I was in a meeting at the HQ of one of the UK’s largest contractors this week. One of the challenges raised was the consistency of the information captured at the induction stage across the business. They have a standard site induction form, however, individual sites have added to this information making it inconsistently used. To add to the challenge all induction forms are paper based and completed on site with reliance on the individuals completing and checking the forms.
All very time consuming. What’s worse is the feedback I received is that the information gathered is questionable in terms of integrity and there are many instances where inducted personnel have completed multiple induction forms across multiple sites as they move from project to project.
It is widely accepted that the completion of induction forms is a necessary evil when operating a site with security and health and safety in mind. However, it is clear there are very evident inefficiencies in this approach.
The Induction Form Challenge
The challenge laid out to me was a simple one “If we can agree and produce standard information to be captured at induction stage, can you then configure your system to mandate the capture of this information prior to allowing any individual access to site and also remove the need for the paper form.” In return the answer was a simple yes we can.
The client in question already has a single instance of MSite in the cloud with the ability to manage site access across all their sites. As soon as standard induction information is provided this can be configured in the system and instantly enforced across all sites. This immediately creates consistent information that is readily accessible across the business. The induction information is captured just once, with individual records only updated when changes occur e.g. move of address etc.
Construction Efficiency
In almost every meeting I attend I hear construction companies talk about maximising efficiency. The above approach will deliver significant efficiency gains and when you include pre-enrolment whereby the sub-contractor supply chain enrol all operatives online prior to visiting site the positive impact on efficiency is further amplified.
I’m sure many construction workers and managers grow tired of completing induction information over and over and would be interested to hear your thoughts.