More employers are using handheld devices to do business. WorkSafeBC has updated its Supervising for Safety course to make it compatible with tablets.
Photo credit: © WorkSafeBC (Workers’ Compensation
Board of B.C.), used with permission
Roger Hall is the safety manager at RIMEX, a company that makes, sells, and distributes wheels and rims for industrial vehicles. Recently, he told me how his company is shifting to using handheld tablets to do business.
“We’re trying to go paperless,” Roger says, describing how RIMEX gave tablets to all its supervisors. “They can use them for just about everything that we do in the shop. It eliminates them having to pack around books or big chunks of paper. It really works quite well.”
RIMEX supervisors use the tablets to access an online safety management program for documenting workplace safety inspections, incident investigations, and more. They also use them for recording fire drills and toolbox meetings, and for other aspects of business, like scheduling and tracking work orders. (Read more about safety culture improvements at RIMEX in this article by the Manufacturing Safety Alliance of BC.)
Keeping up with changing technology
RIMEX is one of many employers using mobile devices for business. And that’s one of the reasons WorkSafeBC updated its popular Supervising for Safety online course.
“In a lot of workplaces, workers and managers are using tablets as a work tool. Things move quickly with technology, and we’re responding to requests from stakeholders and meeting their needs,” says WorkSafeBC multimedia developer Heather McCloy, who was the lead on the course’s update. “In a lot of industries, like manufacturing, people don’t sit at a desk, so this new feature increases the course’s accessibility for those workers.”
Employers can use this free, interactive course to teach supervisors about their responsibilities. Topics covered in the course include safety management systems, training for new and young workers, incident analysis, workplace impairment, and more.
The refreshed version has updated images and activities, and an easier sign-up process. Also, depending on the number of supervisors in the company, WorkSafeBC can set employers up to monitor their supervisors’ progress within the course. If the company has a large number of supervisors and an internal learning management system, WorkSafeBC can send the company the course to place on their own system. Plus, the new version allows workers to share their certificate of completion with their employer in a simpler way than before.
The course has been popular since its launch in 2011, with over 31,000 users, and an average of 300 users completing the course every month.
Thanks to Roger and Heather for telling me about their work.
