eSafety Tracker
Improving and maintaining a strong safety culture at an electric utility is no small deed. Although, safety statistics across the utility industry have improved over time, the reason for this optimistic trend remains unanswered. Seeking both answers and a path for improvement, several utilities banded together in 2016 to seek R&D funding to help better collect, categorize, and analyze safety data with the ultimate objective of making their utilities safer.
The eSafety Tracker was developed to help utilities document and analyze safety-related events: meetings, job briefings, injuries, near-misses, investigation reports, etc. We hope that someday working at a public power utility is one of the safest occupations, but until we begin to understand the root causes of our accidents and injuries and use them to continuously improve our safety rules, we remain at risk. The collection of safety data across a large number of public power utilities will enable more comprehensive levels of analysis and benchmarking. The eSafety Tracker provides an opportunity for utilities to work together and provide data that can inform better safety statistics and decision making.
Employers that implement effective safety and health management systems can reduce injuries and illnesses, and their associated cost, including workers' compensation payments, medical expenses, and lost productivity. The eSafety Tracker will help track incidents, meetings, and briefings allowing utilities to use data analytics and reporting to quantify their utility’s safety culture.
Since its inception, APPA has provided subscriber utilities the opportunity to vote on the features developed to further enhance the capabilities of the system. This approach gives utilities access to an advanced software resource to perform the analyses that fit their specific utility needs, which may not have been possible without this DEED-funded program.
How does the eSafety Tracker work?
The eSafety Tracker is a web-based application. If you have internet access and a web browser, you can access the service. The tracker prides itself on ease of use and the simplification of its core features. Users enter their incidents, meetings, and briefings through the web application via their computer's browser and can easily refer back to their data at any time.
Some of the core features include recording safety meetings, job briefings, and three different types of incidents: injuries, near-miss incidents, and property damage incidents. Online investigations can also be launched through the online system allowing utilities to keep records of an incident from the occurrence, to investigation, to resolution. Another added value of the tracker is online access to APPA’s Safety Manual through packaged licensing agreements, allowing lineworkers and other utility personnel to access the manual on job sites and other locations. Data from the eSafety Tracker will be anonymized and used to help improve the Safety Manual through its revision cycle.
eSafety Tracker Release Demonstration Webinar
Pricing
The eSafety Tracker is now available for purchase. You can purchase one year or three-year subscriptions in our product store.
- DEED member: $812 ($270.67/year)
- Association member $1040 ($346.67/year)
- Nonmember: $3121 ($1040.33/year)
- DEED member: $285
- Association member: $365
- Nonmember: $1095
As an eSafety Tracker subscriber, you also purchase one-year or three-year licenses to our online APPA Safety Manual accessible through the tracker. Licenses are sold on a per user basis. eSafety Tracker subscribers must purchase a license for each employee they would like to grant access to the online safety manual.
- DEED member: $12/person
- Association member: $12/person
- Nonmember: $36/person
- DEED member: $5/person
- Association member: $5/person
- Nonmember: $15/person
Walkthroughs
If you are interested in the tracker, we would be happy to set up a webinar walkthrough of the system. Walkthroughs are normally under an hour in time, and we usually provide the option to test the tracker for two weeks if there is still an expressed interest.
If you are interested in a walkthrough, please email [email protected].
Managing eSafety Tracker Users
User Permission Levels
There are 3 types of user levels in the eSafety Tracker: Leaders, Spectators, and Members. When creating new users, consider what capabilities you would like the user to have.
In System Forms
Meeting Form
The Meetings form aids users in tracking safety meeting details including presenters, date/times, descriptions, crew members attending, and administrative notes.
Job Briefing Form
The Job Briefings form allows safety managers and supervisors to ensure that before completing a job, a crew is properly informed on how to complete the job in the safest manner.
Safety Manual
The Safety Manual feature displays an electronic version of the APPA Safety Manual giving users access anywhere. The Safety Manual has been prepared to provide safety guidance to employees of publicly owned electric utilities. Strict observance of safety rules is necessary to prevent unsafe acts and conditions.
Create Incident Form
The Incident form allows utility personnel to track all types of incident records including injuries, near-miss incidents, and property damage incidents. Data collected from the field on incidents will hopefully create a context for safety professionals to review the efficacy of their safety programs.
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Injury: The Injury form aids users in tracking employee injuries regardless of severity. The injury form tracks incident details including employee affected, who reported the injury, who the injury was reported to, and the date and time reported. The form also aids users in tracking injury details such as affected area, injury type, and treatment.
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Injury State Change: The Injury State Change form enables tracker administrators at your utility to track the progress of an ongoing injury. Different states of injury include ‘injury or condition was resolved’, ‘incident resulted in a fatality’, ‘employee was away from work’, ‘employee was restricted from work or on job transfer’, and ‘employee was limited to light-duty work’.
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Near Miss: The Near Miss form allows safety managers and supervisors to track incidents where nothing occurred, but mistakes and poor work practices could have led to a more serious incident resulting in an injury or property damage. The Near Miss form allows utilities to indicate the location of the near miss and observed incident cause.
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Property Damage: The Property Damage form allows utility personnel to track incidents where utility property or private property suffered structural harm. Variables included in the Property Damage form are property name, damage extent, the estimated cost of damage, the actual cost of damage, observed incident cause. The form also allows you to add attachments such as photos.
Investigation Form
The Investigation form allows safety managers and supervisors to keep a record of workplace incident investigations. The form asks utilities to indicate whether employees were properly instructed on job safety, wearing proper PPE, and following safe work procedures. Managers and supervisors can identify primary causes and contributing factors as well as indicate briefings related to the investigation.