Ultimate Checklist for Effective Toolbox Talks

Ultimate Checklist for Effective Toolbox Talks

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Just five to 10 minutes a day can make a significant difference in your construction or manufacturing company’s safety record. Holding regular toolbox talks — short, informal discussions that focus on one specific safety issue — can result in proven safety and cost benefits, including lower insurance rates, reduced turnover, and less damaged equipment. However, to make these talks successful, you must prepare, deliver, and document them the right way. Make sure you’re equipped to host effective safety briefings by following this checklist.

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

business people discussing project

Gown Your Business with GoCanvas Partner Program

Join our Partner Program and gain instant access to our global network of thought leaders and industry experts enjoying shared collaboration and collective success.

Forte Supply Chain Solutions Partner Video

Partner Snapshot: Forte Supply Chain Solutions

Explore how Forte Supply Chain Solutions partnered with GoCanvas, combining in-house industry expertise with our white-label mobile forms to revolutionize their processes.

Closeup of a handshake.

GoCanvas Integrations: Streamline your Workflow

Integrate with over 1,000 software applications. Enhance your GoCanvas experience by syncing real-time data to one or all of your business tools.

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

Breaking Down OSHA’s Top 10 Most Cited Violations of 2017

Breaking Down OSHA’s Top 10 Most Cited Violations of 2017

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2017: OSHA Safety in Review

Where did all the time go? It seems like just yesterday we were posting the results of OSHA’s 2016 data findings, but here we are again.

The reason why it feels like déjà vu is likely because the top 5 most cited violations of 2017 are the same as those from 2016.  Fall Protection – General Requirments, Hazard Communication, Scaffolding, Respiratory Protection, and Lockout/Tagout all come in at the top of the list for the 2nd consecutive year. All combined, the top 5 most cited categories through September of 2017 have accounted for approximately 21,748 violations.

The bottom 5 categories consist of Ladders, Powered Industrial Trucks, Machine Guarding, Fall Protection – Training Requirements, and Electrical Wiring Methods. In total, these have accounted for 10,279 violations, which combined equals 32,027 total violations reported in 2017 thus far.

This amount of violations seems like a lot (which it is), but the good news is that it’s a dramatic decrease from 2016. Last year 36,531 violations were reported in total, which accounts for an overall decrease of 12%! This decrease can be attributed to many things, but overall it shows that companies are finally starting to become serious about the safety of their employees and investing in the right methods/technologies to protect them.

But all the news isn’t positive.

Within the OSHA top 10 violation list, there was one new addition from 2016 to 2017, Fall Protection – Training Requirements. This type of violation revolves around the lack of proper safety training programs in high risk and dangerous environments. This is a common issue in today’s building construction environment as the pressure to complete projects faster increases and proper safety procedures get put by the wayside. Patrick Kapust, deputy director of OSHA’s Directorate of Enforcement Programs, puts it into perspective by telling Safety+Health Magazine that “Many of these violations were specifically related to training requirements and ensuring that a training program for each employee who may be exposed to fall hazards is established. Often, these violations occurred in the roofing, framing and residential modeling industries.

While progress is being made, there is still much work left to do. If you’re looking to become smarter about the way you collect, report, and track safety information on your project sites, GoCanavs can help! Our Application Store has over 100 different OSHA specific mobile form templates available to download and use in seconds. Toolbox Talks, JSAs, Accident Reports, and much more can be customized to fit your exact business needs.

Click here to request a quick demo!

Top 10 OSHA Violations of 2017

OSHA Infographic

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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Smarter, Faster, Safer: Improving Safety Compliance with Mobile Technology

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We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

3 Easy Ways to Create the Perfect Mobile Punch List

3 Easy Ways to Create the Perfect Mobile Punch List

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Paper forms are used today as a quick way to collect information on a project site but don’t give much flexibility in the types of information that can be collected.

A Construction Punch List is often meant to be a run through of outstanding items to be completed on a project, but these forms can be found in different formats depending on the size and scope of the particular project.

The issue with paper Punch Lists is that they offer ZERO flexibility in the way they are filled out and completed. You’re restricted to staying between the lines on the piece of paper and aren’t able to deviate or add anything outside of that paper rectangle. This runs in complete conflict with the Construction industry where data is constantly changing and personnel is in need of real-time information. This is why mobile forms, especially mobile Punch Lists, make sense.

Creating the perfect mobile form or app is about incorporating the right features that fit your data collection goals.

When filling out a Punch List the primary goal is to inspect a list of outstanding construction items, update their current status and add current or estimated completion dates. But for companies looking to dive even deeper into their data, solutions like GoCanvas allow them to enhance their Punch Lists with three important features.

Check out the three features below that you can incorporate into your GoCanvas mobile Punch Lists to increase your data quality and efficiency!

Attach Site Photos with Image Capture – Punch Lists are useful for the person who is physically filling them out onsite, but what about the employees in the back-office? The ability to collect and attach site photos allow Punch Lists to become instantly more valuable and give supervisors real-time insight into the progress of project sites. The annotation feature of GoCanvas also allows users who capture photos to highlight and draw on top of the images that they capture with their mobile device. This makes it possible for them to point out aspects of each line item and ensure that nothing is mistakenly forgotten during the follow-up tasks.

Editing Images on GoCanvas

We suggest using the Image Capture feature along with Conditional Logic. This allows you to have an Image Capture field show up only if a particular value is selected. For example, if a line item in the Punch List is marked “Finished”, an Image Capture field would then appear for the user to snap a photo of the completed item for verification. This is an easy way of ensuring you collect the data you need without making the form dramatically longer or more complicated to complete.

Auto-populating Items with Reference Data –  One of the most time-consuming parts of filling out a paper Punch List is having to manually write in each item you are reviewing. Not only are you trying to rush to inspect each item in a timely fashion, but you’re also attempting to be thorough in your inspection as well. Usually, this type of pace leads to horrible handwriting and less than thorough note-taking.

Punchlist on GoCanvas

With GoCanvas and the Reference Data functionality, you can pre-load into your Punch List rows of items that are in need of review. It’s simple as creating an Excel spreadsheet, uploading that into your GoCanvas account, and connecting it to your mobile Punch List form. Now you’ll have every item you need to inspect right in front of you and can even add items on the spot if need be. Each item you load with Reference Data can also be loaded with corresponding “Due Dates”, so that when the user is filling out the Punch List app they will know if the item they are inspecting in on track or past due for completion.  This auto-filling of data in the mobile form will easily save you 10 – 20 minutes per report completed.

Automating Reviews & Approvals with Workflow – The biggest complaint with using paper, across the board, is the time it takes to receive the reports from the field. This delay often makes the data out-dated by the time it finally reaches the back office for analysis. With Punch Lists, in particular, it’s important that the data be collected and REVIEWED in a timely manner so that real-time decisions can be made to keep the project on track.

Workflow on GoCanvas

The Workflow feature of GoCanvas is perfect for Punch Lists because it allows for the user filling out the report to instantly send the data to his or her supervisor’s device for immediate review. The supervisor can review all of the data and photos that the employee captured previously with GoCanvas and then even add notes to the report before submitting the record to the cloud for final review. If the supervisor were to find something that didn’t look right, he or she would have the ability to reject the Punch List and send it back to the original submitter with the reason why it was rejected. The great thing is that this Workflow process can be customized to fit your organization’s process. So if you want the Punch List to not go to a supervisor but instead go to a general contractor who will review and complete any outstanding items, you can!

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

Three inspection workers on job site.

The Ultimate Guide to Quality Control Inspections

Managing a construction project is a complex and stressful process. Among other things, you have to coordinate project team members, materials, and equipment and ensure that contractors are not afflicted by the potential risks and hazards present at the construction site. That said, quality means different things to different people which is why you should…

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Constructions Digital Transformation

Your competition is finding faster ways to capture data and get critical insights from the field into their existing systems. In short, they’re not going bigger, they’re getting smarter. In this 15-minute broadcast on the construction industry’s digital transformation, find out why the trend is to modernize workflows – and how you can stay ahead of the curve…

A electrician inspecting equipment.

See how VIP Lighting optimized efficiency with GoCanvas

VIP Lighting is a retail lighting and electrical maintenance business that services over 10,000 retail locations all over Australia and New Zealand. Before GoCanvas, VIP Lighting had two separate systems that were impossible to integrate, leading to inefficiencies. GoCanvas made it easy to integrate their systems into single, centralized platform…

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

5 Mobile Forms Every QA/QC Inspector Should Be Using

5 Mobile Forms Every QA/QC Inspector Should Be Using

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The act of performing inspections is almost always a tedious task, especially when paper forms are involved.

For Quality Assurance and Quality Control inspectors in various industries, but especially in construction, the process of completing their project reports can be a daunting task. This multi-form, multi-step process can quickly become disorganized and unmanageable if the proper processes are not in place. The negative effects of not properly completing these reports include delays in project development and major decreases in worker productivity.

So how can these issues be avoided? By using a single platform for the collection, sharing, and reporting of all QA/QC forms. This is what GoCanvas provides.

A typical QA/QC engineer or inspector will typically have to carry and fill out 5 to 10 different types of paper forms for a typical project. This doesn’t include all the additional documents like drawings and photos that the inspector will need to print out and attach separately. Add this to the pain of having to carry around these paper reports and transporting them all the way back to the office for reporting, this can add up to 100’s of hours being wasted every month due to paperwork inefficiencies.

With a platform like GoCanvas, these inefficiencies are entirely eliminated. All the forms an inspector needs can be found directly on their mobile device, and are accessible whether offline or online. These mobile forms can be customized to include easy to use drop-down menus and check boxes, as well as more specialized fields like GPS, Image Capture, Sketching, Time Stamps, Signature Capture, and more! You can also easily organize your forms on your mobile device into convenient folders for easy retrieval based on project and/or location.

But the best part is that as soon a report is completed, the data is synced to the cloud and available for the office staff to begin reviewing in real-time. This can instantly save hours that were previously lost to manual data re-entry and lost paperwork.

Now it’s time to see which mobile forms could begin saving your business hundreds of hours in lost efficiency!

GoCanvas doesn’t just give you a code-free form builder to create and customize your very own mobile forms and documents, but it also provides you with over 20,000 pre-built mobile form templates to choose from and download in seconds.

Below are 5 mobile form templates that every Quality Assurance/Quality Control inspector and engineer should download and customize to fit their particular needs. Click on any of the templates below to get started!

RFI mobile form
Material Order Form Mobile App
Engineer inspection request mobile form
Daily construction project report mobile form
Subcontractor agreement

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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Smarter, Faster, Safer: Improving Safety Compliance with Mobile Technology

Compliance, there are many ways we talk about it. A necessary evil, a chore, a struggle, or a critically important part of business. We all know how crucial it is, helping save…

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We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

Keeping Hotel Labor Costs in Check:  How Mobile Inspection Apps Can Help

Keeping Hotel Labor Costs in Check:  How Mobile Inspection Apps Can Help

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When guests visit a hotel, they expect a clean room, of course, but beyond that, they expect service. They assume a concierge will greet them at the front desk, a cleaning crew will tidy their room each day, and a whole host of staff members will be on call to meet their every need.

Service is an essential part of the hotel experience — so essential, in fact, that labor is one of the largest costs for hotels, accounting for 45 percent of total expenses.

And it will likely only get more expensive. As the unemployment rate in the U.S. drops, hotels must increasingly compete for talent by offering higher pay. And in some states, such as California and Washington, there’s been pressure to increase the minimum wage and pay hotel staff more.
To keep guests happy, hotels can’t skimp on service. They must continue to hire quality staff who can meet the needs of customers. But they also can’t succeed if profit margins get too thin. So as labor costs rise, hotels need to figure out how to increase staff efficiency to stay profitable and keep guests happy.

Here are a few ways hotels can improve employee efficiency:

To keep labor costs low, your cleaning staff must be efficient; the more rooms your employees can clean in less time, the higher your profit margins. At the same time, you can’t sacrifice quality for the sake of efficiency. If your cleaning staff rushes through the cleaning process and misses important tasks, your guests will probably notice — and those issues will likely end up in a negative online review that could hurt your business.

Mobile inspection apps can help speed up the cleaning process while keeping quality high. For example, staff members can document each room they clean with photos within the app rather than by writing lengthy explanations. And by using an app, the information for each room is immediately available to supervisors, eliminating the need to collect papers and return to the back office. Plus, staff members can quickly reference a checklist for the tasks they need to complete, so they don’t miss any critical steps in the cleaning process.

Maintenance costs can get out of hand if you have to keep addressing the same issues over and over again. Maybe the same toilet overflows every couple of days so you have to send an employee to fix it. Or maybe your staff has a habit of forgetting to empty the trash under the bathroom sinks, which means a team member has to routinely double back empty it, slowing down the cleaning process (and inviting guest complaints).

Having an efficient way to spot and track patterns is key to managing labor costs. If your staff is documenting tasks and inspections on paper (or not at all), it’s impossible to get a big picture of where recurring problems appear or which employees seem to be involved in high numbers of them. Mobile inspection apps allow you to identify areas of weakness, address challenges proactively, and be more efficient overall. You also get real-time access to your data, and the ability to easily create summaries that can show trends for future planning.

When you have new employees at your hotel, you probably require them to shadow a more senior staff member for a few weeks until they’re capable of performing their responsibilities without supervision. While that can make for effective training, it can also significantly slow down your cleaning teams until the new employees are up to speed. And when you consider the high turnover rate in the hospitality industry — 72.9 percent in 2016 — that less-than-efficient training time can add up.

Finding ways to train your new employees faster is key to keeping your labor costs down. For example, you can use mobile inspection apps to give your employees easy-to-follow checklists that are accessible on their own mobile devices. Employees are quick to train, more compliant, and have an easier time completing necessary forms using mobile inspection apps since they can choose from drop-down menus and common fields can be pre-populated.

Maximizing your team’s efficiency can help keep your labor costs low — but that’s only part of running a successful hotel. Get more tips for keeping your rooms full and guests satisfied in our interactive eBook, “Fresh and Clean: How Mobile Inspections Save Hospitality Industry Reputations.”

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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Improving Your Operations with Field Service Management Software

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Should You Connect Field Service Management Software with QuickBooks?

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Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

Hotel vs. Airbnb: How Hotels Can Come Out on Top

Hotel vs. Airbnb: How Hotels Can Come Out on Top

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In the battle of hotels vs. Airbnb, hotels can gain a competitive advantage by using mobile inspection apps to deliver 3 benefits that rentals often lack.

For some travelers, Airbnb and other short-term rentals provide benefits that hotels can’t always offer — like lower rates, eclectic accommodations, and amenities like full kitchens and living rooms.

When you look at the data, Airbnb rentals seem to be steadily gaining ground. Airbnb revenue increased 89 percent in July 2016 compared to the same month in 2015, while hotels only saw an average of 19 percent growth in the same timeframe. And this “sharing economy” model seems to especially appeal to the millennial generation, with almost half of Airbnb patrons between the ages of 18 and 34, while only 28 percent of guests who booked through Marriott.com fell in that category.

With more and more guests booking rental properties, what can hotels do to come out ahead of Airbnb? The key is successfully delivering some of the benefits that Airbnb rentals often lack — including service, consistency, and safety. Here’s how.

When travelers arrive at a hotel, they know they can expect a certain level of service: Someone will be at the front desk to check them in and hand them a room key. If they forgot their toothbrush, want more pillows, or start craving a cheeseburger, all they have to do is pick up the phone, and the hotel staff will bring them whatever they need. And travelers can be sure that every day, housekeeping will stop by and leave the room — and bathroom — sparkling clean.

Individual rental properties can’t guarantee any standard level of service — and it tends to vary widely depending on the host. Guests can message or call their host, but they’re not guaranteed a response — or that the response will helpful, let alone friendly. If they find the sheets missing (or dirty!), there is no guarantee that anyone will come to their aid at 11 p.m. While there are many positive reviews about Airbnb stays, there are plenty of stories online about uncommunicative or completely unavailable hosts.

Hotels have the opportunity to come out ahead of rental properties by offering friendly, consistent service that puts guests first. By using mobile inspection apps, hotel management can collect real-time data about maintenance and guest issues — which means you can address those concerns immediately, rather than keeping guests waiting. And that kind of service can make your hotel stand out from less service-oriented accommodations.

In general, guests know what to expect when they walk into a hotel room. They know there will be someone at reception, a clean bathroom stocked with travel-size toiletries, a neatly made bed, TV, phone, closet with hangers, and maybe a couple of extras — like a microwave or mini fridge.

Airbnb rentals are anything but consistent. Sure, some offer extras like toiletries or an in-room coffee maker. But sometimes they don’t — or sometimes, it’s unclear. Since Airbnb hosts often rent out their own homes, they may have half-empty toiletries and no hand soap in the bathrooms, or food in the fridge that may or may not be meant for guests’ use.

And cleanliness isn’t guaranteed. Even if a home rental site offers pictures of properties, the images may be deceiving. One guest reported booking an apartment that looked clean and bright in the photos — only to arrive to space that was cluttered, dark, stuffy, and had a distinct aroma of mildew.

Hotels that prioritize consistency offer guests peace of mind — so they know exactly what to expect when they walk into the room. Mobile inspection apps provide staff with easy-to-follow checklists that can be used in every room, every day to help keep your facilities consistently clean and guest satisfaction high. And with the data you collect, you can understand where the recurring problem areas are and decide how to address them.

Every Airbnb is different — which can be appealing to some travelers. But the lack of safety standards has led to traumatic guest experiences. For example, one traveler recalls discovering an infestation of bed bugs in his Airbnb. He eventually rebooked his stay at a nearby hotel, but first had to seek medical attention and sanitize all his clothes and personal belongings. Another traveler discovered the condo he booked through Airbnb was one of only a handful of units that were still occupied — the rest of the complex was completely abandoned and overgrown with weeds.

Hotels have much more control over these situations and, with regular inspections, can help ensure guest safety. Mobile inspection apps make it easier for hotel staff to inspect rooms for hazards including bed bugs, damaged furniture, burned-out light bulbs, etc., and can guide staff members through checklists to ensure the rooms are all free from dangers that could put guests at risk.

For any travel accommodations, guest perceptions are key. One bad online review can significantly impact future business. Learn more about using mobile inspection apps to keep your guests coming back in our eBook, “Fresh and Clean: How Mobile Inspections Save Hospitality Industry Reputations.”

Free Mobile Form Templates - Room Inspections

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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Improving Your Operations with Field Service Management Software

Whether you have two or 200 employees, your business’ success depends on their hard work. Passionate, motivated team players are the difference between…

Two people in hard hats looking off camera.

Should You Connect Field Service Management Software with QuickBooks?

Field service management software has shown to increase productivity both for employees in the field and operations teams in the office. You may be wondering how field service…

Person in safety vest smiling.

How the Best Field Services Businesses Use Mobile Apps

Mobility and field service: the talk has been happening forever. The idea that real-time information improves customer service and boosts technician productivity is changing…

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

3 Easy Steps to Create & Deploy Mobile Toolbox Talks

3 Easy Steps to Create & Deploy Mobile Toolbox Talks

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Workers using mobile forms

Over the course of a labor intensive 8 to 12-hour shift on a construction jobsite site, safety procedures commonly go by the wayside. The reason for this lapse in safe judgment is more times than none caused by the lack of proper routine safety training. Luckily this is an issue that can be easily solved and is why more safety supervisors across many different industries require Toolbox Talks to be conducted on every job site.

Toolbox Talks are an amazing way for safety managers to re-engage with field workers who may not always be performing their daily duties in the safest possible manner. Toolbox Talks are an easy way to get everyone together on the project site to discuss a relevant job topic like ladder or harness safety, answer any questions they may have about the particular subject or task, and also have each employee sign-off/acknowledge that they were present for the meeting. This documentation process is not only important for possible liability in the case of a worker injury, but it also gives you a clear record of when and where these critical safety sessions are being conducted.

Today, many companies conduct Toolbox Talks very informally with a packet of paper and a pen. The issue is that it’s really easy to forget, misplace, or damage this important packet of paperwork since it’s being transported constantly between multiple job sites and the main office.

These issues often lead to inconsistencies in proper safety procedures and documentation. Paper-based Toolbox Talks are extremely hard to verify for completion on a daily basis unless you are physically there to witness the collection of signatures. With mobile Toolbox Talks, you’re able to instantly eliminate the need for manual data verification, transportation, and reporting.

Conducting Toolbox Talks with a platform like GoCanvas allows you to conveniently store all your daily, weekly, and monthly OHSA related safety curriculum right on your smart device. This means that no matter where you are, you have the power to conduct a thorough safety lesson to your field employees. You can also conveniently collect signatures of your crew members in attendance, along with digital time, date, and location stamps for further data validation. This makes not only collecting the information a breeze, but back-office reporting is now made effortless since all the data is now automatically stored in the cloud for real-time analysis and/or data export.

Canvas Mobile Toolbox Talks
Canvas Mobile Toolbox Talks
Canvas Mobile Toolbox Talks
Canvas Mobile Toolbox Talks

Transitioning your process from paper to a mobile platform like GoCanvas is not as difficult as it seems. All it truly takes is a spreadsheet, a laptop, and a smart device!

The first step is to organize the weekly or monthly content of your Toolbox Talks into a .CSV file (Excel).  Your spreadsheet can be as simple as two columns named “Topic” and “Description”. This file will be used as Reference Data and connected to your GoCanvas account and mobile form. This file should contain the content that you wish to populate within your mobile Toolbox Talks form. You can source Toolbox Talks content from a variety of sources as well, including www.oshatraining.com that contains content for every month of the year!

The second step, after you have created and uploaded the Reference Data file, is to begin the creation of your own Toolbox Talks mobile form. The creation of this mobile form can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be by customizing it with the GoCanvas App Builder. We suggest including Signature, Time, Date, and GPS fields to assist with data reporting. But if you’d prefer to not create a mobile Toolbox Talks form from scratch, download pre-built templates from our template library and customize the fields to fit your company’s needs!

Once you’re finally happy with the layout of your mobile form, the final step is to make sure you connect your Reference Data file to it. This will ensure that the specific safety topic that you select to discuss with your crew populates within the mobile form automatically. And if you need any assistance in connecting your Reference Data file to your mobile form.

Now you are well on your way to a safer work site with GoCanvas!

Mobile Form Templates

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

Three inspection workers on job site.

The Ultimate Guide to Quality Control Inspections

Managing a construction project is a complex and stressful process. Among other things, you have to coordinate project team members, materials, and equipment and ensure that contractors are not afflicted by the potential risks and hazards present at the construction site. That said, quality means different things to different people which is why you should…

A man using GoCanvas for the digital transformation of his workflow.

Constructions Digital Transformation

Your competition is finding faster ways to capture data and get critical insights from the field into their existing systems. In short, they’re not going bigger, they’re getting smarter. In this 15-minute broadcast on the construction industry’s digital transformation, find out why the trend is to modernize workflows – and how you can stay ahead of the curve…

A electrician inspecting equipment.

See how VIP Lighting optimized efficiency with GoCanvas

VIP Lighting is a retail lighting and electrical maintenance business that services over 10,000 retail locations all over Australia and New Zealand. Before GoCanvas, VIP Lighting had two separate systems that were impossible to integrate, leading to inefficiencies. GoCanvas made it easy to integrate their systems into single, centralized platform…

Connect with an Expert Today.

We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

Boost Truck Fleet Efficiency and Profitability – 5 Ways Mobile Apps Can Help

Boost Truck Fleet Efficiency and Profitability – 5 Ways Mobile Apps Can Help

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Mobile apps are designed to make everyday tasks more efficient. You can document and file car insurance claims directly from your phone in real-time, right at the scene of the accident. With a mobile boarding pass, you can bypass the ticketing counter at the airport and go straight to your gate. You can bank with an app, book hotels with an app, and order pizza with an app.

Now, motor carriers — and any businesses that employ trucks and drivers — can experience those efficiency gains regarding inspection reports. With mobile inspection apps, carriers and drivers can trade in the burden of paper forms for the ease of mobile forms and cloud-based data through their mobile devices. But those apps don’t only increase efficiency — they also drive additional revenue. Here’s how.

When drivers and carriers enter information in mobile apps, that data is stored in the cloud. With reduced paper files, carriers can eliminate much of their physical storage including file cabinets and shelves. That means more space in the office, less clutter to work around, and an easier time accessing the information you need the minute you need it within your mobile application — especially if you’re pulled over for an inspection.

Cloud-based data storage can automate workflow and give owners and managers instant access to inspection documents, including work orders, inspection checklists, and audits and maintenance reports as soon as drivers complete them — regardless of where the driver is — providing accurate, up-to-date knowledge on all equipment.

In the short term, the benefits of those changes may seem marginal — but if you aim to grow your business, mobile technology, and a digital documentation system can help you scale efficiently and stay profitable as you expand.

We recommend creating invoices through our mobile app for Trucking Invoices for an easy way to keep track of your financials.

Drivers already work up to 70 hours in an eight-day period. For carriers to be the most profitable, however, that time must be spent driving, not fulfilling peripheral duties like completing or filing paperwork. A mobile app on a smartphone or tablet can save time and increase convenience for both the carrier and the driver.

With paper forms, drivers must fill out duplicate information every time — like vehicle make, model, year, and DOT registration number. Mobile forms, however, may be pre-populated with this kind of information, saving the driver the headache of having to fill in that information time after time and reducing the chance that they’ll get sloppy and skip portions of the forms completely. Mobile forms can also require users to fill out one field before they are able to move to the next.

The time savings can equate to additional driving time (and revenue), and completing paperwork is a win for everyone when it comes to roadside inspections, traffic stops, and especially if your truck is involved in an accident.

Even though large trucks represent only 2 percent of drivers, they’re involved in 11 percent of road fatalities. Driver error accounts for 87 percent of those accidents, and vehicle issues, such as brake problems, account for 10 percent.

If one of your trucks was involved in an accident tomorrow, would you have accurate, up-to-date information readily available to prove that your vehicles have been inspected, have received regular maintenance, and that your drivers meet all training and certification requirements?

This kind of information can be vital at the site of a crash and may be able to help exonerate your company of any alleged wrongdoing in the event of a liability suit or lawsuit.

The law requires truck fleet owners to keep records of hazardous material carriage, vehicle inspections, driver records, health management, and more. The penalties for failing to do so can be steep — ranging from fines to termination as a business entity.

Companies that don’t keep maintain the required documentation pay out millions of dollars each year. Recordkeeping violations, for example, can carry a fine of up to $1,100 per day while the violation continues, up to $11,000. Hazmat fines can stack up to $75,000 per violation.

If drivers receive a serious violation during a roadside inspection, their trucks can be placed out of service (OOS) — taking them completely off the road until the violation is remedied. And that can be an expensive delay, considering you’re losing revenue for every hour the truck is sidelined.

You also have to consider the broader impact on your business. The public can see carriers’ violations and fines on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (EFMCSA) website and too many penalties against your company could cause your customers to take their business elsewhere. Using a mobile app to keep updated, accurate, and accessible records can help you avoid those penalties and keep your business profitable.

Drivers are expected to carry and manage a long list of documents — including a driver’s license, medical examiner’s certificate, a driver’s record of duty status, documentation of an annual inspection, hazardous materials paperwork, and permit credentials.

Rather than maintaining these documents on paper, a mobile app can streamline the process, helping drivers and carriers become more efficient. On a grander scale, that can help your company become more competitive and continue to attract drivers that will stay compliant and drive profitability.

Paper forms aren’t just inconvenient. Relying on paper forms can open your truck fleet up to fines, lawsuits, and downtime. Learn more about how mobile inspection apps can benefit your business in the interactive eBook, “4 Ways Mobile Inspection Forms Can Keep Your Trucks on the Road.”Then get started by trying out GoCanvas free (no credit card or contract required). We’ll help you create your first app, whether it’s for regular inspections, maintenance logs, or managing documentation.

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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TE3CO provides mission-critical pressure relief technology and services to customers across the oil and gas industry. They employ a highly trained and capable workforce of field technicians and engineers. Before working with GoCanvas, TE3CO relied on spreadsheets and emails to manage their ticketing process but found the system time-consuming and difficult to track.

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Three HVAC Maintenance Checklists that will Reduce Errors and Grow Your Bottom Line

For HVAC technicians, so many errors within their daily tasks come from using outdated paper forms while completing a job. Using these HVAC inspection checklists will prevent issues before they happen, so your technicians can collect comprehensive and consistent data at every job.

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We’ll help you put together the right solution for your needs.

Passing Roadside Inspections: 3 Tips for Success

Passing Roadside Inspections: 3 Tips for Success

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A large truck is involved in a fatal accident approximately every 2.5 hours. To keep your trucks and drivers out of those accidents and on the road, it’s vital that you comply with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program, which is designed to help prevent commercial motor vehicle crashes, injuries, and fatalities.

The core element of CSA — the Safety Measurement System (SMS) — uses information from roadside inspections to measure a carrier’s safety performance. The higher the ranking, the more likely your business will be targeted for an intervention, which could range from a warning letter to an on-site investigation. And if that investigation finds that you’re not meeting safety regulations, your trucks could be taken off the road completely.

How can you make sure your trucks remain on the road and generating revenue? Part of keeping your company’s ranking as low as possible is making sure that all your vehicles pass roadside inspections with flying colors. Here’s how:


Use mobile apps to check, double check, and document all the basics like lights, mirrors, horns and more. Keep in mind that passing inspection is specific to the category of what is being transported. Instruct your drivers to pay special attention to their vehicle’s brakes, tires, and cargo security (as these are some of the leading causes of large truck crashes).

Crumpled and incomplete documents that a driver digs out of a messy glove compartment don’t leave a good impression on an inspector. A mobile inspection form gives your drivers access to inspection documents at their fingertips. If an inspector knows the paperwork is organized, he or she will have a better initial impression of your truck overall.

This may seem like common sense, but it’s not always common. The more cooperation the officer receives, the smoother things go. An officer doesn’t have to go through with a full inspection just because he or she pulls a driver over, but does have the right to cite the driver, the company, or both, so attitude pays. 

By making it easier for your drivers to pass roadside inspections, you’ll help them get back on the road faster — so you can continue generating revenue.

Want to learn more about meeting safety regulations, passing inspections, and keeping your fleet on the road? Download our new interactive eBook, “4 Ways Mobile Inspection Forms Can Keep Your Trucks on the Road.”

What’s in the interactive eBook?

  • What you need to know about CSA’s ranking systems
  • Tips for how to pass roadside inspections
  • Facts about the true cost of non-compliance
  • Types of CSA interventions and what triggers them 
  • Quizzes and facts on roadside inspections, safety rankings, and CSA interventions

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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3 Ways to Automate Data Approvals & Increase Accountability with Workflow

3 Ways to Automate Data Approvals & Increase Accountability with Workflow

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Workflow with Canvas

Collecting data is an essential part of every business on the planet, but it’s only half of the equation.

Sharing data with the right people, at the right time, is often more important than just simply writing it down. But often when companies collect data with paper forms, it can take hours, days, and sometimes weeks for the information to reach its final destination! This isn’t even taking into account the other complexities that can make the paper-based data collection process even more difficult including multi-department approvals, out-of-state projects, and more!

Workflow with Canvas

Read below how mobile process improvement platforms like GoCanvas are changing the way that companies look at the collection and transmission of their data, and how a simple changes like using Workflow could help your business recover 100’s of hours in productivity every year. 

The GoCanvas platform is not only a great way to combine all your paper forms into a single mobile app, but it’s also a means of controlling how and when your company’s data is collected.  Read below to learn about three popular use cases for the mobile Workflow feature of GoCanvas and what kind of impact it could have on your business.

Review & Approve Timesheets: Collecting employee daily or weekly timesheets is always a pain, but with GoCanvas it can almost become a pleasure. Instead of your crews having to fill out a piece of paper on every job site at the end of the day or week, they will instead simply log their time right on their phone. Once complete, those times will be sent automatically to their site supervisor who will receive a notification on his or her GoCanvas mobile device. The supervisor can then access and check each employee’s time, add comments, and reject if necessary. If everything looks good, the supervisor can sign off on the timesheet and send it to the company’s cloud database so that it can be digitally filed and processed by the office accounting team.

Safety Violation Tracking: For the Construction, Field Service and Manufacturing industries, employee safety is always a top priority. Due to the nature of work that is involved in these industries, having an efficient system for reporting and reviewing safety violations is essential.

By using Workflow with GoCanvas, a safety supervisor can now do his/her rounds at each project site, fill out the safety reports, and send the results to the office manager for review in real-time. The best part is that reports can be conditionally triggered to be sent for review if, such as, an item is marked as “Failed” or “Requires Correction”. This ensures that the office is only being sent notifications about the most critical reports, which allows them to focus on implementing real-time corrective actions to improve specific site safety situations.

Multi-step Construction Tasks: No matter what you are building or producing, it usually takes a group of people to get the job done. With paper forms, this involves each person who works on a particular task filling out a report. This usually leads to there being folders and upon folders worth of unorganized paper documentation.

With Workflow from GoCanvas, the data collected from start to finish of each task is kept neatly together in a single report. Once “John Doe” completes his part of the task, he can pass or “hand-off” the digital report to “Jane Johnson” so that she can complete her part of the report and continue this process in a dynamic chain of data collection until the report is complete! There will be no more swimming through filing cabinets to find that report from last year since now every completed report will be stored neatly in the cloud for you to easily search through using a simple keyword search. You can even track the status of “in-progress” reports to see why a certain report hasn’t be turned in yet!

And remember, each workflow can be easily setup and customized based on the different types of work processes being conducted, no matter the length. If you’d like to learn more, check out this amazing Workflow eBook on how real companies are making the switch from paper forms to GoCanvas!

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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