Companies and their employees have a responsibility to ensure that everyone has a safe working environment at all times. Raising awareness for occupational health and safety and instilling a zero-harm culture is key to achieving that goal. This can be a challenge for large multinational organizations with a global footprint because different regions and facilities often have their own localized best practices and procedures.
Digital HSE applications that are accessible via smartphones or laptops can help address this issue by enabling companies to provide their employees (regardless of their location) with quick and easy access to relevant HSE information and documentation so that they can follow the same standardized corporate practices. Most enterprises today have the wherewithal to develop such applications. The primary challenge lies in making the application effective for users to facilitate widespread adoption and positively affect HSE performance. Developing the application at a low cost and making it easy to maintain and update without the help of high-end software developers or IT personnel is another desirable characteristic because it ensures that the application can grow, adapt, and become better over time.
This was the primary impetus behind the development of the Zero Harm Engagement app. The app serves as a one-stop solution for employees anywhere in the world to learn, engage, and register their progress toward zero harm. It contains a virtual resource center where users can access any and all documentation and information regarding the different types of zero-harm engagements (e.g., office, supplier, incident investigation, leadership meeting).
Although the app was developed to align with the author’s company’s own HSE principles, its core design elements and functionality are applicable to any organization. Interested parties could easily reproduce the application and roll it out at little to no cost and with minimal disruption to ongoing operations.