Network Rail — Construction and Rail Safety Assurance Apps
To ensure the safety and standards are adhered to during infrastructure works, Network Rail undertakes thousands of inspections each year across the network.
Problem
Network Rail inspection teams were able to avoid safety-critical paper-based forms being damaged, lost, or incorrectly completed by digitising with OnTrac.
In the high-risk rail industry, safety is the number 1 priority. Stringent health and safety measures must be adhered to not only to mitigate risk of injury or even fatality, but also to avoid hefty fines imposed by regulators if your business is found to be in breach of the rules.
To ensure safety and standards are upheld during infrastructure works, Network Rail inspection teams undertake thousands of inspections each year. These inspectors gather valuable information and use it to identify areas that require attention, so they can take action to safeguard the team. This is a fundamental pillar of achieving Network Rail’s ‘Everyone home safe every day’ ethos.
Traditionally, these checks have been completed via paper-and-pen, on an exposed work site in all weather conditions. Not only was this causing issues in terms of lost, damaged or missing information, but was also preventing proper data analysis. The critical information gathered during an inspection was being filed away once the form had been completed. This was resulting in the same recurring hazards, posing a risk to the safety of the workforce on or near the line.
In an ideal world, inspection data would be saved in one accessible place for anyone working on a given project. There would be no risk of loss or damage, with a clear audit trail. It would be automatically analysed so inspectors could clearly pinpoint areas of danger so they could quicky introduce measures to control risk on site.
Solution
Enter OnTrac; the number 1 rail technology provider in the UK.
OnTrac has a long and successful history of providing industry-changing solutions to enable the planning and delivery of safe work.
Given the diversity of inspectors, their varied technological experience, and the need to complete electronic inspections during inclement weather conditions, OnTrac was tasked with creating a user friendly and effective solution for the entire team.
As the apps are powered by Nutshell Apps, users can add, edit and remove apps within minutes. Changes are synchronised and pushed to devices without the need for app store approval. OnTrac transformed piles of paper-based inspection forms into sleek Construction & Safety Assurance apps, including the following key features:
Compatibility with both smartphones and tablet devices
Over 65+ inspection forms to complete on site
Ability to submit completed inspections in PDF format
Photos can be taken on site and attached to the inspection pack
Apps can work in offline mode, which is a must-have on disparate rail work sites that regularly have areas of no internet connection
Managers can sign off inspection forms electronically, making illegible or damaged paper-based signatures a thing of the past
There is a geolocation and map functionality so inspectors can navigate through the site with ease
The admin capability manages who can use which app
The apps are powered by Nutshell Apps, a drag-and-drop no-code app builder. This means users can create, edit, and publish apps ten times quicker than using traditional apps
The forms contain prepopulated fields based on personal account details, so no need to repeatedly fill out the same information.
Results
The CSA inspection apps have revolutionised how data is captured on site, improving inspection quality, workplace safety, audit capability and analysis. The apps play a vital role in ensuring safety is upheld during infrastructure project works.
Our apps have cut inspection time in half, significantly increasing the number of checks being carried out and forms being submitted. This has resulted in a safer working environment for those on site, as inspectors can quickly react to the most up-to-date hazard information and easily keep everyone involved updated.
Having data in an electronic format has made it simple to interface with reporting engines and business intelligence tools, streamlining the inspection process. It also means the important data is collected and stored more robustly than ever before, safe in the cloud.
The CSA apps are intrinsic to the health and safety of any rail project and are actively helping Inspectors do their job in keeping workers safe.
