In recent months there has been an appreciable push towards digitisation in many companies. However, digital transformation, IIoT, AI, and robotics have been on the minds of the leaders of industrial operations for even longer.

In contrast, there has been a greater focus on digitisation of administrative activities since book-keeping or marketing employees are increasingly working in the home office, and so centralised document management will become essential in future. With the free INNO|doc documentation software for fall protection, industrial operations and installation companies take a significant step towards a paperless office when it comes to industrial safety.  

Documentation obligation for fall protection systems in industry 

In Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, as well as internationally, documentation of fall protection systems is mandatory. In Austria, this is based on various legal foundations, such as ÖNORM B 3417:2016 and the EN 795 and EN 365 standards. In principle, the documentation must include the following aspects: 

• General information, who installed what and when, i.e. address and location of the installation, name and address of the installation company, name of the responsible fitter, product designations and fasteners, date of inspection 

• Planning and overview plan of the system, including records of all safety components and accesses 

• Possibly, sketch of special solution  

• Details of the manufacturer, times of installation and first use (with date) 

• Operating and maintenance instructions 

• Log with numbered pictorial documentation of the fastening of all posts and anchor points 

Until now, the result of the full documentation of a safety system was a large folder full of documents and manually completed logs, which the fitter handed over to the customer for safe-keeping.  

Challenges of manual documentation 

Because a fall protection system is intended to save lives, and no errors such as an illusion of safety must occur, carefully and painstakingly maintained documentation is essential. However, for the installation company and the industrial operation, manual documentation creates a number of challenges: 

• Personal responsibility and expenditure of time for the fitter: 
  In most cases, after installing the fall protection system, the fitter looks after creating the correct documentation. For this, he must carefully and neatly record all installation steps in writing and images, and put everything together in a clear and comprehensible document. Together with the logs, instructions, product descriptions, etc. he bundles everything into one folder.
  
  The manual documentation takes the fitter a long time and requires a high degree of personal responsibility, because none of the numerous individual steps at the installation location can be overlooked. 
   

• Documentation maintenance by the safety expert: 
  Industrial operations which have appointed an internal safety expert, to whom responsibility for all safety-relevant matters is transferred. This person is then also responsible for the administration and support of the fall protection system, and looks after the regular inspection and the efficient and complete filing of the documentation.
  Nothing must go lost or become mixed up, because this material all forms the basis of the annual inspection and for investigations in the event of a fall accident.  
   

• Storage of the documentation in the company: 
  The documentation folder must be kept by the client company itself, and if there is a number of safety systems, the paperwork can take up a considerable amount of space. In addition, so that nothing goes lost, it must be ensured that no unauthorised persons can access the documentation. This is the only way to ensure that questions of liability, such as after an industrial accident, can be resolved reliably. 

• Familiarisation and use by inspectors and/or assessors 
  Because the annual inspection of the fall protection system is mandatory, the expert inspector must familiarise himself with all the documentation and closely inspect the equipment. Any defects and indications of wear must be corrected and documented accordingly. Familiarisation with and use of a large documentation folder therefore requires much time and resources. 

Benefits of INNO|doc documentation software for fall protection systems 

The previous challenges clearly show that documentation of the fall protection system is a case obviously requiring a digital solution. INNO|doc documentation software is therefore available free of charge to all parties, and saves you time, paper, and nerves.  

Functions of INNO|doc 

• Simple login and personalised dashboard 

• Listing of all documented projects (complete, incomplete, to be inspected) in a single tool 

• Step-by-step use of the documentation, with coloured highlighting of incomplete mandatory fields 

• Direct upload of photos to the software from tablet/mobile phone 

• Automatic generation of the PDF document for download 

• Documentation can be closed out only when all necessary information is present 

• Reminder function 1 month before the mandatory annual inspection, sent to the saved e-mail address (installation company or customer) 

• Saving of all necessary contacts 

Benefits of INNO|doc 

• Appreciable time savings, because no intermediate storage required for photos; instead, they are uploaded directly  

• Significantly reduced administrative effort, because a clear, easily understood PDF file is generated automatically once all data has been entered 

• Great flexibility, because INNO|doc can be used on all current mobile devices 

• High level of compliance, because the software maps the complete legally prescribed documentation process 

• Secure use compliant with data protection, because login requires a personal password and is granted by the system 

• High security standards because of local development by an Austrian software company and secure, central servers 

• Simple updating of all data, so editing is easier 

• User-friendly operation of the documentation software  

• No data loss or damage because all documents are saved digitally 

• Centralised documentation management thanks to a single platform for all projects 

• Environmentally friendly because of the paperless digital solution 

Summary: INNO|doc saves time, paper, and nerves 

With INNO|doc document software, industrial operations and installation companies take a big step towards a paperless office. Everyone involved saves time, paper, and nerves – and therefore costs.

Cooperation in the installation and servicing of appropriate and effective fall protection systems is improved significantly, because the free-of-charge tool is simple to use, and centralised documentation management becomes easy.