The mobile revolution hasn’t quite transformed how workplace inspections are done … yet.

While some industries will probably always continue to use inspection checklist books, the same efficiencies that are driving mobile adoption in countless other areas of business will surely prompt a widespread move to digital inspections eventually.

Mobile offers advantages such as instant communication of inspection results, reduced paper use, greater accountability, and integration with management software—and these advantages will become increasingly hard to ignore as technology continues to advance.

So why isn’t mobile already the predominate way inspections are done in industry?

What I’ve found in talking with executives, safety managers, maintenance managers and other leaders involved with safety is that the hesitation in moving to mobile inspections is due more to hardware concerns than the cost of the software (which in The Checker’s case is quite affordable.)

The hardware issues that they’re worried about basically fall into two categories:

Cost concerns. Tablets and smartphones aren’t cheap, and they become outdated quickly. The cost of outfitting personnel with mobile devices can considerably outweigh the cost of mobile inspection software—and it’s a cost many companies aren’t ready to bear.

Security concerns: For various legitimate business reasons (e.g., protecting company secrets, reducing liability exposure, avoiding inappropriate photo sharing) many companies don’t want personnel having mobile devices with picture-taking capability around their operations.

 Let’s look at how those concerns can be mitigated.

Cost

First of all, it’s important to understand that “mobile inspections” is a broad term that encompasses equipment inspections in the field as well as pre-job safety assessments, facilities inspections, and any other process of checking items to better ensure safety and reduce costs.

Therefore, companies don’t have to supply all their equipment operators in the field with mobile devices to begin taking advantage of mobile technology to get more benefit from inspections. They can start by using mobile inspections for the audits, assessments, etc. conducted by office personnel (e.g., safety managers, safety committee members).

It’s also worthwhile to note that while the anxiety over the hardware costs of daily mobile equipment inspections is understandable, moving mobile into the field might not cost as much as you think.

When determining the cost of mobile devices for field personnel, also figure in the other valuable purposes the devices can be used for. The cost of the mobile devices should be allocated among these multiple purposes, thereby lowering the cost directly attributable to inspections. This isn’t an accounting trick—it’s a real indication of the overall cost/benefit ratio of investing in the hardware.

A “bring your own device” (BYOD) policy is also a strategy that will work in some companies to put mobile devices in the hands of personnel.

Security

The remedy for this problem is simple—supply personnel with feature phones that have internet capability but don’t have cameras. Plenty of models exist that can facilitate mobile inspections without having to worry about impermissible photos being taken.

Takeaway

It would be shocking if the move toward mobile inspections doesn’t accelerate rapidly over the coming years.

Forward-thinking companies can get ahead of the curve and gain a competitive advantage by not delaying the move. With the right hardware solutions, mobile inspections such as The Checker Mobile can add value and lower costs now!

Image courtesy of Cheon Fong Liew, Creative Commons.