The Hazards tool is part of vWork's Health & Safety feature. Health & Safety is an optional feature in vWork. If you would like to find out more about it or add it to your account, please email support@vworkapp.com. One of our team will be in touch to talk with you about your requirements.

What are Hazards in vWork?

Hazards are any element related to a job that adds a physical and financial risk to workers, other people, or property. Examples of Hazards include unstable ground, fire, moving equipment or materials at height or working at height, working with chemicals, powerlines and other electrical hazards, gas pipes, and so on.

Hazards can be added to a job:

By the dispatcher, before the job is published to the mobile app - these Hazards show on the mobile app when the job is opened.
On the job through the mobile app. These are added as they are identified on the job.
Via the API.

Hazards can also be inherited by a job from the job template or from an asset added to a job.

How are hazards managed using the mobile app?

If you are using the mobile app you can do the following things to manage hazards for a job:

Add new hazards to a job as you identify them.
Record the Residual Risk for a hazard. This involves assessing and recording the risk level associated with a hazard and recording the control measures taken to manage the risks.
Capture signatures from key people working on a job to confirm and record that those people agree to the 'Hazard Declaration'.
Acknowledge hazards related to a job. Complete a checkbox to acknowledge you have read and agree to the 'Hazard Declaration' at a defined job step. You must do this before you can move to the next step of the job in the mobile app.

View hazards

When a job has known hazards these must be reviewed before completing a specified step in the job. You view hazards and manage them through the H&S screen for the job.

There are two options to open the 'H&S' screen so that you can view known hazards when you have opened a job:

When you have progressed to a step that has a hazard saved against it, from the Steps screen tap the step to open the 'H&S' screen.
💡Tip: The step with the Hazard shows that a 'Hazard Acknowledgment' is required.
Alternatively, when you are in any of the job's screens you can tap the H&S tab in the red banner.

Add a hazard

If you identify a new hazard while completing a job you can add it to the job from the H&S screen.

To add a new hazard:

Tap H&S in the red banner to open the 'H&S' screen.
Tap to open the 'Add hazard' screen.
Tap the Search field to view a list of potential hazards.

C The list of hazards you can choose from are defined by your vWork Admin to save you time when adding a hazard to a job.
Tap to select a hazard from the list or select Custom Hazard if the hazard you want is not in the list. This opens the information saved for the hazard. If you select Custom Hazard, you enter all the hazard details from scratch.
Complete the details for the hazard:
- Name the hazard - if the hazard is a Custom Hazard type a name that describes the hazard.
- Initial Risk - tap to select a risk level. This is the risk created by the hazard before control measures are used to reduce or mitigate the risk
- Control Type - tap to select the control type that will be used to reduce the risk created by the hazard.
- Controls required - tap and enter specifics about the controls that will be used to reduce the risk.
- Person responsible - tap and enter the name of the person who is responsible for managing the risk created by the hazard.
- Residual Risk - tap to select a risk level. This is the risk level that remains after control measures are used to manage the risk created by the hazard.
When all fields for the risk are added, tap Save.

💡Tips:

When you create a Custom Hazard you don’t need to complete all details when you first create the hazard - although you must give the hazard a name. You must complete the remaining details later to enable you to complete the 'Hazard Acknowledgement'.
If you add a new hazard after you have completed the 'Hazard Acknowledgment', you'll be asked to complete the 'Hazard Acknowledgment' again before you can continue completing the remaining job steps. This is because the information relating to the hazard has changed since you completed the 'Hazard Acknowledgment'.

The 'Hazard Acknowledgment' and 'Hazard Declaration'

The 'Hazard Acknowledgment' and 'Hazard Declaration' are separate things. You may need to capture signatures for the 'Hazard Declaration' before you can complete the 'Hazard Acknowledgment' - although a signature is not always required. This depends on the workflow determined by your business for the job you are completing.

This is an example of what the 'Hazard Declaration' and 'Hazard Acknowledgment' look like in the AndroidvWork mobile app.

Hazard Acknowledgment

When there are hazards you must acknowledge these by completing a Hazard Acknowledgment checkbox on the mobile app.

The 'Hazard Acknowledgment' confirms you have completed a hazard review. It may also confirm you have read and accepted the 'Hazard Declaration'. When you perform a hazard review you ensure all fields for every hazard are completed. You may also need to add new hazards to the job as part of the review.
The 'Hazard Acknowledgement' is not the 'Hazard Declaration' and 'Hazard Declaration Signature(s)' which you also see on the 'H&S' screen. We explain these in the next topic. You may need to capture signatures for the Hazard Declaration in order to complete the Hazard Acknowledgment.
You, as the person responsible for completing the job, must complete the 'Hazard Acknowledgment' even when there is no requirement for you or others to sign the 'Hazard Declaration'. You will always need to complete a 'Hazard Acknowledgement' to move to the next step on the job.

How to complete the Hazard Acknowledgment

If there are incomplete fields for any hazard saved with the job you will see the hazard review prompt on the H&S screen.

This tells you that you need to look at the fields for each hazard and fill in any details that are not completed.

To complete the 'Hazard Acknowledgment':

Tap the hazard review prompt to open the first hazard that has incomplete fields.
💡Tip: Fields that are incomplete have red headings.
Add the information required to the fields then tap Save.
💡Tip: We have provided descriptions for each field above in the topic, Add a Hazard.
If there is more than one hazard, complete the 'hazard review' for the first hazard, then tap the next hazard on the H&S screen to complete the hazard review for that hazard. Repeat for every hazard that has incomplete fields.
If required, capture 'Declaration Signatures'. You can read more about these in the topic Hazard Declaration and Declaration Signatures below.
When all fields for all hazards are complete, and you have captured all required Declaration Signatures (if these are required), you will see the Hazard Acknowledgment checkbox on the 'H&S' screen. This replaces the hazard review prompt. Tap this to put a checkmark in the checkbox and complete the 'Hazard Acknowledgment'.

Once the 'Hazard Acknowledgment' is complete you can move to the next job step.

Hazard Declaration and Hazard Declaration Signatures

The Hazard Declaration field is always displayed on the 'H&S' screen. This is a statement about the responsibility key people take for managing the risks from job hazards for the job. Your vWork Admin sets up how the 'Hazard Declaration' is used and what it says.

The'Hazard Declaration' may be used with' Declaration Signatures'. These are signatures that you capture in the app to confirm key people involved with the job have read and agreed to the 'Hazard Declaration'.
'Declaration Signatures' can be 'Required' or 'Optional'. When they are 'Required' you can't complete the 'Hazard Acknowledgment' until you have captured the required 'Declaration Signatures' in the app. You'll know if a 'Declaration Signature' is required as it will have a pink background.
You can capture additional 'Declaration Signatures' through the app. These save as optional signatures with the job.
By completing the 'Hazard Acknowledgment' you may also be agreeing to the 'Hazard Declaration'. This depends on what is written in the 'Hazard Declaration' and if 'Declaration Signatures' are also required.
The 'Hazard Declaration' may be blank if your organization does not need a 'Hazard Declaration' as part of its hazard management processes.

How to capture 'Declaration Signatures'

If 'Declaration Signatures' are saved with a job and they are normally required, you must capture these before you can complete the 'Hazard Acknowledgement'.

Required Declaration Signatures are shown with a red background on the 'H&S' screen. Optional 'Declaration Signatures' are shown with a white background.

To capture a 'Declaration Signature':

Tap the bar (red or white) for the 'Declaration Signature'. This opens the Please Sign screen where you can add a name (if not already provided) and capture the signature.
Tap the Signed by field and enter the name of the signatory (if this is not already completed).
Have the signatory to sign the screen in the square provided.
When the signature is captured on the screen tap Done to save it with the job.

How to edit a Declaration Signature

Sometimes the person named as the signatory is not available and another person takes the responsibility for managing the risks of a hazard. In this instance, you may need to edit the name for a 'Declaration Signature'.

❗Important: You can only edit the 'Name' for the signatory at the time you capture the signature. You aren't able to change the name and leave the signature blank to capture the signature at a later time.

To edit the name:

Tap the bar (red or white) for the 'Declaration Signature' to open the Please Sign screen.
Tap the original signatories name and use the backspace key on your keyboard to clear the name.
Enter the replacement name for the new signatory.
Have the signatory sign their name in the square provided.
Click Done to save the update name with the signature.

How to add a new Declaration Signature

It is optional to add one or more new signees and their signatures to a 'Hazard Declaration'. If you want to add a new 'Declaration Signature', you can from the 'Hazard Declaration' area in the 'H&S' screen. The name of the signee and the signature are saved with the job as an optional 'Declaration Signature'.

To add a new signee and their 'Declaration Signature':

Tap the green Add Declaration Signature button. This opens the Please Sign screen.
Tap the Signed by field and enter the name of the signatory.
Ask the signatory to sign the screen in the square provided.
When the signature is captured on the screen tap Done to save it with the job.

Android: managing Hazards on the vWork mobile app

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