How a Visitor Management System Can Improve Safety and Security at Construction Sites
On site safety is a must have in construction. Did you know that in 2018, one in five workplace deaths occurred in this industry? This is why you need to ensure that you have the right assets to help you minimise harm and maximise safety and security - and one of the best is a visitor management system (VMS). Let’s dive into what a VMS is and how it can help you maximise safety and security at your construction site.
What is a visitor management system?
Do you know how many visitors came to your site last year? What about the number that came in a single day? Do you know how long they were on site? Were they COVID compliant? Do you know whether they have been inducted to site? Do you know whether they are competent to undertake work such as verifying licences and training? Do they have the correct permits in place? If you haven’t already got a visitor management system, you’d probably have to pull out your old filing cabinet to answer those questions or worse, you can’t answer those questions.
And even if you did, would those records be accurate? Luckily, a VMS can track everyone who enters and leaves your building through cloud based software that records their name, time and date of entry, competencies, inductions, safety documentation and permits and more. These site access management tools are used to track anyone who wants to gain access to your site. Importantly, integrating VMS with site security systems like turn-styles gives you full end to end safety and security assurance.
These systems use state of the art technology and data management software to ensure that not only do you have an accurate record - but also a clean, sleek and simple check in system for your visitors. After all, no company wants to look as though they’re stuck in the past. Even more exciting is the ability for these systems to fully integrate with Construction Project Management software so you can really manage the entire site from kick off to hand-over.
Why do you need one?
Fresh, new technology is all well and good, but it’s got to have a purpose for your brand. So, what can a VMS bring to your construction site? Let’s take a look.
Contactless arrival in the time of COVID
In our current climate, you must take all necessary steps to ensure that the health and safety of your employees, contractors and visitors is upheld. You need a system that doesn’t require face to face interaction and manual handling, and one that can pre-register visitors from the touch of their phone. A good VMS will also have thermal readings as well as the ability to add screening questions to ensure that each visitor that passes through meets your strict health and safety standards.
Establish compliance and security standards
As you know, a construction site can be a dangerous place. As such, most require employees and visitors to complete detailed inductions so that they understand site risks and rules and also to ensure that they are competent and compliant to work on site.
A VMS wraps all of this and more into one easily accessible system. The software facilitates your check in process by walking employees and visitors through security documents, as well as recording important information that your staff can access when necessary. Guests can also have the necessary paperwork emailed to them if required.
This can also be extremely beneficial for your contractors, as a good VMS will give you the ability to send all required paperwork to their companies before they come onsite ie they can pre-register which makes the on-site check-in seamless.
Figure 1: Person signing paperwork. Source: Pexels
Emergency management
Many things can lead to an emergency evacuation on a construction site. All sites need to have an actionable evacuation plan, policy and procedures.
A VMS allows all site personnel with access to see who is onsite and where. This can be used to quickly find and evacuate people from the premises. With TIKS, visitors can easily check in using a kiosk, QR code or our geo-locating app (which operates within your specified geo-fencing area). This records all data to our state of the art visitor management platform for effective emergency management. The platform allows administrators to broadcast SMS and notifications directly to all site attendees providing direct information at their fingertips including instructions to evacuate.
Increased visibility for personnel on site
There have been 22 deaths on construction sites Australia-wide this year alone. Injuries and fatalities are common in this industry, with employees and guests at risk of falls, explosions and equipment malfunctioning every day.
A VMS gives management staff a complete view of where people are onsite and across multiple sites, when visitors check in and leave, and more. Your staff will have a complete set of information for when and where people were on site each day of the week to minimise harm and increase safety, security and visibility. If your site has an emergency as we mentioned before, you will have complete knowledge of the location of every person that is checked into your site.
Figure 2: Construction site signage. Source: Unsplash
Inform visitors of safety protocols
Not everyone on your site will be well versed with your safety protocols. You may have investors or external contractors visit from time to time, and it is important that you can brief them efficiently and effectively.
Without a good system, you can risk harming them as well as your employees. That’s why a good VMS can help you distribute safety protocols, briefing courses, NDAs and more that your visitors can view and sign before coming onsite. This data will be recorded to your system, and they can also get a copy of the information emailed to them as well. Importantly, TIKS allows you to set your own verification protocols.
Track visitors, workers and personnel access
Strong security measures are an essential part of every good construction site. Not only for safety precautions, but also for preventing security breaches, site access management allows you to keep a watchful eye on your workplace.
To protect yourself from theft, equipment damage and trespassers, a VMS can help you keep track of everyone who enters and leaves your site. This proof of presence will be recorded using the VMS, and can be viewed from anywhere in the world, providing data for all your employees from those onsite to remote and isolated workers in other locations.
At TIKS, our VMS can be fully customised to meet your site’s needs. TIKS has a high quality visitor management system with an integrated contractor management system for all your personnel access needs.
Importantly, TIKS is unique in that we manufacture our own kiosk hardware and service it directly. We provide a fully integrated solution including turn-styles so TIKS really is your one-stop-shop for Construction Industry visitor management software and hardware.
Figure 3: Construction worker holding paperwork. Source: Pexels
What to look for in a visitor management system
There are five main things a good VMS should provide your construction site and company.
Visitor safety: a system that keeps visitors safe and compliant while automating everything from check ins to on site inductions.
Contractor safety: manage contractors from any location including permits, inductions, and work contracts.
Site safety: manage and optimise site safety from one centralised location with site access control, contract management and more.
Real-time insights: analyse and measure key safety indicators and the flow of your site from one easy to understand location.
Complete compliance: deliver a safety workplace management solution for your business - whether it’s a small company or large enterprise.
Fully integrated and support hardware especially kiosks and turn-styles.
TIKS world-class modular VMS can manage your workplace’s safety requirements from end-to-end and is the leading option for visitor management for your business.
Conclusion
Safety can be instigated from the first touchpoint at your site for workers, visitors and anyone else that comes to your construction site. Using a state of the art visitor management system ensures that your safety and security measures are kept to a high standard from anywhere in the world, but you’ll need the right one for your site. The team at TIKS can help you configure our world class VMS and tailor our solutions to meet your specific needs.
Find out more about our product and how it can help you here.