5 Fields to Add to Your Digital Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS)

Leverage these powerful fields in your digital safe work method statements

Rigid paper documents are a painful, tedious task to complete – especially when coordinating with collaborating teams. Safety documentation is such a critical component to the operational workflow of construction teams – requiring a comprehensive breakdown of understanding of potential work safety hazards. 

By utilizing digital forms, construction teams can turn a tedious task into a simple ask in minutes. Digital forms add various benefits to work productivity and efficiency by capturing new data types, providing access to data in real-time, automating workflows, and much more. 

For instance, here are five fields to add to your digital safe work method statements to enhance data capture and integrity of your safety documentation:

Drop Down menus and Data Sources
Leveraging a Drop Down menu in conjunction with Data Sources allow form users to quickly and easily select a specific data point that triggers corresponding fields to auto-populate based on the selected field value. 

For example, Petrol Services Australia currently utilizes Drop Down menus to auto-populate corresponding fields based on their submitted Data Source information. This functionality has not only saved their operation time but also has allowed their sales team to focus on more opportunities – resulting in increased sales and savings of $350,000 annually. 

Required Signatures 
On a document so critical, include electronic Signatures to your SWMS forms to ensure authorization. With digital forms, you will never have an incomplete form due to missing Signatures, as a Signature field can be made Required – ensuring document completion before submission. This functionality can even be used in conjunction with Timestamps for an extra layer of thoroughness on documentation.

For example, a current GoFormz user, Lennon, Smith, Souleret Engineering embedded their forms with Required fields to help enforce the capture of critical data. Gwen Zarko, a Geographic Information Systems Manager at LSSE explained how the Logic works in their current process: “If it’s required, the field turns a certain color so that users know that it’s mandatory so that I get what I need.” Pulling field data together was once a pain, and now it’s not.”

Conditional Logic
Think of Conditional Logic as an if/then statement for your form. If a user selects a certain field, then make an additional Text field Visible and Required. Conditional Logic adds dynamic capabilities to your digital forms, allowing your operation to tailor forms to each user’s unique needs – eliminating the need to create multiple variants of specific forms. 

For example, if a user were to select a certain field pertaining to the potential environmental hazards, an additional field will auto-populate with the background color red – drawing attention to the field to indicate to the user that it needs to be completed before submission. This functionality adds great value to the thoroughness and completion of documents that traditional paper documents simply would not be able to provide. 

Checkbox fields
Leveraging Checkbox fields is a simple way of structuring and organizing important information – especially with safety measures. This feature also makes selecting multiple options easy with Checkbox Groups. Using the Checkbox Group functionality, form creators can determine how many selections can be made, the shape and look of the checkbox, and much more.

Automated form routing
With SWMS forms being a collaborative document between various contractors and owners, Automated Workflows help streamline communication and increase efficiencies. Users can instantly route completed digital SWMS forms to all project stakeholders captured within the form simultaneously. Digital forms can even be automatically transferred to colleagues for them to input their information – increasing collaboration and eliminating productivity obstacles. 

Learn more about why your business should leverage digital safe work method statements with GoFormz or check out how our current construction clients leverage the GoFormz platform for their various safety documentation needs on our customer case study page!