How Including Safety Training in Your Visitor Check-In Process Saves Time

Safety training is a cornerstone of compliance in many industries, including manufacturing and construction. It ensures every visitor, contractor, and temp personnel understands the safety protocols required before they begin working onsite.    

For high-risk environments, safety training for visitors and contractors can be a long process with long training videos, multiple documents to read and sign, and more. And for some facilities and construction sites, most of this is done manually or when a new contractor arrives on-site for their shift. Time is a valuable asset and these manual safety training processes for visitors can be incredibly time-consuming, error-prone, and difficult to scale.  

What if there was a way to consolidate all that more time-efficiently?  

Businesses can use a visitor management system to digitally include their safety training materials and protocols within the visitor sign-in process. This approach can streamline previously manual processes such as reading and signing documents, completing quizzes, and watching safety videos. It allows for a digital audit trail, enhancing safety compliance while saving time. 

This streamlined approach is especially valuable in high-risk industries, where effective safety training and compliance are critical to minimizing risks and meeting strict internal and regulatory standards.  

Industry Example: Streamlining Compliance and Safety Training in Construction 

The construction industry is one of the most high-risk working environments with strict safety training guidelines set by regulatory bodies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OHSA) or the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS). For example, in 2022 there were roughly 320,000 absentees in construction due to injuries caused at the work site. Training the workforce, particularly new contractors and visitors, on safety best practices is essential for reducing risks. In the US, OSHA penalties can reach up to $16,000 per violation.  

By consolidating this training into a digital platform, organizations can improve compliance with regulations like OSHA and CCOHS, while also enabling effective tracking of training progress. 

Furthermore, construction safety training methods often involve 30- to 40-minute safety videos and documentation visitors must read and sign before being approved to work on-site. If done when visitors arrive on-site, this can cause scheduling conflicts for those responsible for leading training sessions, especially when there are multiple people arriving at different times.    

Integrating safety training into the visitor check-in process through a visitor management system not only saves employees time, but when advanced pre-registration is available, visitors and contractors can complete training remotely on their own time before arriving on-site at a facility. Ultimately, this saves significant time and eliminates schedule delays associated with long safety training. 

The Time-Saving Benefits of Digitally Integrating Safety Training 

1. Tailoring Training Modules to Improve Efficiency and Reduce Delays   

Adaptability within a visitor management solution can make a big difference for operational efficiency, as you can tailor processes to flow the way your business needs, while adjusting it where necessary to decrease any possible disruptions.  

Finding a visitor management system that can customize how you integrate safety training eliminates added complexities so new visitors can complete safety training as efficiently as possible. A system, like VisitorOS for example, supports various training formats, and has the flexibility to assign specific training to different visitor roles and types.  

For example,  

Videos provide an engaging way to demonstrate safety protocols visually, offering visitors clear, easy-to-follow guidance tailored to the facility’s specific requirements. 

Documents, such as detailed safety guidelines, handbooks, or NDAs, can be uploaded for visitors to review and sign, ensuring compliance before their entry is approved. 

Quizzes allow facilities to test visitors’ understanding of training materials, helping to confirm that key concepts are fully comprehended. 

Furthermore, with compliance bodies changing regulations and requirements, a digital system enables businesses to quickly and easily adapt training content. Updated materials are simply uploaded to the backend and are readily available to visitors on check-in, saving time and maintaining compliance without adding complexity.  

CASE STUDY

Valmet Reduced Contractor Training Time by More Than 90% By Integrating Safety Orientations Directly into The Check-In Process

For contractors, the system integrated safety orientations directly into the check-in process. The impact was substantial, reducing the time it took to train contractors by more than 90%. What used to take up to an hour per contractor was drastically reduced to just 5 minutes.

2. Digital Training Logs Optimize Compliance and Reduce Administrative Burden 

Speaking of compliance, shifting through paper logs and/or incomplete safety training records for compliance audits can be time-consuming and inefficient. Automating the delivery and tracking of safety training through the use of a visitor management system also means benefiting from a detailed digital log, ensuring that facilities are always audit-ready. 

By using a cloud-based visitor management system, businesses can centralize all their data, including safety training records, in one accessible location. This centralization allows you to quickly access and demonstrate compliance during audits or inspections.  

Systems like VisitorOS help simplify compliance efforts while freeing up teams to focus on more critical responsibilities, ultimately enhancing operational efficiency. 

3. Advanced Pre-Registration Expedites Visitor Safety Training  

What if contractors and visitors could complete the safety training in advance before they arrive on site? If a new contractor arrives for their shift on-site, they need to spend time completing the safety training before they are approved to enter. For industries like construction with long training videos and many documents to read and sign, this can take out an hour or more from their schedule.  

A system that has advanced pre-registration capabilities enables visitors to take their time filling out our required documentation and safety training before their visit, reducing bottlenecks for a smoother visitor flow while contributing to a safer and more secure environment for everyone.   

Related Content: Process Visitors Fast: Visitor Pre-Registration Guide

Maximize Safety Training Efficiency with Visitor Management Systems 

Considering the benefits, organizations should explore how incorporating safety training into their visitor management system check-in process can enhance their operations and save time. With the ability to customize and adapt training materials as needed, a solution like VisitorOS can be tailored to fit the unique needs of your facility, providing seamless compliance and greater efficiency.   

Explore how a visitor management solution like VisitorOS can be tailored to your needs.