One of the easiest ways to improve jobsite safety is by utilizing construction safety checklists. These checklists outline standard procedures step-by-step to make sure your workers consistently follow health and safety protocols.
Why are construction safety checklists important?
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA),1 in 5 fatal workplace accidents happen in construction—that’s more than any other industry.
Along with toolbox talks, construction safety checklists are simple yet effective tools for protecting your workers. Use them to document all your safety measures, review company policies, and prevent injuries. They can also be used for quality control as a part of your construction quality management plan.
Checklists help guarantee routine inspections and audits are conducted correctly and documented in detail, improving compliance.
Best practices for construction safety checklists
Your field crews should fill out a general construction safety checklist every day to inspect the jobsite and identify any hazards. To document additional safety and health measures, use checklists that walk through the steps of those specialized tasks.
For example, if your team will be working on the roof for the day, a roofing safety checklist or a ladder inspection checklist could also be assigned.
The process for completing checklists usually goes like this:
The office creates a checklist template and sends it to the field
The field prints it out and completes it on the site
The field scans it and sends it back to the office
The office reviews the completed checklist and addresses any issues
It sounds fairly straightforward, but the list of steps above doesn’t include all the potential back-and-forth, additional emails, and check-ins that may be necessary whenever a problem is identified. And, if checklists are missing information—or not filled out correctly—checklists can take even more time and resources.
How can you simplify the checklist process and get more accurate data from the construction site? The answer is easy: By going digital.
Why use a digital safety checklist for construction sites?
Pen and paper is tried-and-true. But having your teams complete checklists to provide site updates by hand takes a lot of time that would be better spent on actual project labor.
Instead, give your workers the power to access checklists from their phones and tablets with a streamlined construction app. Safety checklists are assigned by the office and completed by the field using a mobile device. Workers easily move through the steps of each checklist, then sign off on and share completed documentation with stakeholders in real time.
Construction checklist software eliminates time-consuming back and forth. Digital checklists are more flexible, too. It’s easier to create checklists for a variety of topics and procedures and adjust templates as needed, adding additional questions or answer types.
Make it easy to fill out a site safety inspection checklist
Raken’s construction checklists app reduces manual data entry and increases visibility without adding extra hours to the workday. Your employees can complete safety checklists as they’re walking the construction site right from our easy-to-use mobile app. No extra training (or resources) required.
With Raken checklists, you can:
Create custom checklist templates (or use our pre-built options) and assign them
From the field, quickly complete checklists on mobile and add observations, photos, videos, and attachments
Share completed checklists in real time via cloud storage
Monitor compliance across projects and automatically notify workers of missed deadlines
Prevent injuries in the workplace and deliver higher quality work with our fast, safety flexible tools.
Use safety checklist templates built for the construction industry
Want to skip the search and get a safety checklist now? Use one of our safety checklists templates for common workflows.
Some of our available templates to download include:
• Safety Orientation Checklist
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Review Checklist
• Activity Risk Assessment Checklist
• Project Safety Checklist
• Scissor Lift Safety Checklist
Don’t see what you need? Check out the full list of construction checklists offered inside the Raken app.
And don’t forget, you can use Raken to easily create your own custom checklists that perfectly match your requirements.
Recommended Read
How to Create Custom Checklists
Learn how easy it is to build (and use) your own construction safety checklists in Raken.
Streamline safety with Raken
At the end of the day, keeping your employees safe is what matters most. Give them the best protection with Raken.
Get started with a demo of our construction safety management software today. We’ll show you how our digital checklists, observations, incident reports, and more keep crews safer and project your business.