Sharing health and safety documentation with your team members
  • Chrissy Roff
    11
    Hi all, we have a number of documents such as our site specific safety plans and hazard and risk registers that our team members need access to at all times so they currently have a van book which contains all these documents, However ensuring that these are always up to date with the latest versions is a major. Does anyone use a system to store and share their documents that is enabled for easy reading on a mobile device (I am not talking about a health and safety app here thanks). We use Google Drive but these are reasonably large documents so not ideal to read from Drive on a mobile phone. Thanks in advance for any suggestions or ideas.
    Chrissy Roff Options
  • Andrew
    404
    Probably not helpful for your specific case, but an example of what can be done. We hold all our documents in our OSH module within Payglobal. So when an updated document is created it replaces the previous version. All our staff have access to this one/latest document - provided they have a web browser. So, for example if there is a chemical on the back of a truck we can get the latest SDS for it.. Essentially one system for everything.

    We also have the aim of keeping all documents (assuming they are necessary) VERY simple - for example SOP's limited to one sheet of paper. Makes creating a PDF easy and simple to access remotely.
    Andrew Options
  • Annalisa
    27
    Hi Chrissy, You could explore Dropbox. I've utilised it in the past at a limited capacity, sharing SOPs, SDS's, manuals etc, could control versions well. You'd need to play with it a bit for editing site or job specific template style docs. Also iAuditor could be a good system for workers to report issues, modules are customisable e.g haz report, inspection etc. If you have no concerns utilising cloud storage these are free until you want more storage or added features so could be worth exploring. Hope you find a workable solution as document control can be like herding cats!
    Annalisa Options
  • Karen
    9
    We use OneDrive. Different folders are shared with specific clients. Easy to use on mobile. Can store huge amounts of information.
    Karen Options
  • Chrissy Roff
    11
    Thanks for your help. We currently use google drive but we find reading these documents on a mobile not very user friendly so other suggestions would be appreciated.
    Chrissy Roff Options
  • Tania Curtin
    112
    ↪Chrissy Roff
    What is it about drive you find makes them not user friendly to read? It could be the format they are saved as that affects how they open on devices too.
    Tania Curtin Options
  • Adam Parkinson
    15
    Interesting comments re SDS sheets (probably a subject for another topic!) but we have been told Fire Dept requires hard copies in vehicles - electronic/downloadable is not acceptable - driver injured/device/signal not available etc.
    Adam Parkinson Options
  • Chrissy Roff
    11
    ↪Tania Curtin
    Hi Tania,
    the size of some of our documents such as our Site Specific Safety Plan, they can be many pages long so very hard to read on a phone. We save them as PDFs do you have another recommendation?
    Chrissy Roff Options
  • Chrissy Roff
    11
    ↪Adam Parkinson
    Hi Adam, that is interesting, I haven't heard that before who told you that if you don't mind me asking?
    Chrissy Roff Options
  • Adam Parkinson
    15
    ↪Chrissy Roff
    Hi Chrissy, from fire service via our Approved fillers trainer and directly from a fire truck crew who said " your electronic pad is of no use to us if you are lying in a ditch , we need hard copies".
    Adam Parkinson Options
  • Chrissy Roff
    11
    ↪Adam Parkinson
    Interesting, thanks for that info Adam
    Chrissy Roff Options
  • Tania Curtin
    112
    ↪Chrissy Roff
    Hmm, I imagine any document is going to be difficult to look at on a phone, regardless of what app or programme is opening it. I find my customers use iPads or other tablets for on site documents just due to the screen size.
    Tania Curtin Options
  • Tony Walton
    129
    ↪Chrissy Roff
    Hi Chrissy - appears you do. Under Land Transport Haz Sub rules you need to have a clearly marked folder with the appropriate SDS sheets in hard copy. And fair enough too in the event of a road crash. https://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/rules/dangerous-goods-2005/
    Tony Walton Options
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