The Department for Infrastructure and Transport

How DIT digitised contractor safety and emergency management across 1,800+ sites

With a strategic focus to deliver continual improvement, DIT Property implemented Quartex’s site access & onboarding solution as a platform to centralise and digitalise their workforce safety, site access, emergency communications and monitoring.

This has not only transformed its contractors’ experience onsite but also improved DIT Property’s ability to communicate relevant information specific to each site and as a result, significantly reduced the risk for each person who visits one of their sites.

The challenge: up to date safety information and record keeping

As soon as a contractor enters a DIT Property owned or managed site, they fall under DIT Property’s duty of care and with a constantly expanding list of contractors and varied range of risk across each site, the need for accurate and instantaneous channels to communicate essential safety information is critical.

Given DIT Property has such a diverse and geographically distributed portfolio of sites, including in some of South Australia’s most remote regions, it presents unique challenges

With Quartex’s site access & onboarding solution delivering real-time data across all its sites, DIT Property is able to centrally manage its access requirements from its Adelaide Head Office, irrespective of where any of its sites are located.

The department needed a way to ensure they could deliver the most up to date safety and emergency information to contractors across all its sites and ensure they could capture records of each individual contractor reading and acknowledging the information.

“Our business is quite unique, so to be able to find a system that was flexible and could be adjusted to fit exactly what we needed was fantastic. Our team were able to work closely with the developers of Quartex’s site access & onboarding solution, which allowed us to play a part in shaping the final product,” DIT’s Compliance and Sustainability Manager Luke Kewell said.

Contractors now sign in using a QR code or by the self-check-in functionality through Quartex’s site access & onboarding solution, which takes them through an induction specific to whichever site they are on – identifying the risks and emergency processes relevant to them at the time. If the site does not allow for a QR code to be displayed, the platform allows users to sign in through a geo-fence feature where the app can confirm they are on site and provide them with the information needed for that area.

The team can also clearly communicate any updates to legislation and protocol to its contractors instantaneously through the platform, providing tremendous efficiencies to its operations.

DIT Property has been able to reinvent its emergency management, giving it the capability of knowing exactly who is on site in an emergency and contact them directly through Quartex’s site access & onboarding solution, allowing contractors and staff to be advised of muster points and procedures instantaneously. It can even utilise the system for roll calls and ensure everyone is safe.

The impact: efficiency and accuracy

Incorporating Quartex’s site access & onboarding solution into DIT Property’s facilities management process has enabled DIT Property to access real time data, which is assisting in better managing risks.

“It’s been a huge win for worker safety across the whole Department, The DIT Property team are constantly suggesting ideas with the Quartex site access & onboarding developers to improve the software. We believe this state-of-the-art solution could be expanded and utilised across all Government sites,” Facilities Manager Ian Ferguson said.

In the first five months, 833 contractors have registered from 300 different companies and with check-ins across 400 different DIT Property sites, with a total of 3000 contractors expected to register. Such a high success rate has this year facilitated the further expansion of Quartex’s site access & onboarding solution utilisation across an additional 1,300 departmental residential sites.

Quartex’s site access & onboarding solution has allowed DIT Property to take its reporting to the next level, producing detailed and accurate data for each site at the click of a button.

It has also provided DIT Property with the level of comfort and security it needed when working with so many contractors across such a diverse collection of sites. Employees can now feel confident in knowing each person that steps foot on a DIT Property site has access to the information they need to stay safe.

About The Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT)

The Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) is one of South Australia’s largest government departments, with approximately 3,000 staff operating in locations throughout South Australia.

DIT Property is responsible for delivering effective planning policy, efficient transport, and valuable social and economic infrastructure – holding responsibility for the majority of the built-form Government assets across South Australia, such as railways, roads, and buildings.

As a result of developing and maintaining such a significant portfolio, DIT Property works extremely closely with around 3,000 external contractors across 1,800 properties – many of which do not have DIT Property employees on site.