Toshiba Air Conditioning UK Now Using Near-miss Reporting Tool to Streamline Site Safety
The field staff at Toshiba Air Conditioning are bringing a new level of safety to customer sites with a near-miss reporting tool, helping to reduce the risk of accidents and injuries in the United Kingdom and improving safety for employees, customers and the public. Toshiba Air Conditioning UK is a part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).
A near-miss occurs when an unplanned event results in no injuries or damage, but has the potential to do so. Toshiba’s new online reporting tool provides instant data on issues as they happen, without relying on our engineers returning to the office with paper forms, which can be time-consuming, involve delays, and make it difficult to spot patterns over time. This new tool enables our field staff to report incidents instantly by mobile phone or laptop onsite, in real time. Once logged, the near-miss is visible and traceable and requires action to be taken, including a thorough and timely investigation or escalation to superiors, if necessary.
David Dunn, managing director of Toshiba Air Conditioning in the UK, said, “Toshiba takes health and safety at work very seriously, and it is a priority of the business to ensure best practice is followed at all times. This tool makes the process of gathering and analysing data on near-miss incidents quick and easy. The goal is to build a database of potential hazardous situations and sites, and help identify any weaknesses in training. If a similar occurrence happens regularly, then we can create a ‘tool-box talk’ to highlight the potential hazard and how to work safely.”
Toshiba’s near-miss reporting tool has been recognised by parent company United Technologies, winning the CCS International Trailblazer Award for its contribution to encouraging a safety culture within the organisation. The tool is now in use by all engineers and staff at Toshiba businesses in the UK.
If a problem site is identified, guidance can be provided before an engineer attends, with information on any potential dangers before they arrive. Customers will also be advised of any problems identified, with recommendations for modifications / improvements that could be made to improve safety.
Stephen Curl, Carrier Group’s Environment, Health & Safety manager, said: “Reporting and analysis of near-misses is a key part of minimising risk and carrying out our duty of care to staff, customers and the public. The new tool streamlines the whole process of reporting, analysing and following-up incidents, and is extremely valuable.”
He added: “We know that near-miss incidents often precede serious accidents, but may be overlooked as there’s no actual harm. The new Toshiba near-miss reporting tool enables our staff to report close calls, giving us the opportunity to follow up and prevent potentially serious incidents in future.”
For more information on the near-miss reporting tool, go to http://www.toshiba-aircon.co.uk.
About Toshiba Air Conditioning UK
Toshiba Air Conditioning UK is a division of Toshiba Carrier UK Ltd, a joint venture between Toshiba and Carrier in the United Kingdom. Toshiba UK provides sustainable solutions integrating energy efficient products for residential and light commercial customers. Toshiba Carrier UK and its subsidiary companies are a part of UTC Climate, Controls & Security, a unit of United Technologies Corp., a leading provider to the aerospace and building systems industries worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.toshiba-aircon.co.uk.
Engineers can instantly report incidents on site with the new near-miss reporting tool, building up a database that can be analysed to spot trends