Make the switch to mobile safety documentation

Propane marketers are preparing for the busiest time of year. Only this time, it will be a busy season unlike we’ve ever experienced before.

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Are you looking for ways to increase productivity and maximize efficiency in the pandemic environment? If you haven’t already adopted mobile technology in your safety documentation program, now is the right time to make the switch. Here are a few reasons why:

Eliminate paperwork. Transitioning from a paper-driven process to a mobile safety documentation program will eliminate hard copies being passed from person to person in your office. Technicians can complete their safety inspections, cathodic protection inspections and interruption-of-service forms on a tablet. The documentation is automatically stored electronically.

Limit employee contact. Using mobile technology can help your employees maintain social distancing and save time. Technicians won’t need to come into the office to hand in paper forms, and your office staff won’t have to spend time manually filing them.

Avoid multiple job site visits. Reducing repeat job site visits will increase productivity and protect technicians from exposure to the novel coronavirus at customer locations. When technicians complete their forms on a tablet, electronic form fields help to eliminate incorrect information entry and errors. This significantly lowers the likelihood that technicians would have to return to the location to correct their documentation.

Review documentation immediately. A major part of navigating this new pandemic environment is increasing operational efficiencies. Being able to remotely review safety documentation right away is a huge time-saver. Once technicians in the field submit their safety inspections to your electronic database, your staff can easily review them whether they are working in the office or from home.

Provide real-time feedback. With a mobile safety documentation system, safety inspections can be used to evaluate technician performance. If your management team identifies errors that need correcting, it can communicate that to the technician in the field right away. This helps the technicians remedy the error quickly and serves as a training opportunity to prevent future errors or omissions.

Alex Burns is the vice president of the P3 Compliance System division of P3 Propane Safety.