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Dreamforce Session Recap: Leveraging Salesforce to Manage Risks and Worker Safety

Author: Bryan BurnsDreamforce Session Recap: Leveraging Salesforce to Manage Risks and Worker Safety Diabsolut

Having had the privilege to speak at Dreamforce on behalf of Diabsolut, I wanted to offer a blog review of the topic I covered, as managing risk and worker safety is important for any organization. Our organization has had nearly 20 years of experience implementing field service solutions, so field service health and safety will be the main area of focus in this blog. However, I will also be covering:

  • Overall health and safety statistics, with ideas for workplace support and predictions for 2022-2023
  • Health and safety trends
  • Use cases for leveraging Salesforce compatible safety tools and technology (e.g., checklists, safety, and tech safety apps)
  • Mitigating health and safety risks with solution optimization

Health and Safety Statistics, Ideas, and Predictions

While the pandemic saw a drop in occupational injuries and deaths, the statistics are still sobering. In the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics most recent report, the key findings of 2020 showed that:

  • There were 4,764 fatal work-related injuries
  • A worker died every 111 minutes
  • Transportation incidents were the most frequent type of event, and the number 1 event to result in fatality

Keeping people safe should always be a priority when designing business processes, as well as solution features and functionality. Not only is looking after employees the ethical and responsible thing to do but minimizing risks will ultimately lower costs and turnover rates.

Where should organizations focus to promote a better health and safety work culture?

  • Review general public and worker protection policies
  • Remember that regulatory compliance is the minimum
  • Invest in worker engagement and involvement
  • Provide easy access to information
  • Integrate health and safety into daily processes

Organizations should also address mental health and the ongoing impacts of the pandemic when prioritizing health and safety. Stress increased financial pressure, general depression, and anxiety — these aren’t new problems, but they’ve been amplified over the past several years. To help mitigate these issues for employees:

  • Create mental health and financial well-being agendas
  • Keep an eye out for employees who are often ill or missing work, so that you can step in and provide extra support when needed

Our prediction is that in 2022-2023, as well as a continued focus on fostering a culture in which employees can openly discuss mental health issues, wellness programs will evolve to focus more heavily on financial well-being due to the economic impact of inflation and the pandemic.

  • Companies will increasingly recognize that a solid financial wellness strategy can raise staff morale and boost retention levels.

Trends, and Salesforce Safety Tools and Technology

If we look at field service health and safety concerns specifically, we see that:

  • New employees are at higher risk
  • Common fatal accidents involve exposure to harmful substances or environments, as well as falls, slips, and trips
  • Contact with objects and heavy equipment are also significant threats
  • Road traffic incidents pose the greatest threat to injury and death

We can also see that trends in field service health and safety both reflect these concerns and are mirroring overall trends for field service, with a push towards using technology as a tool to better enable workplace safety; such as:

  • Wearables and sensors
  • Smartwatches, hard hats, and vests
  • Smart PPE and biometrics
  • Technician monitoring, GPS tracking, and real-time data collection
  • Digital twin technology

Salesforce development is in line with this trend, and we’re seeing an increasing amount of 3rd-party health and safety technology and tools that are Salesforce compatible. Salesforce use cases for field service health and safety enablement include:

  • Wizard or feature guides – with step-by-step information for repairs, troubleshooting, and processes; these can be created by veterans to help less experienced technicians
  • Safety checks or checklists – automated versions of these can be provided in the guide for daily completion to make reporting easier, instant, and trackable, while eliminating errors
  • Online feedback submission systems – using an online system with prompted questions via an anonymous email system to get better safety feedback; also useful for submitting and tracking incident reports
  • Digital Safety tools or accelerators – panic alerts, work-alone timers, GPS locators, etc., for use on mobile devices

Optimizing Your Salesforce Solution to Minimize Risks

When employers make safety a priority, so do employees. If you already have a Salesforce solution and are looking to use it to improve workplace health and safety, focus on:

  • Optimized scheduling and solution mobility
  • Tracking training and certifications to ensure employees are up-to-date
  • Reducing fatigue and providing the right tools — review processes and research what you can provide to make an employee’s job as straightforward as possible, so they can focus on staying safe
  • Real-time asset information to better prepare for what’s happening in the field
  • Checklists to reinforce processes and policy onsite
  • Making it easier to report incidents
  • Permit integration
  • Setting up worker alerts

Looking to leverage Salesforce to improve workplace health and safety, or you’re for more information: