A herbicide manufacturer in Louisiana experienced a safety near miss due to miscommunication between shifts. The manufacturer needed a solution that would result in increased productivity and safety awareness, so they switched to electronic logbooks.

Reliance on Paper Logbooks

The Louisiana facility originally relied on paper logs to record information, and supervisors had to utilize separate methods to handle task management. Shift-to-shift events were communicated via several different paper logs. With paper logs, there were handwriting issues and poor quantity and quality of information. Information was difficult to find and prioritize. Instructions to operators were disseminated through email and through whiteboard communications, and general task management was handled through a few different offline systems.

Miscommunication between production unit shifts resulted in a safety near miss. An investigation of the near miss concluded that it could have been avoided if a single repository was used to communicate previous and current shift events, as well as production instructions and tasks. If a standardized turnover process had been used and communication was traceable between production unit personnel, the problem may not have occurred.

The manufacturer concluded that they needed an electronic logbook solution.

Benefiting from a Digital Solution

With electronic logbooks, the manufacturer eliminated and consolidated paper logs for communicating. No longer were emails or whiteboards needed to communicate operating instructions. The offline recurring task management systems were also eliminated. Task management and operator instructions could all be handled in the application alongside the actual logbooks. Furthermore, all logbooks could easily be found in the same digital location.

With electronic log entry, handwriting issues were eliminated. Both the quality and quantity of information increased, and it became easier to find. Because information was searchable and could be flagged, it was also easy to prioritize.

The manufacturer concluded that switching to electronic logbooks increased productivity and safety awareness because of the ability to communicate better across shifts. The benefits of electronic logbooks are clear. If your facility is looking to switch from paper to an electronic solution, visit the InfoLog product page, or request more information.

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