Safety leaders use templates all the time to ensure no details fall through the cracks. Everything from inspection forms and audits to training and more can help streamline your work and remove any guesswork as to what you need to record.
So why not apply this same practice to your safety reports?
Creating a safety report template can serve the same benefits as the forms and documents you use every day. You know exactly what to report on and bring consistency to your reporting process. Here’s what you need to know about creating your own safety report template to improve your EHS program.
Why You Need a Safety Report Template
Having a safety report template isn’t a requirement, but safety leaders that do use them agree it makes their job easier. You collect the information you need without forgetting important details. It also makes it easier for other leaders to create safety reports on your behalf because the process is systematized.
Having a template helps you scale your efforts to save you time creating and managing reports. As a busy EHS leader, your time is one of the most valuable assets to your organization, and the last thing you want to do is waste more than you need to create reports.
Ideally, you can customize your template to fit your organization’s unique needs and capture the information that matters most.
What’s In Your Safety Report?
What exactly should you put in your report template? That largely depends on your organization, but here are a few common components you’ll want to include.
Audits and Inspections
Are you all caught up on required audits and inspections? Without a good organizational structure, it’s easy to let deadlines sneak up or completely forget about them. Adding them to your safety report template can serve as a failsafe by viewing the status of each audit and inspection and also planning for upcoming activities.
Safety Claims
EHS leaders must keep a finger on the pulse of all safety-related claims. Not only must claims be properly monitored and managed, but leaders must also investigate each claim to see where improvements need to be made moving forward.
CAPA Forms
CAPA (Corrective and Preventative Action) forms contribute to your EHS program’s success. Not only are they required by regulatory agencies, but they also help you resolve complaints and quality issues stemming from multiple sources. The forms thoroughly document each stage of the corrective or preventative action, giving EHS leaders a holistic view into how improvements are being made in their department. A safety template should include any CAPA forms that have been completed in a given time frame so follow up can be conducted.
Incident Rates
There are several metrics when it comes to calculating incident rate data. Traditionally, EHS managers were tasked with manual calculations after sifting through piles of chaotic data. But adding this information to a template can help to save you time on calculations and ensure you calculate all the metrics you need.
Training Requirements
Are your team members up to date on their safety training requirements? This is one area you simply cannot let fall by the wayside. Trained employees are informed employees, and informed employees stand a much better chance of making smart decisions when it comes to safety. Your safety report can tell you at a glance where your team stands on meeting their requirements so you can take immediate action.
How Software Can Help You Create Better Safety Reports
Creating your own safety report template can help to save you time and brainpower, especially when you can use EHS software to do most of the work for you.
Software like EHS Insight can collect and compile results for your safety reports faster and more efficiently than you can do it yourself. The information is pulled directly from your data to give you an accurate representation of your program, so you can trust the results without crunching the numbers for yourself. Plus, you can spend less time editing giant, messy spreadsheets and focus more on value-added tasks in your organization.
Start your free trial to see how EHS Insight is streamlining safety reporting for good and how it can benefit your safety program.
