Masonry Magazine February 2004 Page. 28
COMPUTER Software
OFFICE TOOLS
You give your crewmembers in the field the right tools to be productive, increase profits and create a quality product. Can you say the same about your office staff?
By Jennie Farnsworth
DEPENDING ON YOUR ACCLIMATION TO COMPUTERS and experience level, software can either be seen as an extra burden or a necessary salvation for day-to-day paperwork. As times change, though, keeping up-to-date with the latest office aids will be more necessary and may mean the difference between getting ahead or just simply getting by.
The following packages are just a sample of the kinds of software available for masonry businesses and some of the companies who offer them.
OSHA Regulations
YOU COULD CERTAINLY sit down and fill out your OSHA 300 forms by hand, but why do that when you can spend the same amount of time or less filling out the form digitally?
J. J. Keller's Keller-Soft, OSHA 300 Recordkeeper complies with OSHA's record keeping requirements, plus you only have to enter the information once in the 300 form and it will automatically include it for the 300 log, incident reports, annual summary and other generated reports.
"The OSHA 300 software does all of that for you," says Julie Nussbaum, Workplace Safety Editor of J. J. Keller. "It automatically accumulates the information so when you need to run reports, all of that information is already there."
Other timesaving features include being able to have sensitive cases entered into a privacy log, state-specific forms, the ability to generate reports of injuries and illnesses by location, and incident rates.
"One thing contractors run into quite often is they have to do incidence rates, many times in order to get a job," says Nussbaum. "Incidence rates are indicative of the workplace safety. This product accumulates the incidence rates to make their job easier."
Software isn't always about making the job easier, though. This software in particular can give you a better idea of safety concerns before they become major accidents.
"OSHA 300 gives you a broader picture of how safe your workplace is," adds Nussbaum. "Every incident is not OSHA recordable, but that doesn't mean that it's not something that doesn't need to be investigated.
"For instance, you can record near misses and first aid treatments. These things are not required to be recorded under OSHA's record keeping regulation; however, that type of information is valuable to employers to help them get the bigger picture on their workplace safety."