For commercial painting companies, employees’ health and safety should be a top priority. While the construction and painting industries face their own set of specific hazards, a 2021 report from business analysis firm AdvisorSmith reported that several construction jobs are among the top 25 most dangerous jobs in the United States.
Where some incidents can occur purely by accident, when something bad happens as a result of failing to abide by health and safety guidelines, it can become rather costly. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupation Safety and Health Administration currently lists civil penalty maximum amounts of $14,502 per serious and other-than-serious violations and $145,027 per violation for willful or repeated violations. The cost faced by companies grows from there due to lost time, legal fees and a damaged reputation.
Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh noted at a remembrance ceremony in April that 5,000 workers in the past year lost their lives at work due to safety and health incidents, averaging about 13 workers a day.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, over the years injury and fatal injury numbers have revealed a steady decline. However, there is still more that can be done to better protect workers out in the field. With new technologies emerging every day, there are more tools that companies can utilize to help keep their employees safe and healthy, as well as prepared for potential incidents.
At the CPIA, we understand there are a lot of factors when it comes to keeping your workers safe. For that reason, we’ve compiled a list of construction/paint safety apps that your team can use to be better prepared and informed on the jobsite.
Each app has its own unique features and content, including safety topics and compliance, avoiding hazards, training and certification. With many options, it’s also important to find the best solution for your company and what will benefit your employees the most.
In this list, you’ll find a collection of what we believe are the top seven online team management tools to consider for your team’s safety goals:
OUR TOP 7
Fieldlens is designed not only for database reports, but to immediately inform all team members of safety hazards in an active site. The shared database and real-time upload updates allow team members to immediately see a reported safety hazard, important conversation, and safety document. Prices range according to team size, but a team of 50+ users costs $25/user/month.
iAuditor focuses on empowering the construction team by digitalizing all of the team’s operations. One standout benefit of the service is that documents currently in use (Excel sheets, paper checklists) can be easily dropped into the app’s template to create smart sheets and digitally customizable documents. The app costs $24 per full seat if the user is billed monthly, and $19 per full seat if the user is billed annually.
Safesite utilizes a clear and easy-to-use management dashboard with real-time reporting to manage and track safety data. A standout feature with this app is the safety coach who assigned to a user for the first 30 days of having the app. The safety coach helps to track performance and create a more detailed safety plan. Safesite ranges from $20/user/month when billed monthly, and $16/user/month when billed annually.
Safety Reports allows the user to build safety reports to find safety trends, as well as to find methods to best adhere to these trends. One benefit of the app is how scalable it is. It’s designed to be used by as large or as small a company as the user requires. Prices range, and everything other than the free basic software requires a quote.
Similar to iAuditor, SiteDocs puts a heavy focus on digitalizing forms and documents to ensure they’re easily shareable and to make sure compliance is made as simple as possible. Real-time document accountability also makes it easier to monitor which users are up-to-date on safety compliance training and documents. Prices range, and interested parties are required to fill out a form to get a quote.
Safety Meeting App compiles over 1,000 safety topics into one shared database so the correct safety compliance requirements are easier to find and fulfill. Additionally, it uses cloud storage so that the entire team is able to access, read, edit, and upload into one singular database. Prices range depending on team size. For example, a 50 user plan costs $739 annually, while a 100 user plan costs $969 annually. User sizes can be as low as one and as high as 150.
First Aid by American Red Cross offers training and certification, as well as emergency, in-field medical advice, for a variety of industries at a variety of levels. While the app is more-so designed for individual use, it is free to download and use.
