How Technology Offers Improved Remote Worker Support in Public Safety
Inspections are essential for public safety. For modern enterprises operating in critical environments, they can literally be a matter of life and death. Especially when hazardous materials are at play, one oversight can spell disaster.
Beyond that comes compliance, efficiency, and productivity. In these contexts, inspections and assessments show that they add real value in addition to their primary role of ensuring that safety standards are met. In recent years — and especially in today’s climate — these vital tasks are increasingly being carried out by remote workers. This offers undeniable benefits when it comes to time, efficiency, accuracy, and data deliverability.
Remote work can create challenges as well, however. Communication can be an issue, for example, and it may be harder to maintain protocol consistency across various locations. But that can all be overcome with the right approach.
Ultimately, the goal is to get all of the benefits while upholding safety and minimizing any potential drawbacks. The best way to achieve all this is by using the right technology to improve remote worker support.
Technology in Inspections and Assessments
If you want to maximize the benefits of remote worker inspections, technology can lend a helping hand.
Historically, inspections and assessments were a fully manual activity. The person doing the work would record everything with pen and paper. For the last century, this made sense since this was all we really had. Shockingly, things haven’t changed much at all in some places. Many organizations still rely on written inspection data from the field, then manually input into a database. Not only slow, but this also provides another point of weakness in data entry. This is the part of the process where errors are often introduced on top of all the time that is wasted.
Traditional sectors like oil & gas, utilities, aviation, and chemical manufacturing can benefit greatly by digitizing operations, capturing and reporting data at the point of inspection, and acting on data collected. While some have begun the transition, many are still exploring the benefits.
Saving Time with Technology
Almost everywhere, efficiency is now the name of the game. Especially in highly competitive, low margin markets, it can be hard to win on price alone. That's why speed and time are the areas to find advantages.
One reason that more enterprises are moving to a remote worker inspection model: It saves time. Because the technology necessary to digitize in the most volatile environments is now available, in many cases, it becomes a no brainer. Reducing commute times, improving facility limitations by having equipment and devices that can be operated in the most hazardous areas of the workplace, and leveraging tools like digital reporting software make real-time data transfer almost effortless.
All told, new technology helps avoid many of the common pain points that slow down the process and cause delays.
Simple Tablet Solutions to the Rescue
It’s funny how much of a difference a relatively simple solution like a tablet can make. Of course, you need the right kind of tablets for the job. They need to meet all public safety standards and come equipped with the right apps and software. When implemented correctly, however, they not only add efficiency but increase accuracy.
Compared to the old manual methods, inputting all the information into an app platform can greatly reduce user error. This means better information is going in with fewer mistakes making it into the final reports. Placing bar codes to identify equipment and utilizing the scanner feature on the tablet ensures data consistency when inspecting a piece of equipment, and real-time data transfers quickly — and more accurately — all while gaining the other key benefits of remote work inspections.
Remote Worker Support in Public Safety
When it comes to public safety, accuracy, efficiency, and speed are of utmost importance. Utilizing the correct tools for the job will support all three initiatives and set workers up for success.
