How to report an Incident on the mobile app

This page will walk you through how to report an incident while using the Sospes mobile app.

Reporting an Incident (Mobile App)

Incident Reports document any event that resulted in an injury, property damage, environmental release, motor vehicle accident or security threat. These submissions are crucial to tracking incident rates and improving workplace safety. 

To report an incident on the Sospes app, you will first need to download the app onto your mobile device. Once you have installed the Sospes app on your mobile device, log in to the portal using your username and password. From the menu on the home page, press Report an Incident. 

Completing an Incident Report

When did the incident occur?

The first step in completing an Incident report is to record the date and time that the incident occurred. Sospes will automatically populate the date and time with the current date and time, however it is likely that you will need to adjust this for better accuracy if the incident occurred earlier. 

To change the date:

• Press the gray box that contains the date and a scroll box will appear at the bottom of the page with the current date.  
• Scroll through the month, day and year columns until the desired date is highlighted. 

To change the time: 

• Press the gray box that contains the time and a scroll box will appear at the bottom of the page with the current time. 
• Scroll through the hour, minute and AM/PM columns until the desired time is highlighted. 

To return to the page, press any blank space on the page and this will close the date or time pop-up. After selecting the desired date and time, press Next. 

Where did the incident occur?  

The next step in completing this report is to identify the relevant facility and location for this report. 

Select a Facility

To do this:

• Press the Select a Facility box. This will open a dropdown list containing your company’s preconfigured facilities. 
• Scroll through the list until you find the desired facility. 
• Press on the facility from the list that best describes to where the report applies.
• You can also search for the facility by pressing Search and typing in the name of the facility to filter list.
• If you cannot find an applicable facility from the list, you may select Other and proceed to the next text box. 

Location

Once you have the facility selected, the next text box is where you will select a location to where this report applies. The location is a place within the facility that provides more specificity about where your report applies to. To do this: 

• Press the Select a Location box. This will open a dropdown list containing your company’s preconfigured locations that are specific to the facility that you have already selected. 
• Scroll through the list until you find the desired location.
• Press the location from the list that best describes where your report applies to.
• You can also search for the location by pressing Search and typing in the name of the desired location to filter list.
• If you cannot find an applicable location from the list, you may select Other.
• If you select Other a red text box will appear below where you will be required to type the name of the location in the text box using your mobile device’s keyboard.

Example of facility and location: 

Let’s say your company has the following facilities and locations set up:

Denver Site (Facility)

• Parking Lot (Location)
• Office (Location)
• Warehouse (Location)

Boulder Site (Facility)

• Parking Lot (Location)
• Rooftop (Location)
• Lobby (Location) 

Using this example, if an employee was injured while working in the Denver Warehouse area, you would select “Denver” as your facility and “Warehouse” as your location. 

Location Details (Optional field)

This is an optional field that can be used to further define a location. To do this:

• Press on the text box labeled Location Details and type in any additional details of the location.

Facility = Denver Site
Location = Warehouse
Location Details = North emergency exit

GPS Location (Optional field, only available on Mobile App)

With your mobile app, you also have the option of adding your GPS Location. To do this: 

• Press Get my GPS location. 

To remove your GPS location:

• Press Remove my GPS location.

Only use the GPS Location feature if you are currently at the location of the incident you are reporting. If you are no longer at the location where the incident occurred, this may result in inaccuracies.

Once all required fields are answered on this page, press Next.

Incident Type

Sospes makes reporting easy and streamlined by combining motor vehicle collision reports, injury reports, illness reports, property damage reports, environmental spill reports and security threat report templates into one. Indicating the incident types in this section will determine what questions are added to this report and which questions will be left out. For each type of incident, you will answer Yes, No or I don’t know. Based on which incident types you select, specific questions will be generated throughout this report. 

• Were there injuries?
  Anything causing harm to a person, even if it only resulted in a slight bruise. This also includes illnesses. 

• Was there a motor vehicle incident?
  Any time a road-registered vehicle is involved in an incident.  

• Was there property damage?
  Any time a piece of property collides with another, is dropped or unintentionally impacted even if nothing is visibly broken. 

• Was there environmental damage?
  Any type of material or chemical is released. The material doesn’t have to be hazardous, it’s still important to report it. 

• Was there a security threat?
  Any type of hostile encounter, criminal behavior or HR issue.

Note: You must indicate Yes to at least one of the incident type questions in order for this report to be classified as an incident. If you begin an incident report and select “No” for all five incident categories, you will be prompted to switch to close call.

Describing the Event 

What was the specific activity or task involved?

This section is used to describe the event's narrative. There are two text boxes that appear on this screen. The top one is where you need to describe the specific activity or task involved in the event. This field should be used to describe the activity that led to the event. To do this:

• Move your cursor to the text box by tapping on the Response field.
• Using your device's keyboard, begin typing. This field should be a short description, one sentence maximum.

What happened?

This section is for the full narrative of what exactly happened. You are welcome to be as descriptive as you like. To do this:

• Move your cursor to the text box by tapping the Response field.
• Using your device's keyboard, begin typing. 

Example:
What was the specific activity or task involved?
Employee was lifting a box up onto a shelf. 
What happened?
As the employee leaned over to pick up the box of product, they began to lift and felt a pinch in their lower back. This caused them to drop the product, damaging it as well. They continued to experience lower back pain after dropping the item.  

Tell Us About It (Using Voice Recordings)

While using a mobile device, you also have the option of recording an audio file instead typing up your answers to the previous two questions. To do this:  

• Begin recording by pressing on the START button. 
• Begin speaking into your device's microphone and describe what happened. 
• Stop recording by pressing the STOP button. This will display a playback control that will allow you to listen to your recording before you move on. 
• To delete your voice recording and rerecord, repeat the steps over again. 

No Recording Attached	Currently Recording	Recording Attached
START button is white STOP button is grey	START button is grey STOP button is white	START button is white STOP button is grey PLAYBACK button is visible

Add some photos. 

This next section gives you the opportunity to add photos to this report. Adding photos can help provide context for your report, describe the circumstances better and creates useful documentation. Adding photos in this section is optional, so if you do not wish to add any, you may skip to the next section. 

To add photos:

There are two ways you can add photos to a report while using a mobile device. You may add as many photos as you like to this section of the report. 

Use your device's camera to take a photo. To do this: 

• Press the Take Photo button and this will open your device's camera.* 
• The steps for using the camera will vary slightly depending onthe device that you are using, but once you have taken the picture, press Use Photo (iOS Devices) or OK (Android Devices). 

*You must grant the Sospes app permission to use your camera in order to take pictures through the app.

Use an existing photo from your device's library. To do this:

• Press Pick Photo, this will open up your device's photo library.
• Select the desired photo from your mobile device’s photo library. 

Adding an image description.

After taking or adding a photo, you will be prompted to “Add Image Description.” This where you can describe your photo. Tap on the "Enter Description" text box to move your cursor to the text box and begin typing. Once you have typed in your description, press OK. Every picture uploaded must have a description. 

Were any of these involved in the incident?

You will then be asked to select each of the situations, if any, that the employee was working in when the incident occurred. Select all that apply. If none of the factors apply, select NONE OF THESE.

• RELEASE OF ENERGY (ELECTRICAL, STEAM, PNEUMATIC, CHEMICAL)
  Energy sources including electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal, or other sources in machines and equipment can be hazardous to workers. During the servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment, the unexpected startup or release of stored energy can result in serious injury or damage.
• WORK AT HEIGHT
  Working at height refers to work that takes place in any circumstance in which a fall could cause personal injury. This includes working on a ladder, a flat roof, or a fragile surface or even in an area near an opening in a floor or a hole in the ground.
• LOCKOUT/TAGOUT
  Lock Out, Tag Out is a safety procedure used in industry and research settings to ensure that dangerous machines are properly shut off and not able to be started up again prior to the completion of maintenance or repair work
• MATERIALS HANDLING/LIFTING
  Materials handling & lifting typically refers to the moving or handling things by lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling, carrying, holding, or restraining. This is the most common cause of occupational fatigue, low back pain and lower back injuries.
• VEHICLE/MOBILE EQUIPMENT
  Mobile equipment typically refers to equipment or machinery that is primarily designed for non-road use such as forklifts, cranes, etc. Vehicles are usually defined as manned machines that are mobile. 
• CONFINED SPACE
  A confined space is a space with limited entry and egress and not suitable for human inhabitants. An example is the interior of a storage tank, occasionally entered by maintenance workers but not intended for human occupancy.
• OVERHEAD WORK
  Overhead work can be classified in two instances; Work that takes place above other workers or work that's being performed with arms raised above a worker's head.
• NONE OF THESE
  If none of the above apply, select this one.

Were you working in any of these situations?

You will then be asked to select each of the situations, if any, that you were working in when the incident occurred. Select all that apply. If none of the situations apply, select NONE OF THESE.

• INSPECTION/REPAIR/MAINTENANCE ACTIVITY
  A maintenance activity is the process of repairing equipment or machines.
• UNUSUAL/NON-ROUTINE/RUSHED WORK
  Non-routine work are jobs and tasks that are performed irregularly or being performed for the first time.
• SHUTDOWN/START-UP
  Shutdown is what you do when you turn your process equipment off. Startup is what you do when you start your process equipment.
• PROCESS UPSET/ABNORMAL CONDITION
  Upset condition means a failure, breakdown, or malfunction of any piece of process equipment that causes, or has the potential to cause, excess injury or damage.
• NO PRE-PLANNING
  No pre-planning implies that there was a failure to prepare a plan, follow a plan or properly plan the execution of an action.
• OVERTIME/EXTENDED HOURS
  Any shift that incorporates more continuous hours, requires more consecutive days of work, or requires work during the evening should be considered extended or unusual.
• NONE OF THESE
  If none of the above apply, select this one.

What contributed to this incident?

Select all factors that contributed to this incident. If a factor is not listed, select OTHER and describe the factor in the text box by clicking in the text box outlined in red. By default, it will say PLEASE SPECIFY. 

• WORK PROCEDURE/PRACTICE
  Work procedures are standardized processes that outline how to conduct tasks with minimal risk to people, materials, and work environments. If there is procedure and there should be or if the procedure was not effective, check this box.
• INSPECTION/MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES
  Inspection and maintenance procedures are standardized processes that outline how to conduct maintenance tasks with minimal risk to people, materials, and work environments. If there is procedure and there should be or if the procedure was not effective, check this box.
• INADEQUATE RESOURCES
  If the resources provided for this task, such as PPE or personnel, were not adequate then check this box.
• EQUIPMENT/TOOLS
  If the equipment or tools contributed to this event by either being defective, inadequate or improper then check this box.
• ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS 
  Environmental factors include temperature, food, pollutants, population density, sound, light, and parasites.
• DRUGS/ALCOHOL
  If this event was the result of someone being impaired by drugs or alcohol, check this box. IMPORTANT NOTE: This classification may be handled differently by each organization. If you are unsure about how to answer this, contact your organization’s safety team or HR team.
• COMPLACENCY
  If this event resulted from a lack of focus, unawareness or ignorance of a hazardous condition, check this box.
• DISTRACTION BY DEVICE OR ACTIVITY
  If this event resulted from someone being distracted by a mobile device or other non-work related activity, check this box.
• OTHER
  If none of the above options apply, check this box and fill in the free form text box that pops up.

Incident Type-specific Questions

Depending on which incident types you indicated were involved in this report in the Incident Types section, you will see different questions once you reach this point in the report. For a refresher on how incident types are selected, return to the Incident Type section of this user guide. 

For more details on answering questions specific to each incident type, use the links below to be redirected to user guides on each one. Remember that an incident report may likely have more than one incident type so it may be useful to review multiple. 

These options are listed in the order they will appear in the report, if all selected. 

Question you will see	Incident Type	Link to help page
Who was Injured?	Injury / Illness	Click to View
Motor Vehicle - What vehicle was involved in the incident?	Motor Vehicle	Click to View
Who did the damaged property belong to?	Property Damage	Click to View
Was a hazardous material released?	Environmental Damage	Click to View
Who or what was involved in the security incident?	Security Threat	Click to View

 

After completing the incident-specific questions, continue to the next section Were Corrective/Preventative Actions taken? The questions from this point on will all be the same for all types of incidents that were selected.

Were Corrective/Preventative Actions taken?

This section appears on all incidents, close calls and observations which allows you to document any immediate corrective or preventative actions that were taken. Immediate corrective and preventative actions are defined as action items taken at the time of submitting the report or shortly after in an effort to mitigate or improve the situation. This may not necessarily be the only action taken in response to this report, but rather just the immediate one. 

• Press Yes to indicate that there were indeed actions taken. This will give you a place to document them.
• Press No to indicate that no actions have been taken. This will give you a place to describe how this could have been prevented.

Describe the corrective actions.                                                                        (Result of Yes to Corrective/Preventative Actions question)

If you indicated that, yes, there were corrective/preventative actions taken, then this question will appear. This section allows you to describe the action to take to mitigate or improve the situation. To complete this section: 

• Move your cursor to the white text box where the word RESPONSE appears by pressing on the text box.
• Begin typing.
• Press the minimize keyboard button or tap on any blank space on the screen to close the keyboard.

UPLOAD PHOTOS (Of the corrective/preventative action)

You also have the option of selecting photos that document the action that was taken. These photos should be specifically of the corrective/preventative action.

To add photos:

There are two ways you can add photos to a report while using a mobile device. You may add as many photos as you like to this section of the report. 

Use your device's camera to take a photo. To do this: 

• Press the Take Photo button and this will open your device's camera.* 
• The steps for using the camera will vary slightly depending on the device that you are using, but once you have taken the picture, press Use Photo (iOS Devices) or OK (Android Devices). 

*You must grant the Sospes app permission to use your camera in order to take pictures through the app.

Use an existing photo from your device's library. To do this:

• Press Pick Photo, this will open up your device's photo library.
• Select the desired photo from your mobile device’s photo library. 

Adding an image description.
After taking or adding a photo, you will be prompted to “Add Image Description.” This is where you can describe your photo. Tap on the "Enter Description" text box to move your cursor to the text box and begin typing. Once you have typed in your description, press OK. Every picture uploaded must have a description. 

Submitting this Report

Once all required questions and fields are completed, you are ready to submit your report. At the end of the report you will see a button that says VIEW SUMMARY at the bottom of the screen. Press this to be taken to the summary page and begin submitting this report.

Summary

On this page you can review all of the answers in your report. If you would like to edit any of the answers, tap the red pen icon to the side of each section. This will take you back to that particular portion of the report so that changes can be made.

Submit 

If you are content with all of your answers, scroll to the bottom of the summary screen and click the SUBMIT button. After submitting, you will be returned to the My Safety page on go.sospes.com. Submitted reports go to the Supervisor Portal where they can be further managed by users with the proper permissions. You must submit your report in order for it to be complete. Viewing the summary page and not pressing SUBMIT or SAVE AS DRAFT will result in your report not being saved and potentially losing it.