Safety App Of The Week

January 19, 2015 No Comments

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Below is this week’s “Safety App of the Week“.  Every Monday we publish an article that reviews and rates a new workplace safety app.  Our testing is done on Apple iPads and Samsung Galaxy Tab 3s.  We rate each app from ♥ to ♥♥♥♥♥ (♥♥♥♥♥ is the best).  Prior app of the week articles are archived here.

Toolbox Meetings

Official Description  

“The Easiest Way to run your Toolbox (Tailgate) Meetings:
– Designed for Phones and Tablets.
– No need for paperwork.
– No preparation required.
– Proof of attendance.
– Records audio of entire meeting, stores digital signatures of attendees, automatically determines meeting location, stores group photo of attendees, sends all attendees email confirmation of attendance, sends supervisors and managers full meeting report.
– Free to use (no licences, no subscription for standard version).

Historically, Toolbox (Tailgate) Meetings have been used by organisations to identify, highlight, educate and clarify safety issues, safe work methods and other site related instructions whereby a supervisor or foreman communicates with a group of employees. Meetings are usually conducted at a work site (not a meeting room), usually once a week (best practice) and should not take any more than 15 minutes.

However, these meeting are normally documented using paper – which can, and often is, lost or destroyed. There are numerous Toolbox (Tailgate) meeting modules embedded within “site safety” type software packages whereby the “paper” now appears on the screen in exactly the same format. There has to be a better way…

The UIG Toolbox (Tailgate) App was designed in relation to numerous requests, being:
– we want a Toolbox (Tailgate) App that just does Toolbox (Tailgate) meetings.
– we don’t want to have to subscribe to expensive site safety software just to get the module we need.
– we want the App to be fully featured – we don’t want a simple electronic version of the paper system mated to a calendar for reminders – it needs to do more than that.
– it needs to be easy to use.
– it needs to be cost-effective.
– it needs to work on the existing smart phone/tablet hardware we currently have.

For these, and many other reasons, the UIG Toolbox (Tailgate) App has been created. It does everything you need. It’s free to use. It’s available for Apple smart-phones and tablets. It aids compliance. It saves time. It’s ready for download, now.
The UIG Toolbox (Tailgate) App eliminates the guesswork and assumptions commonly associated with toolbox meetings. It provides factual evidence that proves:
– A meeting actually took place.
– Not only that the meeting took place but, what was said, who attended, who arrived late, who left early, proves that the meeting and its topic was worthwhile and appropriate.
– The UIG Toolbox (Tailgate) App records the audio of the meeting, captures digital signatures of the attendees, captures a group photo of the attendees at the end of the meeting whilst recording GPS location tagged against start and finish times.
– This App proves BEYOND DOUBT that the meeting took place, where it took place, who was there and what was said.
As a result of using electronic toolbox technology, this shows that:
– The organisation is serious about employee safety, employee protection and employee education.
– The organisation has a thorough understanding of, and commitment to, tool box meetings and the benefits they provide, being advantageous for all concerned.
– The organisation sees tool box meetings as a vital part of their safety management system, and via the use of an electronic tool box meeting methodology, the company can review, monitor, assess and improve the effectiveness of their tool box meetings and the vital information they provide to their employees. Compare this to organisations which are simply happy to file away attendance sheets….

Efficiencies the UIG Toolbox (Tailgate) Meeting App:
– eliminates paper shuffling, lost/damaged paperwork and the effort that needs to go into getting signatures again (especially when attendees have moved to new sites).
– allows quick and efficient retrieval of any/all previous toolbox meetings when requested by compliance, authority or insurance auditors.
– foremen do not need to prepare before a meeting or collate paperwork after a meeting.“¹

 

Thumbs Up

• app is free
• well-organized, easy  to use, no instructions needed
• click here to watch a video that gives a good overview of this app
• 23 pre-made training topics – all topics are of general interest and are technically sound
• after their initial introduction/orientation to the app, presenters will need to do very little preparation before making their presentations
• can auto-populate attendee roster from your email contacts list
• provides review and test questions for each training topic
• end each session with a review of “current safety issues” at your site
• great documentation of safety training with: photo of attendees, audio recording of the meeting, and attendee signatures
• training confirmation reports are emailed to all attendees

 

Thumbs Down

• currently, there are only 23 toolbox talk subjects in their inventory – we’d love to see hundreds more developed, with many being industry specific
• it would be nice to be able to customize the toolbox talk subjects

 

Overall Rating

• iPad / iPhone  – ♥♥♥♥♥
• Android – ♥♥♥♥♥
• Overall – Brilliant, a “must have” safety app!   We can not believe that it’s free!

¹ Description courtesy of  iTunes

 

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