4 ways to automate hazard spotting

#1 - The basic check-in

Who it's for: Single-site businesses logging the occasional hazard, where one person spots something and wants it on record before it slips their mind.

Available on: Basic.

What it is: A location-tagged hazard report the worker files the moment they spot something wrong. Four steps on a phone: type what you saw, tap to drop a pin, pick a risk level, type what you did about it right now. Each completion is one stamped record, captured at the spot, in under a minute. The hazard is on the account before the person walks away from it.

In practice: Take a three-site garden centre. A team member wheeling trolleys back from the car park sees a paving slab that has lifted at the edge of the main path. They open the canvas, type "lifted slab on the path to the tills, sticks up about an inch", tap the location step to pin it, pick "Medium", and type "put a cone over it for now". Submit. The duty manager has the hazard, the exact spot, and the temporary fix, all timestamped, before the team member has even put the trolleys away.

Why it works: The moment of spotting is the moment with the most detail, and it is the moment you usually lose. A hazard remembered at the end of the shift loses the specifics: where exactly, how bad, what was already done. Filing it at the spot captures all three while they are fresh, and the server timestamp proves when it was known. Nothing can quietly fall off a mental list.

Steps included:

• 1 text input (what you saw)
• 1 location step (GPS pin)
• 1 single-choice step (3 options: Low, Medium, High)
• 1 text input (what you did right now)

When to upgrade:

1. Add written guidance (#2) once more than one person files hazards, so everyone reports the same things the same way.
2. Add photo evidence (#3) once a hazard needs to be understood by someone who was not standing there, or an inspector could ask to see it.
3. Add a signature (#4) once the report is part of an audited process and the record needs to be signed at the moment it is made.

#2 - With written guidance

Who it's for: Sites with rotating staff who all need to report the same way, including new starters who have never logged a hazard before.

Available on: Standard.

What it is: The basic report plus two guidance panels woven through the canvas. One panel sits at the top and explains what actually counts as a hazard. One sits at the end and explains who picks the report up next. A new starter on their first shift gets the same definition of "hazard" and the same expectation of follow-up as someone who has worked there for years, without anyone having to brief them.

In practice: Take a 24-hour distribution warehouse with three shifts and a steady churn of agency staff. On a busy site, a new picker often does not know whether a trailing cable or a half-blocked fire exit is worth logging, so they leave it. The opening guidance panel settles it: if you would warn a colleague about it, log it. The closing panel tells them the duty manager picks it up, high-risk items get sorted today, and the rest go on the list, so they know the report does not vanish. The night shift and the day shift now report the same hazards in the same way, and the manager sees one consistent stream rather than whatever each person happened to think was worth mentioning.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A "what counts as a hazard" panel at the top, with concrete examples (spills, cables across walkways, broken kit, things at head height).
2. A "who picks it up next" panel at the end, so the reporter knows the hazard is owned and triaged, not filed into a void.
3. One consistent reporting standard across everyone who runs it, instead of each person guessing what is worth logging.

Why it works: Written guidance sits inline at the moment the worker is about to act, not in an induction they half-remember. The new picker reads the definition of a hazard the first time they open the canvas, and reads it again the next time. It removes the two reasons people skip reporting: not being sure it counts, and not believing anything will happen if they do.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (what counts as a hazard)
• 1 text input (what you saw)
• 1 location step (GPS pin)
• 1 single-choice step (risk level)
• 1 text input (what you did right now)
• 1 guidance panel (who picks it up next)

When to upgrade: Move to Hazard Spot #3 once a written description is not enough on its own. Once the person fixing the hazard was not there to see it, or an auditor could ask for proof, a photo at the spot does the explaining the words cannot.

#3 - With photo evidence

Who it's for: Multi-site businesses wanting photo proof of each hazard, so the person fixing it can see exactly what was reported.

Available on: Standard.

What it is: The guided report plus a photo step taken at the spot. The worker takes a shot of the hazard itself with enough context that someone who was not there can see what they saw. The photo lands in the same record as the written note, the risk level, and the location pin. Whoever picks up the job can size it up before they walk over, and the record holds visual proof of the state it was in when it was found.

In practice: Take a facilities company maintaining a dozen office buildings across a city. A mobile caretaker doing a morning walk at one site finds a section of handrail coming away from the wall on a stairwell. A typed note would say "loose handrail, third floor", but the photo shows the two bolts that have pulled out and how far the rail flexes. The maintenance lead at head office sees the photo, knows it is a same-day fix and which parts to bring, and sends the right person first time. The before state is on record too, so once it is repaired there is proof of what it looked like when it was caught.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A photo step directly after the written report, capturing the hazard at the spot.
2. Visual proof of the state the hazard was in when it was found, which a written note cannot give.
3. Enough context for the person fixing it to plan the job before they arrive, instead of attending blind.

Why it works: A written note tells you a hazard exists. A photo tells you what it actually is. The two together let the person fixing it judge the urgency and bring the right kit, and they hold a record of the condition at the moment of spotting. Captured on the same device, at the same spot, the photo cannot be staged after the fact.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (what counts as a hazard)
• 1 text input (what you saw)
• 1 location step (GPS pin)
• 1 single-choice step (risk level)
• 1 text input (what you did right now)
• 1 guidance panel (who picks it up next)
• 1 photo step (the hazard)

When to upgrade: Move to Hazard Spot #4 once the report is part of an audited process, or your insurer expects each hazard record to carry a signed confirmation from the person who made it.

#4 - With photo and signature

Who it's for: Audited sites needing a signed, contemporaneous hazard record on every report.

Available on: Standard.

What it is: The photo-evidenced report plus a reporter signature at the end of every submission. Four independent stamps on a single report: timestamp, location pin, photo, signature. The reporter signs to confirm the report is honest and accurate. An auditor or an insurer would accept this as a contemporaneous record at the level expected from a signed paper hazard book, captured in under a minute on a phone.

In practice: Take a regional construction firm running several active sites at once. Every hazard logged by every operative carries a finger-drawn signature at the bottom. On one site, a labourer reports a stack of materials leaning toward a walkway, pins it, photographs it, and signs. The signature is captured on the touchscreen, timestamped, and attached to the same record as the pin and the photo. When the firm's safety audit comes round, the auditor pulls a sample of hazard reports, sees a named reporter and a signature on each one, and the audit closes in an afternoon instead of dragging on while paper logs are chased down.

What it adds to the previous template:

1. A signature step at the end of every report.
2. A fourth independent stamp (the signature) on the same record as the timestamp, the location pin, and the photo.
3. A defensible record at the level an auditor or an insurer expects, with the reporter's confirmation attached.

Why it works: The signature is what closes the loop. The other three stamps say a hazard was here, at this time, looking like this. The signature adds: and this person stands behind the report. Captured on the same device, at the same moment, in the same record, the four together are what an auditor or an insurer expects to see when they ask how the site catches and records risk.

Steps included:

• 1 guidance panel (what counts as a hazard)
• 1 text input (what you saw)
• 1 location step (GPS pin)
• 1 single-choice step (risk level)
• 1 text input (what you did right now)
• 1 guidance panel (who picks it up next)
• 1 photo step (the hazard)
• 1 signature step (reporter sign-off)

When to upgrade: The next variations layer Poppi on top. A Poppi briefing that surfaces the site's open hazards from earlier in the week. A Poppi gate that flags a high-risk report for immediate attention. A Poppi action that posts a new hazard straight to the duty manager's channel. Coming in the next post update.

How to pick the right version

You do not need to know how the canvas builder works to pick the right version. You only need to answer three questions about how your team runs.

Is it just you running this, or do other people run it too?

If it is just you, the basic report (#1) is enough. You already know what counts as a hazard and who deals with it, so you do not need the canvas to spell it out.

If anyone else files hazards (a colleague, a new starter, a rotating crew), go to #2 onwards. The guidance panels are what stop people guessing whether something is worth logging and whether anything will happen if they do. You write the guidance once; everyone reads it inline.

Do you need a photo as proof, or is the typed-and-tapped record enough?

If the person who fixes the hazard is the same person who spots it, or a written note is enough for them to act, stick with #1 or #2.

If the hazard gets fixed by someone who was not there, or an auditor could ask to see what was reported, the written note alone is rarely enough. Go to #3. The photo at the spot shows the state of the hazard and lets the right person turn up with the right kit.

Do you need someone to sign off at the end?

If the report is operational and no auditor will ever look at it, a record is enough. Stick at #3.

If the report is part of an audited or insured process, the signature is the lock. Go to #4. The signature closes the record with the reporter's confirmation on the same report as the timestamp, location, and photo.

Related workflows

• 4 ways to automate lone worker check-ins
• 4 ways to automate near-miss reports
• 4 ways to automate maintenance fault reports
• 4 ways to automate damage reports

Conclusion

A hazard report is a location-tagged record filed at the spot, with what you saw, how risky it is, and what you did about it. The version a multi-site business runs turns a vague "there was something on the third floor" into a timestamped, signed photo the right person can act on the same day.

Pick the version that matches how your team runs today, not the most sophisticated one you can imagine running someday. Open each template in the playground above and try it on a real hazard this week.