AgSafe is the educational leader for the food and farming industries in supporting their commitment to a healthy and safe workforce and a sustainable wholesome food supply. Our vision is to be the one-stop resource providing safety, health, human resources and food safety solutions for the agricultural industry.
Project Background
When AgSafe originally contacted us, they had a series of paper based inspection documents which they wanted to make more accessible to farms and ranches. They wanted to create a system for individual farms, and ranches so they could easily capture and store equipment inspections. AgSafe wanted to encourage farmers to conduct these inspections while adhering to a standard. Because the inspections need to be done on the field, the problem was that the inspections were either not being done, being done too late or were being completed incorrectly.
Furthermore, these inspections needed to be submitted and stored so they can be retrieved at a later time. All these issues made it hard for farmers to comply with these safety regulations. AgSafe hoped that by creating an easy to use system which addressed these issues, it would increase the number of farmers complying with safety regulations.
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Solution
The first step in creating a system for AgSafe was to understand and standardize the equipment inspection documents. Because each inspection was different for each type of equipment, we had to create a new standard framework and mold each equipment inspection to fit within the framework. We also worked with AgSafe to understand the intended user and the limitations they might have. One of them for example, was making sure the app was accessible and functional without any Internet access.
With this information in hand, we figured out all the use cases and created a plan outlining how the entire system would work and how users would interact with it. The solution involved creating 3 different components. The first was to create a native Android app that would walk the user step by step in completing the inspection. Once the inspection was finished, the app would then be emailed to a supervisor.
The second part of the system was a MS Access database that could import the inspections which had been received through email. The access database would be able to store all information about the inspection including equipment, dates, and employees. The database also would have the ability to give managers better insights into their employees and the usage and maintenance of equipment. The last component was an administrative panel for AgSafe to issue new app licenses.
Results
The app was rolled out to BC and the rest of Canada. The process has helped farmers streamline and enforce their safety regulations. Agsafe has received positive feedback on the system’s ease of use and value. As a result, an iPhone app was requested and completed just a few months after the Android app was released.
