and later in long-term storage, where janitorial, maintenance and security staff may have access.

Online recordkeeping is without question, a more secure option than paper records.  Ideally users complete the forms on a computer and submit them via email or upload, avoiding paper copies altogether.  However, in the situation that records must be completed by hand, the SafetySync fax system is still more secure.  Users fax the records (with an appropriate barcode) to a toll-free number, and the record is automatically routed in the system for administrator approval.  The records can only be accessed by users with the appropriate permissions, and a record of login and approval ensures no unauthorized people have access to your safety data.

I'm often amazed at the number of safety records that are generated by the typical company.  In many organizations, the safety department rivals accounting for the sheer number of records they generate.  Inspections, checklists, meeting minutes, ERP drills, etc.  Some must be submitted for each location in the company.  Intervals can vary too (monthly, quarterly, annually, etc.).  So how do safety departments keep track of which forms have been submitted on time (or are coming due)?  Some companies have an administrator compile spreadsheets with all records submitted, but this is extremely time consuming.

SafetySync has added a feature to the software that makes form tracking easy...

Simply navigate to the screen for the Location (office, shop, department, etc.) that you wish to "require" forms to be submitted.  All forms that you've entered into the system will appear in the list.  By default, the frequency setting will be "Only as required", but an administrator can change this to "Monthly", "Quarterly", or "Annually".


As completed forms (which we call records) are submitted by fax, email, upload, etc, and approved, the forms status will update automatically.  The software flags the forms that are coming due or past due for that location.

If you look up "system" in a dictionary, the term "correlation" is a term that is often used to describe it.  Safety management is made up of many components, but they only become a system when they work together.

Software is a great way to help link these components.  The SafetySync system allow administrators to upload policies, which employees must acknowledge.  It also allows administrators to upload forms, which employees can complete and submit as records (with deficiencies and action items if applicable).   However, it is not uncommon for an inspection policy to reference an inspection checklist, or for a hazard management policy to reference a hazard ID report.

Simply link the two in SafetySync, and the relevant form(s) will appear at the bottom of the policy.  Employees can click on the link to open the Word, Excel, or PDF form.

When we do demonstrations of our safety Forms and Recordkeeping component, we often get asked about what data gets stored with each record, and what reports (or queries) can be run later.  This post is meant to explain the functionality that is within our software, what we have in the works, and what functionality is NOT available in the system that you will need to look elsewhere to compliment the Safety Management System.



The SafetySync recordkeeping module allows you to store the following information (and thus later query):

1. Record Type (from list of Forms)
2. Date
3. Filled In By (from list of Employees)
4. Job # (a simple text field)
5. Location (from a list of Locations in the system or "Other"-which allows text to be entered)
6. Deficiencies (problem discovered, corrective action required, priority level, assignment, due date)

We are currently working on functionality that will also allow you to track (and later query):

7. Equipment # (from a list of Assets/Equipment)

The sorts of reports you can therefore run in the system would include:

• A list of Emergency Drills that were performed in the Edmonton last month (with links to the source record)
• A list of Hazard IDs that had one or more deficiencies discovered by Joe Blow (with links)
• A list of all Safety Meetings performed on job # 12345
• A list of all Inspections that were done on Tank A
• A list of all records that had deficiencies with the string "trip hazard" in them
• A list of all records that had priority levels that were "Critical"
• Etc...

What our forms and recordkeeping system cannot do, is delve into the data that is contained within each record:

• A list of Inspections that identified a pressure reading of 120psi on Pump B
• A list of Safety Meetings which Bob, Joanne and Dave attended
• A list of Emergency Drills that were completed in 2 minutes or less
• And so on...

In order to accomplish the latter, we highly recommend a field data capturing system, along the lines of what Spira Data Corp. offers with their Spira Mobile product.  I have worked with this product in the past and it is extremely flexible and robust, allowing companies to manage accounting, inventory, payroll (and yes even safety data).  Each form in Spira is no longer a piece of paper or an Excel spreadsheet, but an actual data capture tool that later synchronizes all the fields on the form to a database back end.  You can then query and report on any or all the fields on the form.  The form will take longer to build than a simple spreadsheet, but it will populate back-end systems like those used for invoicing and payroll.

The other advantage of Spira Mobile, is that it allows you to easily take the forms "offline" when there is no Internet connection available.  With our software you may occasionally have to print paper copies of certain forms or save them on the hard drive of a laptop or handheld, to be completed and later emailed, faxed or uploaded back to SafetySync.  Spira Mobile takes care of the synchronization automatically.

Spira comes at a cost, but if an organization spends enough time compiling and reporting on data captured in the field, it can be a huge time saver.  Many implementations can pay for themselves in less than a year.  Field data capture for work orders (or field tickets as they are sometimes called) is their specialization.  The return on investment for the forms that initiate the invoicing process are largest because they can significantly shorten your billing cycle (thereby improving your cash flow), and because lost forms or re-keying mistakes can cost the company revenue.  Unfortunately, capturing data on safety forms does not have these same benefits, so the business case is somewhat harder to justify.

If you like the data-capturing functionality offered by the Spira Mobile product, and would like to integrate it with the rest of your safety management system in SafetySync, contact our customer support, or the folks at Spira.

The backbone of a Health and Safety Management System is the ability to identify deficiencies and correct them.  Any hazard slipping through without correction can lead to an accident, injury, OH&S investigation, legal action, and loss of reputation.  Therefore it is critical to not let any deficiency go uncorrected.

In the SAFETYSYNC software, the corrective action process starts with a "record" (such as a hazard assessment, safety meeting, inspection, or incident investigation).  An electronic copy of each record is stored in the system for subsequent analysis or review.

There can be any number of deficiencies identified on a record.  Each deficiency must be addressed by developing a corrective action plan, which is assigned to an individual, assessed for priority, and given a due date.


Each action item has a log which records any events related to the action item (creation, reassignment, comment, deferral, etc.)

Once a deficiency has been corrected, the individual marks the Action Item 'complete', which automatically advances the item for management sign-off (required for most Safety Management System standards, including OHSAS 18001 and CSA Z1000).

When an Action Item is assigned to an employee, it shows up in the worker's Employee Portal (sorted by priority and due date).

The employee is also sent reminders when action items are coming due, to ensure all deficiencies are corrected on a timely basis!

As those of you using our Recordkeeping module appreciate, SafetySync is a great way to store completed safety forms (we call them "Records" once they have data on them to distinguish from "Forms" - which are the blank versions).  Until recently, the only way to submit these records was to upload them into the system.

We've now added a new feature which makes it easier for the less-tech-savvy employees in the field to send in their records: the old tried-and-true fax machine.  There are two ways to use the fax to route the records to the appropriate approver in your organization.

The first, is for the administrator to copy a unique bar code (available in the appropriate Form Details screen in Company Administration) and paste it somewhere on the Word, Excel or PDF document you use for your forms.  That way, each time an employee prints a form from the system, it will already have this bar code attached.

In some cases, it may not be practical (or even possible) to put a bar code on a form.  No worries; employees can simply print a fax cover sheet for the form, and submit it ahead of the record when sending the fax.  This cover sheet can be set aside and re-used for the same type of form again and again.

Simply have your employees fax their safety records (and cover sheets if needed) to 1-888-308-8804.  It's a toll-free number, so you will not incur any long distance charges.

The faxes get automatically routed to the records approval screen within minutes, for review and approval by an administrator.  If there are any deficiencies identified on the record, corrective actions can be assigned to individuals and due dates set.

Safety recordkeeping has never been easier!