Developing a Mobile App for Health and Safety Purposes

[EHstudent]

Hi everyone,

I am a student of environmental health at Liverpool John Moores University, and I'm currently working on a project for the Work Based Learning module. My project is focused on developing a mobile application for Health and Safety purposes.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, both employers and employees have a duty to take reasonable care of health and safety when work is carried out, and it also applies to work from home. However, it can be more difficult to follow the rules in these situations due to the lack of adequate supervision, as home workers are physically not present in their actual workplace. Instead, their work environment is usually their home, where they could still be at risk of getting injured or getting a disease whilst they are working.

I'm interested in developing an application that can help to solve this problem. Although current technological advancements made it possible to use online videocall platforms, like Microsoft Teams and Zoom, and these applications became widely used during the Covid-19 pandemic, they are originally not intended for the purpose of H&S. It also applies to social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok, or video sharing services like YouTube - these platforms are rather used for entertainment purposes, so they cannot be taken seriously, also the credibility of posted images and videos is questionable.

Currently, the HSE does not have a dedicated application where H&S incidents could be reported. Although they have an application made by them, its for guidance only. They have report forms available on their website, but they are a bit complicated to use, and there is no way to upload images for evidence. There are already some similar mobile apps, such as RiskProof used by Shield Safety. However, I am concerned that these apps mainly serve the interests of these consultant companies, and they are probably not free.

My idea is to develop an application which would make direct contact between relevant organisations, like local authorities, the HSE and H&S personnel of any businesses. With this app they can create a UK-wide network of Health and Safety-related organisations and people, update each other about any issues, make contact, develop new ideas, best practices and educate. The application would also serve as a single platform to report incidents at work. This app would enable users to update each other about health and safety issues arising at work. They would be able to report work-related accidents, injuries and fatalities and attach pictures and videos for evidence. These live updates would also support the work of the Health and Safety Executive, so their investigators could look into these events without the need to them to be called out to the place of the event - this would be necessary since there could be concerns that after an accident happened, the premises would look different than what it was described in the report.

The posting of images along with the reporting of incidents would be subject to Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Data Protection to avoid the misuse of the application, so only qualified registered personnel could have access to the service. There could also be a dedicated team behind the app development to deal with it.

I am hoping to get some feedback from the business community on this idea, and any advice or suggestions you might have for developing this app. I would be happy to discuss any questions or concerns you may have.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

 

[fisicx]

Hi @EHstudent and welcome to UKBF.

Have you spoken to the HSE about your idea?

There are already a number of systems business use for reporting incidents. Some were developed in house, others are provided by external agencies. They are unlikely to switch to a new app. Unless your app can integrate with existing systems it’s unlikely to gain much traction.

 

[WaveJumper]

This is a very big topic and as already mentioned there are many systems already out there for monitoring H&S. Companies are not going to allow individual employees to report directly to H&S, no company I have ever worked for would allow this all incidents would be reported through "their" H&S systems & procedures to ensure correct procedures / reporting are taking place by a person with that responsibility for the company as a whole or possible a specific site.

Yes something might need reporting but a company would also have a duty to investigate the incident in the first place although depending on the severity ie crane just fell over they possibly will have been informed by member of the public and turn up on site, but they still expect the company to follow there investigation protocols etc then the fun begins.

What a company may find useful for those working at home say, is a system / app for check list purposes ie the arrangement of equipment and furniture to avoid trailing leads and cables. check that your plugs, leads, wires and cables are in good condition etc etc , are there any obstructions that could cause slips or trips. check for adequate lighting in work space. This perhaps could have a system for uploading pictures of the work area so the employer has a not just a written record of evidence but also photographic and if they are not happy could suggest changes etc or even a return to the main office environment t if they felt the risks were to great.

It may be worth you contacting a few companies to see how they control working at home and the systems they have in place.

 

[fisicx]

Spoke to my wife who works from home for a financial company. All H&S processes are detailed on the intranet. They do their own assessments (eg DSE) and fill in online forms. No requirement for any app. A mobile app even less so.

 

[IanSuth]

Hi everyone,

I am a student of environmental health at Liverpool John Moores University, and I'm currently working on a project for the Work Based Learning module. My project is focused on developing a mobile application for Health and Safety purposes.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, both employers and employees have a duty to take reasonable care of health and safety when work is carried out, and it also applies to work from home. However, it can be more difficult to follow the rules in these situations due to the lack of adequate supervision, as home workers are physically not present in their actual workplace. Instead, their work environment is usually their home, where they could still be at risk of getting injured or getting a disease whilst they are working.

I'm interested in developing an application that can help to solve this problem. Although current technological advancements made it possible to use online videocall platforms, like Microsoft Teams and Zoom, and these applications became widely used during the Covid-19 pandemic, they are originally not intended for the purpose of H&S. It also applies to social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok, or video sharing services like YouTube - these platforms are rather used for entertainment purposes, so they cannot be taken seriously, also the credibility of posted images and videos is questionable.

Currently, the HSE does not have a dedicated application where H&S incidents could be reported. Although they have an application made by them, its for guidance only. They have report forms available on their website, but they are a bit complicated to use, and there is no way to upload images for evidence. There are already some similar mobile apps, such as RiskProof used by Shield Safety. However, I am concerned that these apps mainly serve the interests of these consultant companies, and they are probably not free.

My idea is to develop an application which would make direct contact between relevant organisations, like local authorities, the HSE and H&S personnel of any businesses. With this app they can create a UK-wide network of Health and Safety-related organisations and people, update each other about any issues, make contact, develop new ideas, best practices and educate. The application would also serve as a single platform to report incidents at work. This app would enable users to update each other about health and safety issues arising at work. They would be able to report work-related accidents, injuries and fatalities and attach pictures and videos for evidence. These live updates would also support the work of the Health and Safety Executive, so their investigators could look into these events without the need to them to be called out to the place of the event - this would be necessary since there could be concerns that after an accident happened, the premises would look different than what it was described in the report.

The posting of images along with the reporting of incidents would be subject to Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Data Protection to avoid the misuse of the application, so only qualified registered personnel could have access to the service. There could also be a dedicated team behind the app development to deal with it.

I am hoping to get some feedback from the business community on this idea, and any advice or suggestions you might have for developing this app. I would be happy to discuss any questions or concerns you may have.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Been there started doing this in lockdown specifically for H&S of homeworkers (and their wellbeing)

We missed the boat really so pulled back (and got burned by some Indian subcontract developers) - the data protection/gdpr type stuff is not trivial and to develop a system robust enough in that area to make the big boys happy to talk to you about using it as an external service and it starts getting very pricey ( a lot of them want it all based on azure as that is what they are happy with so you are paying through the nose for that for example)