Safedig Services boasts over 25 years’ experience in vacuum excavation, underground service locating, telecommunications and civil construction across Queensland and New South Wales. We are one of the few Telstra-accredited locating contractors for optic fibres in Brisbane, Gladstone and Mackay, servicing major clients such as Aurizon, Queensland Rail, Lendlease, BMD Constructions and GHD Engineering. Safedig Services are a step ahead of their competition by working together as a family to provide a family valued service to their clients.
Processes and growing demand
With heavy involvement in NBN HFC rollout in Queensland, the demand for our services was growing exponentially. As we grew busier, our paper-based processes for scheduling, compliance management and collection of timesheets were not keeping up with our growth. With each job, we handled 3-4 bits of paper, from employee timesheets to dump sheets, works dockets and safety forms. We needed a solution that would scale as we grew, provide instant feedback and remove paperwork from the jobsite.
A Software Solution
Assignar provided a holistic platform for our operations. As our business grew busier, we needed a solution that provided quick communication of important site information and insight into our crew and plant’s activities. Assignar provided this visibility for our team.
Assignar reduced the time and stress associated with admin work in the office, especially for safety forms and time documents which are necessary for us to invoice clients. Prior to Assignar, we used a google form with many extensions that produced a clunky solution but achieved results. For any corrective actions from safety forms, we would have to wait until the end of the day to action them but now with Assignar, we get this information in real-time from the jobsite.
“We used to get pre-start checklists at the end of the day at 4:00 pm. Now we get an email by 8:00 am and can notify the maintenance and operations team immediately.”
Our accounts department has also saved time in their payroll processes. Handwritten timesheets were challenging to decipher and often had calculation errors. But now with digital timesheets, we can see discrepancies or mistakes instantly and action them accordingly.
In our business, we deal with new clients and new worksites every day which increases our information flows. With Assignar’s scheduler, we can see orders, allocations, skills and competencies at a glance and communicate it effectively across the team.
Assignar is also the digital repository of our crew’s competencies, tickets and licenses. Before Assignar, we had many different excel sheets to track competencies and fire extinguisher registers but now we have great visibility into when they expire and which worker is best for each job. Furthermore, Assignar has automated competency updates, with employees adding and updating their own competencies via the Worker app.
Assignar and our team
We started implementing Assignar with pilot training to a few operators, helping them through the app 1 on 1. Once we had ironed out a few issues and achieved positive feedback, we ran a team training session at a toolbox talk. After which, we established the key role Assignar now plays in our operations. Of course, the older gents aren’t as used to technology and are taking longer to figure out the App but we’ve developed some “cheat-sheets” to make using Assignar a positive daily habit at work.
Through Assignar, the team appreciate the opportunity to prepare for the next day’s work – they can see where they are working, what tasks they need to perform and if any extra equipment is needed. Nothing is a surprise on the morning of the job. As workers, they have better insight into their jobs and tasks and there is a two-way feedback loop from our crew to management.
“Assignar has been good for us. We are excited to pick up a lot more work and move to the digital age.” – Daniel Parnell, Operations Coordinator
