Observations in the Mobile App

Observations provide a way for mobile app users to audit workplace safety by responding to a set of specific questions, adding relevant documentation such as photos and notes, and assigning issues to internal and/or external parties.

To create an observation, start from the main menu in the mobile app.

If you are not on the Main Menu, click the home icon in the top right corner of the app screen and it will take you to the Main Menu.

Since Observations can be configured differently for each Project, start by tapping the “Projects” icon.

You will see a list of the Projects that have been assigned to you.

Projects are created and assigned to users from the administrator website. If you do not see your Project listed here, please contact your Administrator. They may need to either create the Project or assign the project to you.

Tap the Project and then tap on the “Observation” button.

Tap “Edit” to continue working on an observation you’ve already started. Or, tap “New” to start a new Observation.

At the top of the observation screen, there is a “General Note” button. This is an open note field that you can use to provide context for the observation.

For example, you may note what was occurring in the workplace, weather conditions, etc.

When a General Note is entered, a date and time stamp is added along with your name. Multiple General Notes may be added to an observation report.

There is also an option to select the “Party Observed” that would apply to the entire Observation report. This will allow you to document a person or company being observed. You also have the option to document a specific Party Observed on each identified issue.

At the top of the observation, there is an optional field for your administrator to label and use however your organization sees fit.

In this example, we’ve labeled it “Wildcard Custom Field,” but your organization can name it anything they would like and the content will display on your observation report.

For example, the field could be used to identify a specific crew, building location on a large project, or anything else your organization needs to track.

The app will list the observation Categories that have been enabled for this Project by your administrator. Use the “Search” field to type a keyword, or scroll down the list. Then, tap on an Observation category in the list.

The app will open a list of questions within the selected Category.

From the question list, swipe right to document a positive, “yes,” response to the question. Swipe left to answer a negative, “no,” to the question.

Tap the question to document the details.

Once the question expands, you will see three options. Answering “Yes” to the question implies that the risk is mitigated. “Follow Up Required” means that an issue has been identified based on the very specific risk noted in the question. Finally, “Issue Resolved” means that an issue had been identified and is now resolved.

Depending on the answer to the question, different fields will display for each question.

First, when a question is answered with “yes,” you will be able to upload photos using the “Add Photo” button.

You can either take a photo from your mobile device or upload a photo from your library. When a photo is added, it will be noted with your name, the date, and time that the photo was uploaded.

To add a note, click “Add Note.” You have a choice of either typing in a note or using the voice dictation software on your device.

Similar to the Party Observed button at the top of the report, this button allows you to indicate the name of the person or company being observed on this specific question. If your administrator uploaded a list of Parties Observed on the administrator website, a dropdown will allow you to choose from a list of Parties Observed.

The Reference field allows companies to input specific text that is applicable to the observation. This could refer to a column line or an area of the facility, a room number, etc.

Finally, there is a button that allows you to send this specific question and its details to someone via email by tapping the “Send Details By Email” button.

Using the email client that is setup on your device, an email will open with a real-time link, meaning that whenever anyone opens this link, they will always be provided with the most current status of the risk including all the photos, and notes that have been documented. By providing a link instead of a pdf, the recipient will always have access to a real-time status of the issue.

Use the “Copy Question” button to duplicate the question in the report. This allows you to document multiple instances of a risk. For example, you could have two separate locations on a job site where a risk was mitigated in one location and not mitigated in the other. Both instances can be documented separately with the Reference field identifying exactly where each risk is located.  

Now, if you answer the question with “Follow Up Required,” you will be asked to choose a Severity. There are three choices: Low Severity, Medium Severity and High Severity.

You can also choose a “due date” for correcting the issue. This field is particularly important if you assign the issue to someone else to correct.

Just like with mitigated risks, you’ll be able to upload photos, make notes and identify the party observed.

Since you have identified an issue, you can document how the issue was mitigated using the “Add Corrective Action” button.

If you can’t mitigate the issue, you can assign this issue to someone else either within your organization or outside of the organization.

To assign an issue to someone within the organization who is also an app user, click “Assign Internal Employee.”

You will then choose from a list of active users in your organization, and multiple users may be chosen. The app will display all of the users on the question screen with the time and date that they were assigned the issue.

The assigned user will be sent a push notification to their mobile device notifying them they have been assigned the issue. The user will see that the status of the issue has been changed to “Pending Review.”

The user who has been assigned the issue will then be able to tap into the question from their mobile app. They can change the status, add photos, add notes and add a Corrective Action.

Then, they will click “Submit for Approval.”

You can also assign issues to people who are not app users. This is done by sending the question and details to people using their email address.

To assign a non-app user, click the “Assign External Worker” button. The app will then access the device’s contacts. Click the contact that you want to assign the issue to by clicking the checkbox to the right of their name.

Click the “Assign Issue” button at the bottom. External people will then be listed in the Assigned list on the question screen with an “(Ext)” next to their name.

When the external party opens the link via their email, they will be required to fill out their first name, last name, company name and email address. This information will display on your assignee list.

Once the internal employee or external workers has addressed the issue and documented it, you will be notified via a push notification that additional information has been submitted and the status of the issue will have changed to “Pending Approval.”

At any time, you can access all your open issues from the “Open Issues” icon on the Main Menu.

If you are satisfied that the issue has been resolved, you can change the status to “Issue Resolved.” You are then required to add a “Corrective Action” to close out the issue, if one has not already been entered.

In this last scenario, if you have identified an issue and the issue is resolved immediately, your answer will be “Issue Resolved.” Selecting this answer will require you to click the “Add Corrective Action” button and document how the issue was fixed in order to proceed. It is a best practice to document the issue and the corrective action to ensure the underlying issue is properly tracked within the platform analytics.

You should then continue answering questions until the Observation is complete.

Note: unanswered questions are considered “Not Applicable.” Your organization’s administrator can decide if unanswered questions will or will not be included on the final observation report.

From the Observation Category List, you are also able to complete additional observation reports by opening a new category.

At the bottom of the Observation, you have the option to add your signature. To do this, tap the “Signature” button.

Type in your name in the “Enter Name” field, along with your employee ID number. Once you have typed your name the first time, the app will remember it each time you begin to type your name. Then, sign using your finger or a stylist. Tap the “Done” button.

You have the ability to send the Observation Report via email. To do this, tap “Send Email” and the app will generate a real-time link in an email.

Tap the “Finished” button. This will send your observation report to the cloud and will be available on the administrator website. You will then see a list of all of your completed Observation reports.