Safety has always come hand in hand with lots of paperwork. In heavy industries like construction and transportation, it’s common for companies to create copies of safety forms and store them for years. This method is not only time-consuming, but also demanding in terms of storage space. Also, as the number of documents grows, finding the one you need becomes more difficult! Fortunately, technology is helping many industries go paperless.

The use of digital forms for safety and compliance brings many advantages. Since digital forms are stored online, they are available anywhere when needed (this is probably the biggest advantage). A form can also be downloaded easily, and filled even at worksites without Internet. All companies benefit from this approach, but especially those working in remote locations.

Main Benefits of Upgrading to Digital Forms

When it comes to safety and compliance, paperless is the way to go. These are just a few examples:

• Digital forms are customizable, and features like drag-and-drop let you create them exactly as needed.
• You can include many elements like dropdown lists, check boxes, Likert scales and open text fields.
• To go fully paperless, you need a way to sign documents online. However, an electronic signature feature can let you sign a form with your tablet, smartphone or computer.

Besides their availability and customization, another great advantage of digital forms is automating work that was once tedious and time-consuming. Say goodbye to filling forms by hand, entering their information digitally into a system, and finding storage space to keep your records. By combining digital forms with learning and compliance software, all the routine work is completed by the system and you can focus on more important tasks.

By going digital, you save money on administrative work, and rented space that was used for storage is freed up. Your employees will also be grateful. Just think about how simple it is to edit and sign forms using a tablet or smartphone. On top of that, consider the environmental benefit as more companies go paperless. It’s a win-win situation!

Digital forms also serve as a backup, protecting your business and employees from noncompliance penalties and even lawsuits. By using notifications and alerts, the system ensures that:

• All employees have completed their training.
• Equipment inspections are done regularly.
• Competency reviews are completed, keeping your business on track.

If by any chance an accident occurs, your business is protected because all safety forms are complete, digitally signed and up-to-date.

Another benefit of digital forms is making the onboarding process easier for everyone. Previously, orientation for new employees required a lot of paperwork, which needed to be processed and stored. Now digital forms are taking the onboarding process fully online, and new employees can easily complete all their paperwork needed to start working.

Keeping Your Information Safe with Digital Forms

By using digital forms in 2022, the risk of losing important documents is almost zero. This was a common problem in the past, since physical information is easily lost or destroyed. Digital backups are now available to keep all your information safe, and even data that was deleted by mistake can be recovered. One of the greatest benefits of digital storage is having searchable information: type what you’re looking for on the search bar, and forget about flipping through endless folders!

By transitioning from physical to digital paperwork, you save two valuable resources: money and time. Going digital lets you create custom forms to meet your specific needs, and these forms are available anywhere since they are kept online. Once completed and signed, digital forms are safely stored, making all information easily retrievable when needed. By going digital, the time spent dealing with files manually can be used for more important activities, and administration costs go down. As of 2022, any document management system worth its salt must provide digital forms for your company. This is the best option for speed, safety and compliance!