According to the National Safety Council, 510 workers are injured on the job every hour. No matter what industry you work in, health and safety incidents present risks in the workplace.

However, the right tools can improve safety in your organization. This article explains how it can help you resolve incidents faster, collaborate securely and analyze areas of risk to prevent future incidents.

Track Safety Incident Trends

To improve safety in your workplace, you can't merely address incidents after they occur. You need to figure out what types of incidents occur, where and when they happen and the root cause.

Incident software with a risk analysis feature can help you identify safety incident trends. You can sort incident data by type, employee or location (e.g. work site, branch, store, region, state, etc.) into a graph, chart or heat map for easier analysis.

Sorting this data manually could take hours and introduces the possibility of human error. Using a trend analysis tool helps you spot problem areas in just a few clicks. You'll know where to increase inspections, update equipment or implement additional safety measures and can make changes faster for better prevention.

RELATED: What is Incident Management Software?

Report on Incidents From Anywhere

Workplace incidents can occur at work sites, in the field or at the workplace itself. However, some incident management systems require you to be in the office to log an incident.

As a result, you might forget key details you need for both internal reports and those required by OSHA or other regulatory bodies. Without all the details, you might not address the incident properly, and risk similar incidents in the future. Waiting to report also slows down the resolution process, which increases your liability.

Incident software with a web-based, mobile-friendly platform lets you log incidents immediately, from anywhere with an internet connection. You can upload incident details, photos and statements right away. Not only does this help investigators should an investigation be warranted, but also ensures you'll meet reporting deadlines.

Boost Compliance with Safety Regulations

Safety regulations from bodies such as OSHA and CCOHS are designed to protect your employees. That's why complying with them fully is critical if you want to improve workplace safety for your staff.

Unfortunately, keeping track of which form to file and when can be a challenge. Incident software eliminates the guesswork in two main ways.

First, you can instantly file your incident report directly to the relevant body right from the application. Instead of writing the report, then figuring out where to send it and finally mailing or emailing it to the right place, the software builds the process in to your incident reporting. It compiles the relevant information from the incident file into a complete, compliant report that you can then send off to regulators, all right in the software.

Built-in OSHA templates with guidelines also reduce the time and stress of incident reporting. For instance, if you tag an incident file as a workplace accident, you'll be prompted to fill out OSHA Form 300. The software not only tells you which form to use, but also assigns it a workflow task to ensure you meet your reporting deadline.

RELATED: The Complete Guide to Workplace Incident Investigations

Keep Sensitive Information Secure

Managing workplace incidents both securely and thoroughly can be challenging. On the one hand, you want to keep the employee's information private. Their incident file not only contains identifying information such as their name and address, but might also mention medical information, especially if they suffered an accident.

On the other hand, multiple people, teams and departments often have to collaborate to resolve an incident. To protect the employee's privacy, each team member working on their case should only have access to the information they need to do their job.

Incident software with role-based access lets you collaborate securely. Each person can upload their contributions and work right in the case file, with viewing and editing access set by their role, department or manually by a manager. Not having to send documents over email or on paper saves time and reduces the risk that sensitive information will be compromised.