App saves Health & Safety paperwork

Risks could be updated by the farmer, and visitors could report risks or incidents by phone. Photo / Getty Images

Onside has launched an online health and safety app for farmers to make compliance with the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 easier.

It enabled farmers to develop their own health and safety plan by working through a pre-populated list of risks overlaid on a satellite map of their farm, chief executive Ryan Higgs said.

Contractors and visitors who entered the farm would be prompted to sign in on a smartphone as they crossed a virtual "geo-fence''.

They would be presented with any risks to review and acknowledge before signing in.

Risks could be updated by the farmer, and visitors could report risks or incidents by phone.

All information was stored in the cloud, avoiding the need for "mountains of paperwork''.

The system had offline capability so could be used by farmers in areas with poor cellular service.

OnSide's mapping technology allowed farmers to map farm boundaries and use photographs to show risks, rather than write descriptions.

It allowed anyone on the farm to quickly and easily access instructions for emergencies.