Business Operations

4 Reasons Your Business Needs Time Card Apps

Posted on by Danny Kanev

4 Reasons Your Business Needs Time Card Apps

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Time card apps present an opportunity for you to increase your team’s efficiency and streamline time-tracking workflows for your business operations.

These types of applications are widely used to help hourly workers or contractors track their time digitally so they can be paid based on hours worked.

So when does it make sense to switch from manual time cards and punch clocks to digital apps? Continue reading this article for a look at some of the top reasons for using time card apps and how to know when it makes sense for your business to switch.

Benefits of time card apps vs. time clocks and paper timesheets

Using paper sheets to track employees’ time can be inefficient and error-prone. Paper sheets tend to get lost over time, manual work is required to process the paperwork, and mistakes are often made by employees or required information can be missing from the document.

Time card apps, time clock apps, and time tracking apps provide flexibility in how your business can track time and work hours for employees, contractors, freelancers, and more. When you think about the time spent on mobile devices today, it makes sense that workers should be able to use an app on their iOS devices such as iPhones, iPads, or Android mobile devices.

The data collected in apps are then available for office administrators or workers to access on a desktop, as needed. Here are 4 business reasons to switch to time card apps instead of paper or spreadsheets:

1. Need for secure and reliable cloud applications

Paper time cards are error-prone and subject to being lost by employees or HR departments before being submitted for payroll or invoicing. 

But with time card apps, work is tracked in real-time and the data is automatically stored securely in the cloud or locally to the device. This reliability makes mobile time tracking apps and time clock apps ideal for small businesses and enterprise-level companies to ensure that accurate records are kept. 

Time card apps are more secure than traditional paper timesheets or even online timesheets, giving your workers the ability to manage the entire process from their mobile devices. 

If security and reliability are top priorities for your business and you can’t afford to lose data, then it definitely makes sense to have your time card processes moved over to a secure cloud application that can provide peace of mind.

2. Need for automation and workflows

Time card apps also allow you to introduce simple automation rules that can change the way your teams operate. For example, using time tracking software or time management software in conjunction with a time card app, companies can automatically submit employee hours to payroll platforms such as ADP, QuickBooks, Xero, Workday, Paychex, and other payroll services. This streamlines processes for your teams and makes the entire process seamless, freeing up valuable time that can be spent elsewhere.

If productivity is a challenge and you need to free up time for your staff, consider using apps that can modernize your process and automate tasks that would otherwise be manual and time-consuming.

3. Need for GPS tracking and geofencing

If your business needs to verify that work has been performed on-site, the GPS functionality of a mobile app can provide a way to verify the exact location. For this use case, businesses are using time card apps on mobile devices that tap into GPS location features to identify when workers enter a job site and when they leave a job site in real-time. 

This practice is often referred to as “geofencing,” where companies draw a digital boundary around a specific area. As users’ devices enter or exit that area, a time tracker can kick in to track billable hours.

If your business relies on a distributed or field workforce, then there is a strong business case for implementing mobile apps that are designed to simplify field operations management.

4. Growing business complexity

If you have a complex business with different categories of workers, it can be beneficial to use time card apps and timesheet apps to manage this process. The apps can handle the hours submitted by full-time employees, part-time employees, freelancers, and contractors differently. 

Some of these workers may have different pricing levels. Others may require the withholding of taxes, and others may require payment through various hiring platforms. All of these differentiators are trackable with proper time management tools.

When you are getting to this level of complexity with managing time, there’s definitely a clear advantage to time card apps and the amount of time saved through simplified processes.

Templates to build your own time management apps 

Every business is unique, with different people, processes, and technologies in place. Two important considerations when selecting a time management solution are ease of use and level of customization.

Given all of the nuances of your business, you need the ability to customize an app to fit your requirements. But at the same time, it shouldn’t require an advanced level of technical expertise or a big budget to achieve that customization.

Organizations have found that GoCanvas provides the ideal balance between customization and ease of use. Using our drag-and-drop app builder requires no coding to publish custom apps for your specific business needs.

The simplicity of the product and the extensive library of templates gives you the ability to very quickly build advanced apps, for time cards and many other common business cases.   

Navigate to the GoCanvas app store to view all of the time card apps that we have pre-built as templates. Make sure to use the search feature to find other examples and templates specific to your industry or use case.

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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A Beginner’s Guide to Checklist Apps

Posted on by Danny Kanev

A Beginner’s Guide to Checklist Apps

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Checklists are essential for keeping your team or yourself organized. They are most often used for task management, project management, or workflow optimization.

If jobs at your workplace rely on checklists for the completion of tasks, investing in checklist apps can be a game-changer for increasing your productivity. At a very high level, this means that your staff is leveraging mobile devices (iOS/Apple or Android devices) that have customizable checklists for specific business purposes.

Most apps allow you to start from checklist templates and customize them to fit your needs. You can input due dates, create subtasks, collaborate with co-workers, automate tasks, and take advantage of the other types of advanced features that are included. In a business scenario, there are many benefits to using a mobile application rather than relying on a simple piece of paper.

Continue reading this article for an introduction to checklist best practices, key benefits of using an app for checklists, industry examples, and some free templates to get you started. 

What are the best practices in making a checklist?

To create a well-crafted checklist app, it all starts with making a good checklist. Any time you are collecting data, it’s important to give careful thought to how things are organized and to give specific direction on what’s required. Here are some of the best practices to consider when creating an effective checklist:

Identify your intent  

Clearly defining your intent is helpful for framing the checklist to reflect your specific needs. For example, the checklist may be used as a to-do list, an inspection checklist, a step-by-step guide, a task manager, or a tool to provide you with reminders.

Start with broad categories

It’s helpful to use broad categories when putting together your checklist or task list since there can be a variety of items that need to be included. Within each of those broad categories, checklist items can focus on basic tasks, subtasks, and other items that advance the checklist’s purpose.

Don’t be afraid to get granular

While broad items are an excellent way to start, getting granular in a checklist ensures that people address the specific items or steps when they go to complete the checklist. This level of granularity will help to avoid missing items and making mistakes.

Keep it simple

You should always keep checklists as simple as possible to ensure that your checklists are easy to use for anyone that needs to fill them out. Some use cases will require technical knowledge, but it’s important to remember that the purpose of a checklist is to make it easy for staff to complete. 

Consider extra space for note-taking

Sometimes it makes sense to have extra space on a checklist to add optional notes. This is helpful when people need to provide additional context to a checklist item. For example, people may need to explain why they couldn’t complete an item on the list, they may need to flag something for follow-up, or they may need to flag that a new task item needs to be added in the future. 

Create separate checklists when appropriate 

It’s sometimes tempting to include related lists together. But you should consider keeping separate lists for different purposes, so teams are always using the correct checklist for the right scenario.

What are the benefits of a checklist app?

Now that you have a framework for creating an effective and user-friendly checklist, it’s helpful to understand why a checklist app may be a better option for your business, rather than a regular paper checklist.

Checklist apps and platforms have various functionalities that improve the way teams work. Here are some of the top benefits of using checklist apps for business: 

Availability across multiple devices

With the rise in popularity of mobile devices, everyone is familiar with how to use apps on their phone, and this makes them incredibly convenient for people to access from anywhere.

Checklist apps today are available as mobile apps on both iOS and Android operating systems and through desktop software or web-based platforms. All of the data is securely stored in the cloud, giving teams the ability to work from any device that’s preferred.

Easy to customize

Non-technical staff can easily build and customize their checklist apps, leveraging a familiar drag and drop functionality that doesn’t require help from IT or programmers. You can quickly build checklists and use the drag and drop feature to reorganize the layout based on your preferences. For businesses that want to embrace digital technologies but have limited technical resources, mobile apps are accessible and seriously easy to build for organizations and teams of all sizes.

Advanced features available

Another benefit to apps is that they allow you to incorporate many exciting and advanced features to boost your productivity. This includes things like adding different types of fields into checklists such as calendars, time stamps, required text fields, signature capture, image capture, and much more.

More advanced checklist apps and systems also allow for automating workflows. For example, if a checklist notes a malfunction or problem during that inspection, an organization can send an automated dispatch request to the proper team member. You can see how checklist apps are great for businesses that need to work more efficiently and really streamline their processes.

Access to templates

Not everyone wants to build a checklist from scratch. That’s why checklist apps come with pre-built templates that are put together for specific use cases and they are designed to be customized to fit your unique needs. Some providers of checklist apps will also work with you during onboarding to build the app to your needs, giving you the exact templates your business needs to get started.

Integrations to improve workflows

Another benefit is the ability to leverage integrations to other applications you already use today. This is done by using a pre-built integration, a custom integration using an API, or a connection to a platform like Zapier that allows you to connect with thousands of other cloud apps. This can truly change the way your business operates and checklist items can trigger various automated actions to occur in other platforms.

Many checklist platforms also integrate with commonly used work productivity tools such as Google Workspaces (e.g., Google Keep, Google Tasks, Google Sheets, Google Calendar, and Gmail), Microsoft Exchange, Trello, Slack, Asana, and more.

Collaboration with co-workers

Many businesses need to use checklists that are filled out collaboratively by different team members. Apps allow co-workers to collaborate and share their checklist app submissions in real-time so everyone can be on the same page. This type of syncing capability helps workers and businesses be more productive and spend less time on manual processes.

What industries use checklist apps?

Checklist apps are used by many companies across a number of different industries. Here are some of the top use cases by industry:

  • Construction, Repair, and Improvement companies use checklist apps as components of building inspections, safety inspections, punch lists, maintenance checks, site inspections, compliance checks, and more. 
  • Transportation & Warehousing companies use checklist apps to improve the safety of drivers and vehicles on the road, with apps like the pre-trip driver checklist.  Inspection checklist apps are also used to ensure the longevity of machinery and equipment. 
  • Field Service Providers use checklist apps for contractors and employees that are performing work in the field and they need to ensure consistency with services being provided. These companies also have field service projects that use checklists to perform routine safety checks on jobsites.
  • Manufacturing industry operators use checklist apps to significantly improve workflows, efficiency, and manufacturing outputs. They’re also used to help improve worker safety and the safety of end-users of products. For example, food manufacturers use checklist apps that are geared towards food safety.

GoCanvas checklist apps

Creating a checklist on paper forms often leads to incomplete, inaccurate, or inconsistent data that’s hard for businesses to manage. A better way to manage checklists for your business is to use a mobile app that guides your staff on how to fill in all of the required information correctly. 

GoCanvas is an easy-to-use and powerful platform that enables businesses to create new checklist apps from scratch or take existing checklist templates in the GoCanvas store and tailor them to meet specific use cases. GoCanvas apps can integrate easily with a wide range of third-party providers and tools to increase your workflow efficiency and create opportunities to automate your business processes. The world of technology is easier than its ever been for businesses of all types to leverage these types of cloud applications to work smarter and be more productive at work.

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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How Digital Construction Inspections Improve Safety

Posted on by Danny Kanev

How Digital Construction Inspections Improve Safety

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Why are construction inspections required?

Construction inspections are performed during all phases of a project to ensure that health and safety standards are being met. Employee health and safety is a top priority for construction companies and there are regulations in place set by OSHA to ensure compliance.

In addition to the inspections that companies perform, OSHA also performs their own inspections of construction sites that can happen at any time to review compliance and issue any penalties or fines.

With the sheer volume of construction sites, it means that OSHA has to prioritize where they are performing inspections. According to the OSHA fact sheet on inspections, they prioritize based on a specific set of criteria:

  • When they hear of imminent danger situations
  • When severe injuries and illnesses are reported
  • When workers complain anonymously
  • When various agencies or organizations refer potential hazards
  • When workplaces are known historically to be high hazard
  • When they are performing a follow-up inspection

The prioritization of inspections is effective to incentivize employers that follow the rules and implement health and safety best practices. The goal is to have thorough construction inspection processes in place so that you are identifying issues, or your employees feel like they can come to you first with their concerns, and issues can be appropriately addressed. Having these processes in place is good for your employees’ health and safety, as well as your company’s productivity and bottom line.

Benefits of Using Mobile Apps for Construction Inspections

The traditional method for performing a construction inspection has been on paper forms. But anyone who has dealt with paper forms knows how inefficient that process can be. Some of the pitfalls of paper forms include:

  • Lost or misplaced forms buried in filing cabinets
  • Human error when filling out the form
  • Incomplete or inaccurate data that causes issues later
  • Sustainability concerns with heavy usage of paper

The current shift in the construction industry is a move toward digital transformation, where documents live as secure files in the cloud and can be filled out via mobile devices on construction sites. 

You can see how this type of solution solves the challenge of paper forms, ensuring that documents are easy to find, are filled out properly, and are in line with sustainable practices, reducing paper usage. 

With all of this information now available in real-time, another win for construction companies is the ability to analyze the data to understand safety trends and to have the necessary reports available when they are needed most.

Data and analytics have been slow for adoption in the construction industry, but data analytics is quickly becoming one of the greatest assets for improving productivity, ensuring safety and compliance, and tracking and reporting on key elements of business operations.

The Top 10 OSHA Violations in 2021

A recent article from Health and Safety magazine cited data from OSHA that summarizes their annual report of the top 10 health and safety violations. Below is a summary of the data for the construction industry violations in FY 2021:

  1.     Fall Protection – General Requirements (1926.501): 5,295 violations
  2.     Respiratory Protection (1910.134): 2,527 violations
  3.     Ladders (1926.1053): 2,026 violations
  4.     Scaffolding (1926.451): 1,948 violations
  5.     Hazard Communication (1910.1200): 1,947 violations
  6.     Lockout/Tagout (1910.147): 1,698 violations
  7.     Fall Protection – Training Requirements (1926.503): 1,666 violations
  8.     Personal Protective and Lifesaving Equipment – Eye and Face Protection (1926.102): 1,452 violations
  9.     Powered Industrial Trucks (1910.178): 1,420 violations
  10.     Machine Guarding (1910.212): 1,113 violations

OSHA reveals this data to create awareness around the top hazards in the workplace so that employers can proactively address health and safety issues that are very much preventable. In the next section, we will cover how you can improve construction health and safety programs with digital construction inspections that can help to minimize your risk from the top 10 violations cited by OSHA.

Apps and Templates for Construction Inspections

Leveraging digital technologies and the use of mobile apps can help you formalize your safety management programs. It will help you store inspection and training records in case you need to show documentation, helping you to stay compliant and avoid fines.

A benefit of using GoCanvas for your safety management program is that we have hundreds of pre-built construction inspection templates, checklists, and incident reports that your company can leverage and customize to fit your unique needs.

To minimize the most common OSHA violations, check out our list of construction inspection apps and templates that we have compiled for you to get started.

Construction Inspection apps and templates:

Additional templates for construction inspections

In addition to this list on health and safety, there are other types of construction inspections that your organization should be aware of, including ones for quality control, building inspections, and much more. The top 10 list is a great place to start, but if you are looking for additional construction inspections, checklists, or reports, you can find them through the GoCanvas application store.

With the current competitive landscape of construction and the tight margins that exist, every company should prioritize ways to keep their workforce productive. Leveraging technologies like GoCanvas to improve your health and safety programs will lead to lower risk to your company and greater profit margins over time.

Try GoCanvas for free today
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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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16 Construction Safety Stats to Know in 2021

Posted on by Danny Kanev

16 Construction Safety Stats to Know in 2021

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Why is construction safety important?

The construction industry tops the list when it comes to workplace injuries and fatalities, even with tightened safety regulations over the years. It’s important for companies to prioritize construction safety to minimize these risks and keep employees safe. When employees are safe, it strengthens your company’s reputation, and it leads to greater employee satisfaction and retention over time.

Here are some key stats that put into perspective the importance of construction safety:

  1. About 20% of worker fatalities per year in private industry were in construction – accounting for one in five worker deaths for the year
  2. More than half of the fatalities resulted from what OSHA calls the “Fatal Four” (falls, being struck by an object, electrocutions, and getting caught in or between equipment or objects)
  3. Eliminating construction industry deaths from the “Fatal Four” could save more than 582 U.S. workers’ lives every year, given that the death toll stems largely from non-compliance with safety regulations
  4. Businesses spend $170 billion a year on costs associated with occupational injuries and illnesses — expenditures that come straight out of company profits

How daily construction safety meetings can help

Safety meetings and training will help you keep in compliance with OSHA standards that require employers to talk to employees about safety. Many construction companies are holding daily safety meetings, also known as toolbox talks, that cover the key areas that employees need to be trained on.

By implementing regular safety meetings on different topics, you’ll likely see a decrease in the number of accidents on site. Here are some key findings on how these daily meetings can help:

  1. Companies that host safety meetings once a month have a total recordable incident rate (TRIR, a statistic you can calculate and compare to industry averages) four times higher than those that hold them daily
  1. Holding daily toolbox talks reduces a company’s DART (days away, restricted, or transferred) rate by 66 percent compared to monthly talks.
  2. Implementing a safety program can reduce injury and illness costs by 20-40%.

How construction safety impacts productivity

Prioritizing safety leads to greater productivity in the construction industry. Given the state of the construction industry in 2021, companies will need to maximize their productivity in order to stay competitive and ensure projects are completed on schedule for customers.

Here are some key findings on the impact of safety on productivity:

  1. The productivity lost from workplace injuries and illnesses costs an additional $60 billion yearly
  2. The median number of days away from work because of a job-related injury or illness in construction is 10 days.
  3. Companies with good health and safety programs outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia by 24.9 percent. Companies that didn’t have those programs underperformed.

Ensure compliance and avoid costly fines

The construction industry is one of the most frequently inspected by OSHA and they can visit a worksite at any time for an inspection. Employers that have strong safety management programs in place ensure that they are in compliance with OSHA standards, and they are less likely to be fined.

Here are some important stats on OSHA violations and fines:

  1. OSHA’s maximum penalty for a “serious” violation is $13,653 per violation
  2. The OSHA fine for a “willful or repeated violation” is $136,532 per violation
  3. The fine for a violation that causes an injury but not a death (what OSHA defines as an “other than serious” violation) is $13,653. In the tragic event that an employee’s life is lost, violations become criminal offenses and can carry fines of up to half a million dollars.

Impact of safety on insurance premiums

Another benefit of focusing on safety is that you avoid more accidents, which in turn can lower your company’s insurance costs. Workers’ compensation premiums are calculated by taking the rate that is set based on the class of employee and multiplying it by an experience modification rating (EMR). The EMR adjusts premiums based on your previous three years of injury records.

Lowering the number of incidents will help to keep your costs down, and here are a few noteworthy stats about insurance premiums in the construction industry:

  1. Employers in the construction industry spend about $1 per hour per employee on workers’ comp, compared to the national average of $.45 per hour per employee for all other industries
  2. Employers pay almost $1 billion a week in workers’ compensation costs alone
  3. A small improvement in your EMR can translate into a 10-20% reduction in insurance premiums.

There are also many indirect costs of claims, including lost productivity, cost to hire replacement workers, and administrative costs to handle the claims.

Comprehensive safety management for construction

The data makes it very clear that construction companies and their employees benefit when the organization is invested in safety programs. Investing in a solution like GoCanvas makes it easy for companies to track and report on their safety programs in near real-time.

Our safety management solution is customizable to meet your business needs and it includes several pre-built safety forms, including Toolbox Talks, Incident Reports, and Job Safety Analysis.

One interesting (and final) stat to share is that GoCanvas customers report reducing their risk and liability by 18%. You can get started for free with GoCanvas to see how mobile apps and forms can make your safety program more effective.

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Form Builders and Templates – What You Need to Know

Posted on by Danny Kanev

Form Builders and Templates – What You Need to Know

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Forms can be complex and many times they can be more nuanced than you might expect. But with properly designed layouts, you can improve workflows, facilitate automation, and enable your business to customize and enhance its data collection practices. Continue reading this blog post for:

  • Information about forms
  • A summary of different types of forms on the market today
  • Examples of industry use cases for forms

What is a form?

A form is a tool that has fields where individuals can write text or select from various options. The end use of forms can vary significantly, but most often they function to register for something, fill out a statement, create a request, or submit an order.

Forms may also be multi-purpose by design, and they can even lead end-users to different outcomes based on how they respond to the form fields.  While most forms are provided blank, some form designers may also leverage placeholder content in digital forms that can prompt users to provide certain types of data.

Forms can also have advanced features like dynamically populating content using data that is being referenced from a database, often referred to as reference data. Reference data can help pre-populate form fields, simplifying the process for people filling out the form by leveraging data that is already known.

The benefit of using forms to collect data is that they help to make data consistent and uniform for storing, processing, and analyzing the data. One common example of using forms is when businesses need to collect data from their customers to store inside a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

Integrating the form with the CRM database allows a business to dynamically populate the form fields based on the data they already have from the customer. It then allows them to collect a standard set of data fields from customers, ensuring that they are bringing in consistent and standard data that can be used when creating reports and performing analysis.

What are the different form builders on the market, and how are they used?

There are different types of form builders available to the market today. Some of these form-building tools have more niche-specific uses, while others have a broad set of use cases. Here’s a quick overview of some of the different form builders on the market today:

Mobile App Forms

Mobile app forms are specialized forms that function as mobile apps. GoCanvas is a leading firm in developing mobile app forms for data collection and sharing. Users can access the form builder to create custom apps that can be used on tablets and smartphones or through a desktop app available on Windows and Apple computers. 

The data from these forms is stored in the cloud and it can help businesses reduce their paper usage. The functional capabilities of GoCanvas apps include GPS location capture, photos, custom form fields, signature capture, and reference data, among others. Users can share form submissions through a .csv file or a PDF report. 

GoCanvas also integrates with a wide range of platforms, including Quickbooks, Salesforce, Dropbox, Google Drive, PulseM, Netsuite, Zendesk, and much more. Through Zapier, GoCanvas can integrate with over 3,000 apps to automate workflows and increase workplace productivity.

WordPress Plugins

There are countless WordPress plugins available that form writers can use to develop and deploy forms accessible from websites. Some of the most popular ones include Gravity Forms, Formidable Forms, WPForms, Jetpack Forms, and others. These form builders are drag-and-drop plugins that are dynamic in their applications. It is relatively easy to embed these forms directly into websites designed on the WordPress CMS. 

Most often, people use these types of forms as a contact form, registration form, or marketing form to collect information for email marketing campaigns. These forms can also function as a submission tool for file uploads or a payment authorization tool that can integrate with PayPal or Stripe systems.

Form data collected through these plugins are typically accessible in various formats, including an online dashboard or exportable format through .csv or XML format. Users can customize these forms by using more advanced CSS or HTML code to define specific looks and functionality.

Email Marketing Forms

Most email marketing campaigns will use lead capture systems and CRMs for marketing and sales purposes. Some of the most well-known email marketing providers include Hubspot, Mailchimp, and Constant Contact – all of which have forms that can integrate with various types of websites, mobile apps, or through stand-alone systems.

In general, these forms are somewhat limited in their capabilities, although it is possible to automate workflows based on inputs and conditional logic. Most commonly, these types of forms are meant to collect basic information that can inform marketing and sales teams about interested customers or prospective customers.

Survey Tools

Google Forms and SurveyMonkey are two popular tools for sending out free or low-cost surveys.  These types of forms can be built with conditional logic, automation, and other capabilities to collect data from groups of all sizes.

Reporting dashboards are also available in these platforms so that users can generate actionable and insightful data from results. Google Forms integrates directly with Google Sheets so that these forms can quickly aggregate data into a cloud-based Google Sheet.

Use cases for different form builders

Given the various types of form builders available to the market, it may be helpful to compare the different uses for each form builders we’ve covered in this article. Here’s a quick summary:

  • Mobile App Forms are helpful tools for businesses that require checklists, reports, data collection tools, evaluations, guidelines, and other tools for recording, reporting, or sharing information.
  • WordPress Plugins can be used in various use cases but are often deployed for contact capture purposes, as registration forms, contact forms, and other somewhat simplistic use cases. 
  • Email Marketing Forms are niche purpose forms, mostly related to capturing contact information for users. 
  • Survey tools are great for collecting responses from respondents and aggregating data into easy-to-understand insights such as charts and graphics. 

How different industries can use forms effectively

Nearly every industry today uses forms to improve its business processes and outcomes. Here are some of the innovative ways that companies are using mobile forms to streamline their operations:

  • Work orders for companies in the construction, repair, and improvement industry may be generated through a form builder to integrate with systems such as Quickbooks so that accounting departments can approve expenditures or authorize work quickly. 
  • Building inspection forms can utilize conditional logic and automation to rapidly dispatch the correct maintenance personnel depending on the nature of an issue during the inspection.
  • Estimate sheets can be used to help businesses to bid effectively on projects, using calculations that can be performed automatically through the form.
  • Time tracking can be automated for staff when companies may leverage GPS capabilities integrated into forms to ensure that inspectors are at the correct job site at the right time
  • Field service reports can streamline communications between workers and their offices, ultimately minimizing miscommunications and improving service outcomes. Field service technicians can use technical service orders to automatically request specialized service types while including pertinent details such as images of problem areas, GPS coordinates of where a problem is, and much more.
  • Forms for Human Resources departments to effectively track employees’ time, ensure proper training sessions are attended, or even authorize vacation and time-off requests with ease.
  • Compliance and safety management for organizations that need to comply with OSHA requirements. These companies use forms for inspection checklists to maintain employee health and safety by ensuring that facilities are in compliance and that proper safety inspections are occurring regularly.

Mobile apps and forms can make an impact on businesses of all types and sizes. If you are looking for other types of forms to use for your business, GoCanvas has done the work for you already – we have over 20,000 mobile app forms that are pre-built for many different industries and use cases to help you get started for free.

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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What are Safety Data Sheets (SDSs)?

Posted on by Danny Kanev

What are Safety Data Sheets (SDSs)?

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What is a SDS and what is its purpose?

The term SDS refers to a Safety Data Sheet that is used by chemical companies to stay in compliance with the regulations set by OSHA in the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). Companies that manufacture, distribute, or import chemicals are required to provide Safety Data Sheets to inform workers of the hazardous materials they are handling.

The main purpose of a SDS is to provide companies with a standard template they can use for communicating critical information about their hazardous materials for the safety interests of their workers. 

SDS Information You Should Know

In 2012, OSHA updated the HCS to be aligned with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). It’s important to point out that Safety Data Sheets are part of the legislative process at OSHA, meaning that they can change over time and new amendments can be enacted by the administration. 

The changes that occurred in 2012 were enacted in part to reduce trade barriers globally for American companies and to provide consistent standards for communicating and classifying hazardous chemicals. As part of these changes, the long-used material data sheets (MSDS) also became obsolete, and companies were forced to move to the new 16-section SDS format to stay in compliance and avoid any applicable fines. 

What’s included in the current 16 section SDS format?

OSHA structures the Safety Data Sheets into 16 sections so that all companies have a standard template to keep things consistent. Each of the sections has a distinct purpose for classifying hazards and below we have included a high-level summary provided by OSHA’s website of what’s included in each section of the Safety Data Sheets.

Sections 1 through 8 

OSHA states that “Sections 1 through 8 contain general information about the chemical, identification, hazards, composition, safe handling practices, and emergency control measures (e.g., fire fighting). This information should be helpful to those that need to get the information quickly.” 

  • Section 1: Identification
  • Section 2: Hazard(s) Identification
  • Section 3: Composition/Information on Ingredients
  • Section 4: First-Aid Measures
  • Section 5: Fire-Fighting Measures
  • Section 6: Accidental Release Measures
  • Section 7: Handling and Storage
  • Section 8: Exposure Controls/Personal Protection

Sections 9 through 11 and 16

OSHA states that “Sections 9 through 11 and 16 contain other technical and scientific information, such as physical and chemical properties, stability and reactivity information, toxicological information, exposure control information, and other information including the date of preparation or last revision. The SDS must also state that no applicable information was found when the preparer does not find relevant information for any required element.”

  • Section 9: Physical and Chemical Properties
  • Section 10: Stability and Reactivity
  • Section 11: Toxicological Information
  • Section 12: Ecological Information (non-mandatory)
  • Section 13: Disposal Considerations (non-mandatory)
  • Section 14: Transport Information (non-mandatory)
  • Section 15: Regulatory Information (non-mandatory)
  • Section 16: Other Information

Why are sections 12 through 15 labeled as non-mandatory?

As we mentioned earlier in this article, the 2012 changes to the SDS format were designed to bring more consistency between the SDS format and the globally recognized GHS standards. That’s why sections 12 through 15 are now included in the template and marked as non-mandatory.

It’s important to note that OSHA “will not enforce the content of these sections because they concern matters handled by other agencies.” While these sections are not mandatory to be in compliance with OSHA standards, it makes sense to use these sections if your company works internationally and also needs to comply with the GHS.

Can a SDS be stored digitally?

As more companies invest in digital transformation initiatives, it means that companies are moving towards housing much of their critical information in secure, cloud-based platforms. When it comes to SDSs, OSHA indicates that safety data sheets can absolutely be stored as digital documents. OSHA just requires that these SDSs are easily accessible for all employees who need to understand the hazardous chemicals that are being used for their job site. 

Another best practice can be to assign a person or team to manage the SDSs and make sure that they are always accessible and up to date. Having these documents stored digitally and made available through a mobile application will help your team manage the documents and ensure that your workers know where to find the latest version of the SDS. 

In the rare case of a power outage or emergency situation, it makes sense to have a hard copy of your SDS available for workers. But otherwise in today’s digitally connected world, it’s going to make sense to have digital copies available for your SDSs that can be readily accessible in a secure mobile device on-site.

Covering SDSs in Safety Toolbox Talks

Toolbox talks are a great way to educate your workers on best practices in the workplace by sharing everything they need to know on staying compliant with regulations for jobs and projects. You can use these daily safety meetings as an opportunity to review the SDSs, covering how to find them and how to interpret the information that is provided, making sure to highlight the potential risks involved with chemicals on site. 

Your leadership team may also want to consider implementing a safety management solution to help manage compliance with OSHA and to ensure your employees have access to the latest data sheets.

By moving these processes online, it will also allow you to analyze which employees and job sites have actually completed the training programs, so you can identify and address any potential issues before they result in an accident or fines.  

Safety Data Sheet examples and templates

If you are looking for free SDSs sheets, you may be interested in the GoCanvas app store where we have built out safety data sheet examples and templates that you can use as a starting point.

Companies that deal with potentially hazardous materials are starting to implement chemical management programs and mobile applications have proven to be effective for tracking and managing these programs. 

Our safety data sheet templates can be used to contain a range of information about chemicals and materials being handled. They are meant to communicate to the reader any protective equipment needed when handling the chemicals or materials, hazard communications such as signage or pictograms, information about hazardous substances that may make up component materials or ingredients of the subject of the SDS, and how to handle spills or exposure to hazardous material.

Construction companies that move to GoCanvas have found that it helps them track and report on their safety programs in real-time, giving them a better place to manage their SDSs and helping to improve the health and safety initiatives at their workplaces.

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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Why Go Paperless and the Benefits of Doing So

Posted on by Danny Kanev

Why Go Paperless and the Benefits of Doing So

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More and more, businesses are moving from filing cabinets and arcane paper files to going paperless. What are the benefits of going paperless, and what does it mean for an office to become a paperless office? How can businesses become paperless effectively?

Ten Benefits to Going Paperless

  1. Improvements to Document Management Practices: When someone needs a document in a paper-based office, the process of tracking down that document can be a nightmare! Does an employee need to find it in a filing cabinet or archives? What happens if the filing of a document occurs incorrectly? Some businesses even maintain Document Management Specialists or Records Custodians teams to handle the retrieval and filing of documents. The workflow process for simply finding or requesting a document can create a lengthy and exhaustive process. Paperless offices can avoid these issues by having streamlined document management practices. The use of specialized document management software can free up personnel resources and incorporate version controls, digital editing, flexible search options, easy sharing of files, and more.
  2. More Efficient Use of Office Space: Commercial real estate can be expensive, and storing paper is an incredibly inefficient and wasteful use of that space. Some estimates indicate that storing paper takes up between 50% and 70% of office space. Rows of filing cabinets, office archive space, and bankers boxes full of documents take up an incredible amount of space and representing a constantly growing cost. With paperless offices, file cabinets worth of data can be easily stored either in an onsite server with a fairly minor footprint or, as is more common, in the cloud where there is absolutely no loss of localized office floor space. The limitation of storage space is also a worry of the past as both physical servers and cloud storage are easily scalable. 
  3. Availability of Digital Documents for Remote Workers: Remote working has become a given for many businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic, which quickly forced many businesses to change operations and implement work from home opportunities for employees, highlighted the potential pitfalls with reliance on paper documents. While the COVID-19 pandemic may subside soon, work from home is here to stay for many businesses, which means that paper files may not cut it when it comes to productivity. Having a paperless office can ensure that employees working remotely can operate effectively and efficiently.
  4. Availability on Mobile Devices: For many businesses, having accessible documents on the go is critically important. For example, construction companies may require to access work or change orders remotely, or field service technicians may need service reports while at a facility – the potential needs for documents on the go are endless. Paperless offices ensure that important documents, digital forms, and other key files are available on-the-go and in real-time. 
  5. Automation of Business Processes: A critical component of going paperless is capitalizing on process automation. The use of document management software or process workflow solutions allows companies to manage, route automatically, and act on information through built-in rules. 
  6. Accessible Data through Optical Character Recognition (OCR): Optical character recognition has changed how businesses can handle paper effectively. Before using OCR, paper documents that businesses digitized were not of much use other than being stored digitally – the information on them was inaccessible in a meaningful way. OCR, a technology that has been steadily improving over the past several years, has made scanned or archived files accessible through indexing and searching. Modern OCR technology even can turn handwriting into accessible and recognized characters with a reasonable degree of reliability.
  7. Cost Savings: There are multiple ways that going paperless creates cost savings – printing and copying documents is resource-intensive, requiring paper, toner, ink, staples, and more. Printers, fax machines, and copiers can be major expenses for an office requiring ongoing maintenance, repair, and replacement. Additionally, as already has been covered, the storage space for files is wasted floor space that generates no revenue for a business. Many companies can improve their bottom line by going paperless while improving business operations in a true win-win situation.
  8. Digital Files and Digital Signatures: When requiring physical signatures on documents, it may take days for copies to be mailed or sent by courier, extensive follow-up may be necessary for obtaining a signature, or signing these documents may require multiple people in a room together. This antiquated process can be time-consuming, expensive, and an inefficient use of time. With digital files, signing documents can occur through a computer or mobile device with verification processes to ensure that the signing of documents occurs securely and with identity verification practices in place. These electronic signatures, or esignatures, are easier and more secure than traditional pen-to-paper signatures. 
  9. Safety and Security of Important Documents: The safety of documents comes in different stripes, but the most notable include safety against damage or destruction, as well as securing them from unauthorized access and viewing. Paper documents are susceptible to damage from water, fire, mold, and even from pests such as rodents or insects. Furthermore, prying eyes can easily access paper documents whether or not they are authorized to; however, businesses can encrypt digital documents accessible to the appropriate individuals only.
  10. Going Green: It is becoming more and more important to businesses’ identities to be environmentally sustainable and eco-friendly. Going paperless is a great way to reduce a company’s carbon footprint while promoting sustainability. Manufacturing paper takes a toll on the environment by harvesting and treating lumber – even recycled paper negatively impacts the environment. Similarly, toner and ink used in printers and copiers can damage people and the environment. Paperless offices can significantly reduce, or even eliminate, environmental and personnel exposure to these harmful chemicals.

How to Go Paperless

So it is clear that a paperless office has benefits to business owners, employees, the environment, and the bottom line, but going paperless can seem like a challenging undertaking. The effort required to become a paperless office can vary between businesses depending on many circumstances, including the volume of existing physical paper documents, record-keeping requirements, existing filing systems, and business processes, among other factors.

Records and Archives

Suppose a business has extensive records and archives that need to be digitized. In that case, there are plenty of third-party service providers available that can quickly and cost-effectively digitize records. Modern digitization firms can scan up to tens of thousands of pages per scanner, per day. These records can run through OCR software to make them indexable and searchable through a capable document management system.

Handling Forms

Companies that currently rely on paper forms may want to explore shifting to digital forms as a part of going paperless. GoCanvas has pre-developed form templates available in its application store for deployment quickly and dynamically to fill this need for nearly any business. If the form your company needs is not available, it is not difficult to easily and quickly design that form have it ready to use. Companies can integrate these forms within their existing systems, such as financial backends, CRMs, and more. 

Document Management

The key to having an effective paperless office is a modern document management system. These software platforms enable businesses to organize, secure, capture, digitize, and tag files. Additionally, these systems incorporate process automation features to improve business workflows. Document management systems can track who has access to files, when files are accessed, changes made to files (version tracking), and more. 

Transitioning Gradually

It is not typically realistic to decide to become paperless and then immediately become paperless. Businesses that accomplish becoming paperless offices do so gradually, involving personnel in the digitization process to understand how the process works and are not overwhelmed. Small businesses may benefit from using storage solutions such as Dropbox or Google Drive at first, while eventually transitioning to more dedicated document management systems.

Be Flexible

A paperless office is not necessarily an office without any paper – it just means a business has worked to minimize paper use, focusing instead on digital documents. Offices will still have file cabinets, and employees will need to print things from time to time – it is a reality that is unlikely to change any time soon. But by being flexible in defining paperless offices, businesses can begin to benefit from digital files and paperless practices. 

Handling Existing Paper

Some businesses may have sensitive information on paper that requires specific handling during digitization. These documents can often be shredded after scanning of them has taken place. In cases with high-security requirements (such as medical records, bank statements, or tax forms), a shredder company may offer certification and verification of the secure destruction of the documents.

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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How Timesheet Apps Benefit Your Business

Posted on by Danny Kanev

How Timesheet Apps Benefit Your Business

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Timesheet apps represent the newest iteration in how businesses and contractors track their time. So what do these apps do? What makes a good timesheet app? How do these work with financial systems? What ways are different industries using these apps? Continue reading this article for answers to these questions and a high-level overview of how timesheet apps can benefit your business.

What does a timesheet app do?

Hourly employees, contractors, or other workers who are paid on an hourly basis typically use timesheets to track time worked for payroll calculations or for invoicing billable hours to a client.

Businesses and contractors can also use timesheets to gather data to ensure accurate pricing for services or products. This allows them to optimize their processes by understanding how long it takes to perform specific tasks. Other examples include freelancers or consultants that are required to submit time entries to their clients for billing purposes.

Timesheets can vary in how they look or function. Here are some common examples:

  • Punch cards or time cards use either a time clock that may physically punch a card or a digital clock-in/clock-out system that creates the timesheet.
  • Point-of-service (POS) systems are used by businesses for employees to log in and log out for timesheet purposes.
  • A physical piece of paper is a basic way for employees to write down the hours worked
  • Excel spreadsheet or .csv files are basic time tracking tools that can either be processed manually or imported into time management or payroll systems.
  • Mobile apps are a way to use smartphones or other devices for employees to complete their timesheets digitally.

As smartphones have grown in popularity, more companies are moving away from traditional forms of time cards, and they are moving toward mobile apps that are more convenient for collecting timesheet data from employees.

Using the native functionality in Android and iPhone mobile devices, employers can engage in real-time tracking of team members’ time. This can also enable their organization to automate additional functions like payroll or paying contract consultants/employees. Mobile apps also open up an opportunity to use new technologies, like the ability to use GPS locations or geofencing that can monitor and track the employee hours spent at a physical job site.

Technology is empowering businesses to become more efficient and many companies are starting to realize productivity gains by moving toward mobile apps for their time tracking.

What are the best elements of a time tracking app?

There are several timesheet apps and time tracking software platforms on the market, but not all of them are created equal. When evaluating your options, here are some of the top features you will want to have in your timesheet app:

  1. Having multiple employee types is an important feature that lets you differentiate between employee time tracking and contractor time tracking to ensure detailed and accurate billing.
  2. GPS integration and geofencing capabilities allow your business to automate the time tracking of workers at job sites.
  3. Security features that are native to iOS and Android, like facial recognition, can be used in timesheet apps to ensure the correct individual is logging time.
  4. Integrations with your core systems (like payroll or accounting platforms) can help to minimize the effort of processing payroll and paying invoices.
  5. Flexibility to track time both in real-time and through manual entry (and differentiating between those tracking methods).
  6. Accessibility on different devices is incredibly important for employees to be able to use both Apple/iOS and Android phones/tablets, as well as web browsers or desktop applications.

When selecting a timesheet app, your business should carefully determine what requirements need to be met for tracking people’s time and select a timesheet solution that is easy and secure for collecting and managing your data.

How can timesheet apps integrate with payroll and accounting systems?

Timesheet software and time tracker apps are most effective when integrated directly with payroll and accounting systems such as ADP, Quickbook, Xero, and others.

By leveraging these integrations, companies ranging from small businesses to enterprise-level clients can automate time tracking processes.

Consider an integration with your payroll and accounting system if your business needs to improve business operations and cut out manual processes. Integrations can significantly help your business save time, effort, and money, while also increasing payroll accuracy.

What are the benefits of digitizing and automating time tracking with a timesheet app?

Moving to a digital strategy for tracking time provides many benefits to a business. Here are three of the top benefits of timesheet apps for business:

1. Streamline project management

From a project management perspective, understanding the allocation of resources is critical to managing businesses’ workflows. If a worker takes more time on a task than expected, it can cause missed deadlines, cost overruns, and other problems. Understanding task timing is critical for keeping projects on time and it gives you the ability to forecast budgets and project estimates more accurately in the future. Timesheet apps will streamline your business processes and improve project management.

2. Avoid losing track of time

Employees and contractors are not always perfect and missed time happens. Timesheet apps can help your business avoid losing track of time. This can be done by automating time tracking with systems that help to ensure that all the billable hours are captured. Advanced capabilities like geofencing or the ability to retroactively validate time can help employees capture all their time worked.

3. Simplify the process for staff

Timesheet apps and digital time tracking platforms make managing multiple employee timesheets or project timesheets a breeze. The insights from having multiple employees or projects aggregated in one location can help to ensure that everyone is billing accurately. For example, if one employee in a group does not have time logged while the others do, there may be missed time. Tracking timesheets for multiple employees and projects at once also streamlines the effort required to process timesheets.

Examples of time tracking apps for business

Now that we’ve covered how you can save time and money with digital time cards, you can start to check out some of the time tracking app examples available today. GoCanvas timesheet apps are accessible right from your mobile device and help businesses to:

  • Eliminate data entry and re-entry errors, missing timesheets, and fraud with mobile time-tracking
  • Provide visibility into who’s working, who was late, and how many hours have been clocked
  • Access time cards anywhere with instant access to digital time tracking apps

With the option to get started for free, you can see how GoCanvas fits your business and consider how it can help you streamline your processes for time tracking and business operations.

Industry Use Cases of Timesheet Apps

Timesheets are used by many different industries. Below are some common examples of how different industries use timesheet apps:

Construction Services

Companies providing construction services use a combination of employees, contractors, and subcontractors on job sites. These individuals are often generating billable events by merely being at a specific job site. By using time tracking apps with geofencing capabilities, construction services can accurately track workers’ timing and hours in an automated fashion.

Construction Timesheet App Template

The Construction Timesheet mobile app helps contractors, sub contractors, trade specialists and others fill out construction timesheets to track when they start work each day, which project they are working on, their lunch break and the ending time. This employee timesheet app is designed for companies that focus on a certain type of work and don’t need to break it down by job phase or category. Additionally, this app calculates the employee’s time automatically (i.e. an in-app time clock), and has the ability to enter and track multiple employees as well.

Field Service Companies

Like construction companies, field service companies often use a combination of employees and contractors to provide services. Time tracking apps can help these workers bill for services more accurately as different types of installation, repairs, maintenance services, or even specific clients can have special pricing or service rates.

Field Service Timesheet App Template

This Field Services Timesheet App makes it easy for workers to access an employees time clock from anywhere in the field. Instead of using complicated time clock software or standard time tracking machines, this easy to use app is accessible using a smartphone or tablet. Perfect for small business owners and others who manage employee time and attendance, this easy to use time tracking app will simplify your payroll processes each month.

Transportation Companies

For businesses that provide transportation services, coupling time tracking with travel distance can help provide accurate billing. Using these apps also helps ensure that drivers who may be subject to transportation regulations and restrictions are not driving more hours per day than is legally allowed.

Transportation and Logistics Timesheet App Template

This Transportation Timesheet App is the easiest way for truck drivers, trucking services and vehicle transportation companies to track all the most important details of short haul long haul trucking jobs. With the truck driver time card app, you don’t have to worry about losing any of the important daily log details. This app covers a record of the work completed, including dates and times, load details, and road conditions. The truck driver daily log also includes a safety list to ensure that all trucking industry professionals have the right gear on board before hitting the road. 

transportation timesheet app example

Professional Services

Providers of professional services, such as lawyers, accountants, and consultants, live by the billable hour. Making time tracking as easy as possible to reference different projects or clients can significantly improve billing accuracy and maximize revenue.

Professional Services Timesheet App Example

This professional services timesheet app allows you to track every detail necessary, including company details, consultant information, hourly rate, hours worked, and authorized signatures. This consultant timesheet template documents billable hours through tracking time each day. This time tracker app is an ideal component of effective project management, where this info can be pulled for invoices and weekly timesheets.

professional services timesheet app example
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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

Check out even more resources

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Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

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Inspection Checklist Examples & Templates

Posted on by Danny Kanev

Inspection Checklist Examples & Templates

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Inspection checklists are designed to improve the inspection process by providing staff with an easy-to-use template on the best practices to follow for that inspection. You will see that many different industries use inspection checklists when performing their evaluations and assessments required for the job.

This blog article covers some of the top use cases for inspection checklists and we have included links to the corresponding template you can use to get started for free. Here are some common examples covered in this post:

  • Home inspections
  • Commercial vehicle inspections
  • Building inspections
  • Safety inspections
  • Equipment inspections
  • Operational inspections

Home Inspection Checklists

Certified home inspectors use checklists in their inspections that guide home buyers and real estate agents when making real estate decisions.

The home inspection is a critical part of the home buying process. It helps ensure that all parties in a real estate transaction are confident that a home is in good condition. It also provides existing homeowners with an opportunity to make home improvements to avoid any deal breakers.

An inspection that reveals serious problems such as termites or asbestos can trigger an inspection contingency that provides potential home buyers with the opportunity to back-out of the purchase of a home.

The inspection will typically check many areas and elements of a home, including water heaters, downspouts, crawl spaces, HVAC systems, electrical systems, radon levels, water damage, and much more.

In this example, the purpose of a checklist is to help the home inspector by providing a process to follow when performing the inspection. This helps to ensure that the inspector can identify all potential problems and doesn’t overlook something important.

Home inspection checklists sometimes also have subtypes that are designed to help with more specialized and niche evaluations.

For example, a general home inspection checklist may briefly cover roofing, HVAC systems, or electrical systems. But a roofing contractor may have a more specific inspection checklist that helps evaluate the state of the shingles on the roof. An HVAC contractor may check for items such as airflow. An electrician performing an inspection may check wire splices, light switches, and other more specific items.

There are many different types of home inspection checklists depending on the use case, and you can find all of these examples and templates available in the GoCanvas app store.

Commercial Vehicle Inspection Checklists

Another important category of inspection checklist is for the commercial vehicle business. These checklists help companies that operate semi-trucks, motorcoaches, shuttle buses, limousines, fleet vehicles, work vans, and other commercial vehicles.

Commercial vehicles come in many different forms and have specific requirements related to what inspections need to be evaluated or the frequency in which inspections need to occur.

Checklists help these vehicle operators to ensure that:

  • Maintenance occurs regularly
  • Early warning of problems occurs
  • Vehicles can operate on the road safely

These types of inspections look very different, depending on the type of vehicle. For example, a fire truck inspection checklist will include very different elements than a motorcoach checklist or limousine checklist. GoCanvas has many free examples of vehicle inspection checklists in our app store that can be used for your business as a template to get started.

Building Inspection Checklists

Inspectors of non-residential buildings or multi-family residential buildings use checklists for various purposes and at different stages of the building’s life.

Some building checklists are most effective during the construction process or immediately following the construction of the building. These ensure that vital elements of a building are working correctly, and everything has been built properly. Here are some common examples of building checklists:

  • Electrical inspections use checklists to ensure the proper installation of electrical panels or sprinkler systems’ operational ability.
  • Regular maintenance use inspections on air conditioning systems or septic systems for functional buildings.
  • Exterior inspections are performed for items such as rotted wood to ensure facades are visually appealing to visitors.
  • Safety and equipment inspections occur for things like fire safety inspections to check exit doors, exit signs, fire extinguishers, first aid kits, sprinkler heads, and other important safety elements.

You can find more examples and templates of building inspection checklists here.

Equipment Inspection Checklists

Inspection checklists are used by different kinds of businesses that operate equipment. This applies to businesses that are using heavy equipment or expensive, mission-critical equipment.

Inspection checklists promote the equipment’s long-term viability and operation, while also ensuring the safety of workers and equipment operators.

Technicians or workers use equipment inspection checklists at regular intervals (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly, or annually) to stay ahead of equipment malfunctions and failures. They help experienced maintenance personnel perform inspections and they also help less experienced technicians that don’t have specialized training and need to be prompted to check various items.

Equipment inspections can also help businesses identify when equipment may need to be replaced. Since specialized equipment can often take days or weeks to replace, it’s very helpful for businesses to know in advance so they can plan for any downtime that will occur.

For businesses that deal with expensive or sensitive equipment, these inspection checklists are critical for ensuring the longevity and reliability of equipment.

Safety Inspection Checklists

Safety inspection checklists are designed to check key elements that improve public safety and worker safety. These may sometimes overlap with commercial vehicle, building, and equipment inspection checklists.

In general, safety inspection checklists are meant to provide users with an opportunity to evaluate tools, personal protective equipment, fire extinguishers, forklifts, work areas, and other elements for potential hazards or mitigators for hazards.

There are many different types of safety inspection checklists that exist, but here are a few familiar examples:

  • Hotel pools
  • Overhead cranes
  • Facilities inspection
  • Food preparation and production

Safety inspections are powerful tools not only for promoting the safety of workers and the public, but they are also important tools for businesses to mitigate legal exposure and reduce risk. These checklists can highlight warning signs for businesses, prompting the installation of safety features such as guardrails or handrails, generating a need for evacuation plans, or helping to identify other corrective actions.

Operational Inspection Checklists

For some businesses, there are operational considerations that warrant regular inspections and checklists. Here are some common examples of operational checklists:

  • Hotels and housekeepers use inspections to ensure rooms are properly cleaned and set up for guests.
  • Supervisors for building janitorial workers use inspection checklists to ensure that cleaning items have all been conducted.
  • Swimming pools and spas use inspection checklists to ensure that various maintenance procedures occur regularly.

There are countless examples of how businesses might use an inspection checklist to serve their needs. GoCanvas is a great option for creating your checklists. The platform is highly customizable for all types of businesses and the ability to create mobile forms will eliminate paperwork and streamline your operations.

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GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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How Work Order Apps Streamline Operations

Posted on by Danny Kanev

How Work Order Apps Streamline Operations

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Work order management is the process of ensuring that a work order process is in place for organizations. This entire process begins with work requests and ends with either a denial or approval and the subsequent work that happens.

The workflows surrounding work orders leave many opportunities for errors and inefficiencies. But with the use of fire work order apps, organizations can easily streamline the work order process to improve maintenance teams’ performance and improve overall workflows for their business.

This article will highlight some of the top challenges with work orders using paper-based forms and we will explain some of the top reasons why companies are switching to mobile apps instead.

Problems with traditional work orders

The standard work order has typically been a paper-based form, but there are several pitfalls and problems that can arise with paper-based work. Here are some of the problems that exist when using paper-based work orders:

  • Lost work orders: Losing work orders can become a real problem when you are dealing with paperwork orders. It’s common for papers to get lost, they can also be misfiled by accident, or they can sometimes even be thrown away inadvertently. These potential problems can lead to the need for multiple copies or submissions of work orders, ultimately delaying maintenance tasks and impacting metrics that matter to organizations focused on responsiveness and efficiency.
  • Illegible handwriting: Illegible handwriting can be a significant problem with all sorts of paper forms. This can happen if workers are at a job site and they happen to be holding a tool bag while trying to write up a work order or if the worker is in a hurry to get to their next appointment. No matter the excuse for the messy handwriting, this seemingly minor issue can lead to real problems. For example, if a field technician is filling a work order, messy handwriting could lead to misunderstanding the intent, overlooking important details, or struggling to find the correct location.
  • Calculation errors: For work orders with integrated pricing and parts costs, field service technicians or maintenance workers may need to calculate costs for supplies quickly. Not everyone will have the time to check their math and paper work orders that require manual calculations can create cost overruns for companies or cause the ordering of the wrong quantity of supplies.
  • Misinterpretation of information: Intent can sometimes be difficult to convey clearly. If a work order requires information in a narrative or long-text form, then misinterpretations can easily occur. Likewise, paper-based work orders do not allow users to attach annotated photos without physically printing images, which hinders the real-time fulfillment of a work order. 
  • Increase in downtime: Paper forms require users to either scan them in and email them or physically deliver them. In the work order management process, this can be a significant hindrance to efficiency. 
  • Inability to automate: Businesses cannot integrate paper forms into software applications without additional steps, which makes incorporating automation into the work order process difficult. Without automation, the submission of work orders cannot kick off specific steps such as scheduling maintenance follow-ups, invoicing parties that may be required to pay for work performed, or changing maintenance schedules as a result of escalated maintenance work.

Benefits of using work order apps

For mobile apps used to generate work orders, there are many benefits that maintenance teams and workers can realize. Here are some of the top benefits of using work order apps:

  • Expanded functionality: A mobile app that works on iOS or Android platforms can create robust and detailed mobile work orders, by utilizing the native functionality of the phone, such as its camera, GPS, accelerometer, and touch screen. This functionality also allows users to include photos of areas that require maintenance or work and users can even annotate specific regions on an image to show exactly where work is needed. GPS also allows for location-based service requests to be issued and provides evidence that a service request has been fulfilled. Additionally, software on mobile devices that allow for push notifications means that service personnel can immediately see work orders in real-time.
  • Improved workflows: Efficiencies in work order management or field service management can create significant cost savings for organizations. Through the use of work order apps, users can submit work orders through the mobile device, which then triggers a series of automated events, resulting in the dispatching of a maintenance team without any human intervention. 
  • Standardized work orders: Apps used to submit work orders can utilize standardized templates so that work orders are consistent. This consistency reduces the likelihood of errors such as missing a critical field.
  • Ease of use: Mobile devices are relatively ubiquitous, and most people are comfortable with using them. Facility managers or maintenance departments can customize a mobile work order app to be incredibly user-friendly and intuitive. Ultimately, this ease of use improves the completion rate of work, while also making the entire workflow surrounding a service request much more efficient.
  • Improved asset management: Organizations with assets requiring regular maintenance can use work order apps in conjunction with work order management software. This combination allows users to schedule preventive maintenance automatically, maintain upkeep of equipment, and generate warnings if maintenance requests to mission-critical equipment or assets are submitted.

How work order management impacts different industries

Many industries can benefit from improving work order management by using apps for submitting maintenance work orders. Some examples include:

  • HVAC companies can use work order apps to escalate problems or broken systems so that technicians can more rapidly complete work on HVAC systems, which can be a matter of public safety in very hot or cold climates.
  • Small businesses can benefit from efficiencies usually reserved for larger companies through a robust and scalable work order management system coupled with work order apps.
  • Property management companies can ensure that the proper scheduling of preventative maintenance occurs and that tenants receive status updates related to the work performed.

Ultimately, the benefits of using a work order app and management software can be significant and highly beneficial for organizations that need to streamline their operations and reduce their reliance on paper-based forms for collecting data.

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About GoCanvas

GoCanvas® is on a mission to simplify inspections and maximize compliance. Our intuitive platform takes care of the administrative tasks, freeing our customers to focus on what truly matters – safeguarding their people, protecting their equipment, and delivering exceptional quality to their customers. 

Since 2008, thousands of companies have chosen GoCanvas as their go-to partner for seamless field operations.

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