Have you ever been walking through your company’s facilities—intent on a task—when you noticed something in need of maintenance attention?

Did you do what many people in that situation do—make a “mental note” of it? And, if so, did you remember it?

Good for you if you did. But we all know that human memory is unreliable.

And even if you made a note on paper or your mobile device, how long did it take for that note to prompt you to contact maintenance? Probably at least until you finished that task you were intent on.

What’s needed in this situation is the ability to instantly communicate the problem to maintenance (or health & safety, HR, or whichever department is responsible for fixing the problem). Ideally, your note should be the communication that prompts action—with no lag time or potential for forgetting about it.

Using mobile inspection software, a photo of a problem can be instantly sent to all appropriate people.But that’s still not all you need. For example, you could instantly communicate with a text or an email, but you have to take the time to explain the problem in detail since the recipients can’t see what you’re seeing. The old adage—a picture is worth a thousand words—springs to mind. Wouldn’t you love to be able to snap a picture that you can attach to the note?

Again, you could use mobile technology to do this, but when you send the message, with photo attached, whom do you send it to? The person who will actually fix it? That person’s supervisor? Your supervisor? Who else?

And what would be the right format for the message (email, text, IM, etc.)? Would that format suit everyone?

Critically, you also would have no set system to let you know when the problem is resolved. Of course, this depends on internal communication protocols, but in many companies, the message might not even be acknowledged and the resolution never communicated.

The Observation Reporter

Mobile technology is the answer, but it needs to be used in a systematic way, with everyone using the same program to report observations (with photos), track progress, and notify of completion.

You can have such a system with The Checker Software’s Observation Reporter module. It is designed specifically for the scenario we’ve been discussing.

Here’s how it works. When you observe an issue, you take a photo of it. The module’s interface includes a comment box, so that you can explain why you took the picture and add any instructions or concerns. You can sign with a stylus or finger, the observation is date- and time-stamped, and it’s ready to be sent to the appropriate people, whom you’ll easily be able to determine using the software and your account.

Everyone you send to receives an immediate notification, and the observation is automatically entered into an archive. You’re communicating and documenting at the same time—with the ability to easily see the actions being taken regarding your observation.

And because this module is part of The Checker Software, the Observation Reporter won’t be a rarely-used program you have to hunt for on your mobile device—it will be easily accessible with the software people should already be using every day. (If you implement The Checker Software, it will get used because it has so many beneficial, time-saving features.)

The ease and efficiency that the module brings to the reporting of issues will increase the likelihood that people will actually make these important observations. You’ll have a bunch of eyes wide open.

Takeaway

The Checker Software’s Observation Reporter allows problems to be systematically reported and resolved, even if the observations aren’t made as part of a formal inspection, audit, or walk-through. When someone sees a problem—whatever or wherever it is—all they have to do is use the Observation Reporter to prompt corrective action.

View a sample of the Observation Reporter.

Tags: inspection software, mobile inspections, audit software

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