By Lee Wendel, CIA, CSP, CSPHA
SFM loss prevention technical leader

Would it surprise you to learn that the smartphone you use every day has the potential to help keep you and your employees safer?

Recent studies show that more than 75 percent of U.S. adults carry smartphones, and that number is getting higher every day. Today’s mobile devices are as powerful as they are ubiquitous, and mobile app developers are now harnessing that capacity to help users work and live more safely.

The idea of using a phone to make your life easier has already gained wide acceptance, but the idea of extending that to safety is still new for most people. The reality is that some commonly used apps are already helping users avoid danger, whether they realize it or not. One example comes from one of the phone’s most common tools, the weather information app. Properly configured, these apps can give you warnings in advance of dangerous conditions without even asking (via push notifications).

In addition to the more mainstream apps, we’ve begun to see a new breed of specialized releases that are designed to encourage safer practices. In the interest of making the world a safer place, the following apps are available free of charge to both Android and iPhone users.

Identifying heat-related risks

This summer, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention teamed up to release a new app called the OSHA-NIOSH Heat Safety Tool .

This app uses your location to determine the risk of working outside both at the current time and hourly for the remainder of the day. The app also offers advice about how to avoid and treat heat stroke/heat exhaustion. Supervisors have found this to be a great tool to help keep workers out of harm’s way in hot conditions.

Demystifying ladder safety

Another helpful app from the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health focuses on a frequently mis­under­stood source of danger — ladders.

The NIOSH ladder safety app gives users a way to understand and address some of the main root causes of ladder injuries/fatalities. Key features include:

• Level and angle meter — extension ladders need to be positioned at an angle of approximately 75 degrees, or one foot out for every 4 feet of rise. The app lets users measure this angle by holding the phone up to the ladder.
• Ladder selection guide — the type and height of work drives the type of ladder. The proper ladder can help prevent electrocution, for example.
• Ladder inspection guide — proper inspections differ by ladder type,
  and must address specific elements essential to safe use.

Encouraging better ergonomics

One more tool that recently came to our attention is the “Office Ergonomics” app from EWI Works International.

This interactive guide facilitates a step-by-step ergonomic review of an office workstation. The app walks users through a decision tree that encourages them to address issues that can result in injuries over time.

While a self-service approach like this may not replace a professional workstation review, it’s a good way to highlight challenges before they become problematic.

As the number of mobile safety apps continues to grow, we encourage you to embrace your mobile device as a tool to make work a safer place.

Learn more

You can find out more about these safety topics in other Simply Work Comp posts:

• Protect your workers from the threats of extreme heat
• Ladder safety resources
• Workplace ergonomics: Tips to create a neutral posture

What are you doing right now — besides reading this, of course? Are you also scanning your email? Is the radio or TV on in the background? Are you in a meeting?

Multitasking has infiltrated our work and home lives. It’s so common to check our mobile phones (about 80 times a day on average) that we don’t even realize we’re multitasking anymore.

Juggling multiple projects at once used to be something to strive for at work — a sign of a high achiever. But the research is clear — multitasking doesn’t save time.

Multitasking’s negative side-effects

In study after study, researchers have found that a multitasking worker is more likely to:

• Make mistakes
• Experience higher stress
• Remember fewer details
• Experience a drop in IQ
• React more slowly

As Cal Newport, author of the book Deep Work, put it, “Human brains weren’t built to multitask.”

The reason why is that multitasking is a misnomer — a more accurate description is task-switching.

People trying to do two things at once are actually switching back and forth. And each time they switch, there’s a cost in time and cognitive load. It’s akin to constant interruption. The result: projects take longer to complete and they’re not done as well.

Safety risks of multitasking

Do you still think task-switching is more productive? What if you knew that it was also more hazardous?

Distracted driving

Distracted driving is simply another form of multitasking poorly, but while behind the wheel and with potentially dangerous consequences.

In a National Safety Council survey, 54 percent of respondents said work would motivate them to do a distracting activity while driving such as making a phone call, searching for a location using a GPS system or reviewing and sending emails.

Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of work-related deaths in the U.S. The risk of a crash or near crash is 17 percent higher when the driver is interacting with a cell phone, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The National Safety Council has reported that drivers using a cell phone had slower reaction times than drivers with a .08 blood alcohol content.

That’s why SFM’s sample cell phone policy includes a zero tolerance position regarding using a cell phone or hands-free device while driving.

Distracted walking

Distracted walking poses another danger.

Pedestrian deaths have increased in recent years, reaching a 25-year high in Minnesota last year with 60 fatalities, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. In a study where people texted while crossing a busy street, the texters were less likely to stay inside the crosswalk or look before they crossed. They spent on average two seconds longer in the street than non-texters.

Distracted walking can take place anywhere, not just on sidewalks and streets. Consider employees preoccupied by phones while walking around the manufacturing floor, down the stairs or in parking lots. What kind of situations might they find themselves in — or falling into — while they’re unaware of their surroundings?

How to reduce distractions

Some straightforward solutions can reduce distraction and the resulting injuries in any work environment: Focus on one thing at a time. Practice being present in the moment. Put down the phone.

To cut back on email and mobile phone distractions, start by turning off notifications. Try keeping your phone in your bag or another room. Some mobile apps exist solely to block other apps from interrupting.

The sign of a successful person is no longer multitasking — it’s single-tasking, focusing on one thing at a time. Eliminating distractions will help you get more done with less stress and more awareness of your surroundings and safety risks.