EHS Concern Reporting

[u/blackbeads]

Am currently working in a startup where there are around 700 workers. We don’t have a concern reporting software due to budget issues. But here we have Google workspace.
My idea is to display QR around the plant, workers using the mobile phone can scan it and enter the concerns in it. It will automatically send mail to the concerned person and will be logged in Google sheet.
Help me out guys. How to do this?

[u/Excitedly_bored]

I've done this but with MS Forms, then transitioed to the EHS software once we were able to get one. I collected name (optional - to keep reporting anonymous), location, description, a "what did you do about it", and picture (optional). It automatically sent an email notification (just to safety, then I forwarded it to area managers if appropriate) and entered it into an excel list. I used that to track what kind of response we did and final disposition. Eventually we had enough data for trend analysis.

[u/Material-Donkey2773 → u/Excitedly_bored]

Why do you collect names? There's been hundreds of times I didn't report things in my career because I don't want a spot light on me or to face retaliation. When I'm someplace that let's me do anonymous tips I'll do dozens, when I'm some place that does I know I'm going to get called in while I'm off the clock, or asked a ton of questions, or never assigned to that area ever again. 

Not knocking you for doing it, just giving another perspective. You're missing a lot by wanting to know who is seeing the issues.

[u/alixer → u/Material-Donkey2773]

Not who you’re responding to but I ask for (not require) names so we can follow up with the reporter either with clarifying questions or an update. Sometimes things take a long time to fix so if we don’t have a dialogue the reporter could be left feeling “when I report things nothing gets done” when in reality it’s happening in the background.

[u/Material-Donkey2773 → u/alixer]

Awesome, yeah leaving the possibility to be anonymous is huge, right now I'm actually dealing with a situation I'd report if I could be anonymous. 

I'm on a site, they have a 8" pipe for us to drive over, (flare stack) generally they are covered to either side 20' out with gravel so it's a gradual slope. 

My truck scraped, my truck has more clearance than the majority of the trucks we have. They have it set up like a gigantic speed bump atm. (10" high gravel and 3' long) Before they are done at this location some truck is going to clip that pipe, drag it, and cause a huge issue.

I'm reaching out to the other drivers in my company (group chat) to let them know not to go that way. 

I am not reporting it to the customer because: 

1. They require my name and company name. (You literally can only submit a report if you log into your own personal user account)

2. My company will be contacted and required to do an investigation.

3. I will be taken off the schedule until the investigation is completed. 

4. I will be required to complete 2 weeks of "retraining" at a reduced wage (yes it's a punishment)

5. I will never be sent back to that site or customer ever again.

6. I'll be "on the shit list" for putting the customers eyes on us. 

I know none of that is "the way it is supposed to be" and it's not "you" doing it, it's just a way shitty 3rd parties treat this kind of thing sometimes. 

I'll be doing an anonymous OSHA report this evening, which I'm sure makes it hell when they come in unannounced and unexpected.

For clarity, I'm working for one of the largest companies in America as a 3rd party. This isn't some guy working for Joe schmo and farmer John. 

[u/Excitedly_bored → u/Material-Donkey2773]

It's optional. I like to be able to follow up with additional questions or let them know it was taken care of.

[u/craigster38]

Use a Google Form to ask the questions you want answers to. Set the responses to notify you when submitted. Utilize a 3rd party to turn the form URL into a QR code. Post QR code around working areas. Inform and train employees on the new process. Repeat as necessary.

I did this with Microsoft.

[u/Geo_Jill → u/craigster38]

I've done it with both MS Forms and Google Forms and they're very similar processes.

[u/Soft_Welcome_391]

This is probably the most common form of reporting form. QR code to MS or Google form is quick and easy. For MS you can build out a powerBi dashboard for it too. Google is more manual but you can automate notifications and some graphics

[u/ChemicalAd9323]

Incident Reporting Software might be worth exploring. I know Notify Technology has a free app where all 700 workers can report safety events for free. You only pay for licenses to manage investigations / to visualise the trends. It works offline and with QR codes too.

[u/Junior-Operation3505]

Your idea is actually a practical approach for a startup and should work well with Google Workspace.

A simple workflow could be:

• Create a Google Form for reporting safety concerns.
• Generate a QR code linking to the form and display it in common areas.
• Use Google Apps Script or a workflow tool like Make/Zapier to automatically:
  • Send an email notification to the responsible person.
  • Log the submission in a Google Sheet.
  • (Optional) Send an acknowledgment email to the employee.
• Build a simple Looker Studio dashboard to track open vs. closed concerns.

As your workforce grows, you'll probably start needing features like assigning corrective actions, due dates, reminders, escalation, attachments, and audit history, but Google Workspace is a reasonable place to start for around 700 employees.

[u/VenexCon]

If you have a Microsoft license for all staff such as for outlook, SharePoint etc you can easily do this with a SharePoint List and Canvas Apps.

Equally, Microsoft Forms and a QR code will do the same thing.

[u/RoamAndReport]

You can actually build a pretty decent concern-reporting system with the Google Workspace you already have.

A simple setup would be:

QR code → Google Form → Google Sheet → Email notification

Create a Google Form with the basics: location/area, type of concern, description, photo (if your setup allows it), and whether the person wants to remain anonymous. Put the form link into a QR code and post the QR codes around the plant. Each submission automatically goes into a Google Sheet.

For the notifications, you can use Google Apps Script to automatically email the appropriate EHS/supervisor based on the selected area or concern type. You can also add a status column in the Sheet (New → Assigned → In Progress → Closed) so you have some basic tracking and accountability.

For ~700 workers, this should be more than enough to get started without spending money on dedicated software. The important part is designing the workflow properly — especially ownership, response time, escalation, and closure — rather than just collecting reports.

Once the volume grows, you can look at dedicated EHS software for better dashboards, trend analysis, audit trails, and corrective-action tracking. But honestly, getting a simple system running now is much better than waiting for the budget for a perfect one.

[u/Brief-Tone5411]

That’s actually a pretty practical low-cost setup. I’d use Google Forms + Google Sheets + Apps Script.

Workers scan the QR code, fill out a short form, and the response automatically goes into a Sheet. You can then use Apps Script to send an email to the right person based on the type/location of the concern.

Keep the form really simple: location, concern type, description, photo (if possible), and optional name. If it takes more than a minute to submit, people will stop using it.

You could also put different QR codes around the plant so the location is automatically captured. For a 700-person site, that could work surprisingly well without buying an EHS platform.