“Health and safety is one of the fundamental pillars of our whole operation,” states Bradley Rogerson, the Commercial Delivery Team Manager at Pod Point.
He explains, “We must ensure that all our guys are safe and working in a safe manner and have all the tools they need. We also need to make sure that we are fully compliant and up to date. So it’s very important that we have everything documented – it’s one of the key things we focus on.”
For Pod Point, making the transition from ambitious start-up with a vision to transform the UK’s transport infrastructure to one of the top-ranked and fastest-growing EVC companies in the UK required the rapid development of standardised business processes. This included implementing professional and centralised health and safety processes.
"HandsHQ has been fantastic at helping us ensure our engineers’ safety and our business compliance."
Currently, Pod Point is installing around 4,000 EV chargers per month to meet domestic demand. A further 150 projects are installed as part of commercial projects for UK businesses, and larger, complex installations working to different building codes.
“We have to supply a set of risk assessment method statements (RAMS) for every project we undertake,” explains Bradley.
“We have a variety of skill levels across our teams, so any system we implemented needed to be easy to use. HandsHQ ticked all the boxes. It enabled us to standardise everything overnight.”
Previously, Pod Point was compiling RAMS using shared documents and files. However, this was time-consuming, difficult and unscalable. With so many projects underway, Pod Point couldn’t risk RAMS “falling through the gaps”.
In 2017 Pod Point began using HandsHQ's RAMS software. “We needed to put the right systems in place to support our growth; to make life easier, to streamline and to centralise. We have a variety of skill levels across our teams, so any system we implemented needed to be easy to use. HandsHQ ticked all the boxes,” remembers Bradley. “It enabled us to standardise everything overnight.”
With Pod Point engineers already using tablet devices in the field to access their field service appointments and project management system, it made sense to use a digital solution. Now, when Pod Point engineers arrive onsite, the first thing they do is check the RAMS on HandsHQ.
“It was a no-brainer to use HandsHQ on the tablets as well,” says Bradley. “When our engineers get to site, the first thing they do is open their HandsHQ and read through the RAMS. They make sure they are happy and sign on to the job.”
“The whole thing is very seamless and very easy,” continues Bradley. “It’s also easy to produce the RAMS. The checkbox feature is super helpful. You just run through the content library and it all migrates onto a nice-looking document that the engineers can view on HandsHQ or as a pdf we can share with our customers.”
In addition, Pod Point worked with the HandsHQ team, using APIs to save all produced RAMS to the relevant field service and customer records on Pod Point’s Salesforce platform.
“It’s definitely improved our productivity,” states Bradley. “The fact that you can produce a set of RAMS in ten minutes is massive.”
The flexibility of the system is also important to Pod Point. Bradley explains: “HandsHQ helps because you can keep updating and tweaking the documents to ensure all of the categories are up to date and any changes you need to make are incorporated. For example, when COVID-19 kicked in, we quickly added some additional categories to the list. And that flexibility also helps us target different projects. It’s really easy.”
For Bradley, the most obvious benefit of HandsHQ is the visibility it gives him. He says, “It’s easy for me to track now. With HandsHQ, I have an overview of all the projects. I can see who’s signed onto the RAMS; who hasn’t signed on; who’s authorised them... are they complaint? Are they up to date? It’s very helpful.”
“It’s been super helpful in that way,” confirms Bradley, “I think HandsHQ probably has reduced the number of incidents we would have had, because the guys take the RAMS more seriously. Requiring the engineers to sign the RAMS using their tablets has changed the culture of the business, and that always has a downstream impact.”
Furthermore, Bradley has praise for the support he receives from the HandsHQ team. He recalls, “During the first lockdown, we used the time to revamp all our bespoke RAMS content. HandsHQ was super helpful. They helped us migrate it to the right places. I’m very, very happy about the support HandsHQ provides.”
Together with the time savings, the professional standardisation, the new management visibility and traceability, HandsHQ has been the perfect solution to help Pod Point ensure optimum health and safety on its projects whilst managing such fast-paced business growth.
Bradley concludes, “The main thing is it’s quick and easy. HandsHQ technology has enabled our engineers to have the best possible experience.”
HandsHQ is an innovative risk assessment and method statement platform for specialist contractors that reduces accidents, keeps projects on track and wins more work. Our dedication to simplifying the risk assessment process has made HandsHQ the most trusted RAMS platform in high-risk environments since 2013.
Used on over 90,000 projects across EMEA, our clients include BJF Group, Polyteck Group, G4S, Polypal and Barnwood Construction. Typically companies using HandsHQ experience over 80% time-savings on RAMS creation; 90% reduction in rejected documents; and upwards of 230% ROI in the first year.
Find out how HandsHQ can help your business at www.handshq.com or call us on 020 3318 4901
One of the UK’s leading providers of electric vehicle charging (EVC) solutions, Pod Point was founded by Erik Fairbairn in 2009. Since then, through its network of over 4,400 public charging bays and more than 100,000 installed charge points, Pod Point has powered more than 532 million miles of electric driving.