Safety culture soars, 95% acceptance from employees – go
How McDonald’s implemented Donesafe – go
Employee engagement with safety increases by 500% – go
âIf you have time to lean, you have time to cleanâ, goes the famous McDonaldâs catch cry. But in an environment where every second counts, how does that leave any time for workplace health and safety for McDonald’s restaurant workers?
McDonaldâs is known for being a pioneer in process efficiency. How else would they produce 75 burgers globally every single second? Although every process has safety in mind, when an employeeâs focus is on customer service, fulfilling orders, and keeping the restaurant’s spick and span, thereâs not a lot of time for reporting.Â
And therein lies the challenge for the McDonaldâs safety team. While their previous safety management system, a paper-based system, was meeting standards, it simply took too long for workers to interact with and slowed down the flow of important information. âWe knew there was a whole swathe of information that we werenât seeing quickly enough. It was a big issue for the business because when we saw a potential hazard we didnât immediately know if the problem was isolated to that particular store or network-wide.â Said Adrian Ditcher, National Workplace Safety Manager at McDonaldâs Australia.
Adrian Ditcher
âThere was a whole swathe of information that we werenât seeing quickly enoughâ
Another challenge was that the paper-based system required manual administration and processes, diverting resources away from high-level preventative tasks. With McDonaldâs taking pride in continuously improving workplace safety and adding more heads to the safety team, not in the budget, this was highlighted as a key point in the business case to change from paper-based to cloud technology.Â
With paper, the safety team found themselves constantly following up actions, searching for information, and creating reports.
âThe paper-based system was really difficult to manage. For example, when you had a worker’s compensation claim or an insurance claim say two years down the track, it was very difficult to collect that data because nobody knew where it was. It was a huge time drain.â
Yvonne Argent, National Workplace Safety Consultant at McDonald’s Australia.
In summary, the McDonaldâs team was facing issues similar to many other safety professionals around the globe. But what makes Adrian Ditcher, Yvonne Argent, and Natalie Riehl a rare breed is what they did next.
They solved it.
McDonaldâs knew they needed a solution that would encourage employees to participate in the safety management process now and in the future. More data in real-time = more insights = targeted activities to improve workplace safety. âThe goal was to make the lives of our workers and managers in the stores a lot simpler. It was logical to pick a system that could speak the McDonaldâs language and could be modified with ease based on user feedback moving forwardâ, explained National Workplace Safety Consultant, Yvonne Argent.
Yvonne Argent
âThe goal was to make the lives of our workers and managers in the restaurants a lot simplerâ
Donesafe, a configurable EHS platform with a modern user interface enabled McDonaldâs to achieve this goal. Donesafe as a platform was able to wrap around unique business needs while making it as simple as possible for the diverse workforce that ranges from executives to young restaurant workers.
As each restaurant made the switch from a paper-based booklet to log all incidents and hazards, employees were responding positively to change. âThe majority of McDonaldâs employees accepted the change immediately.”
Contributing to the smooth transition was largely to do with stakeholder input throughout the design and implementation process. âRobust feedback from employees during the trial phase helped with the system build as the frontline workers and managers would be using this system daily, we listened and put changes in place for a seamless system that worked for all.â
McDonaldâs implementation strategy to foster participation, leadership and cultural change
To succeed in this implementation, the McDonaldâs safety team noted that it was imperative that the vendor, in this case, Donesafe, had the tools to make instant configuration changes to forms, workflows, automations, and details right down to colors and naming conventions. âImportant to our success was dealing with Donesafe. They were very flexible in terms of what our needs were and nothing seemed to be a problem. We would sit down and work out what the needs are, and Donesafe always delivered a solution. It was never ânoâ to any of our questions. They would always try and accommodate whatever our needs were at the time.â
Fast forward 12 months, McDonald’s had rolled Donesafe out Australia wide. âFrom a cultural perspective across all levels of senior management through corporate and in the restaurants, Donesafe has started to change the culture of safety in the restaurants.â
âWith safety, it is now a lot more visible across the business and we get a lot more daily interactions with licensees. Theyâre opening up more, they’re talking, they’re asking for assistance, support, and advice. That was very much not the thing beforehand. So, Donesafe has helped massively to drive this.â
The cultural shift, where safety as a function has risen in profile across all levels of the McDonaldâs organization, has driven overall participation by employees and executives. âThe company hit an all-time participation record. Companywide participation amongst restaurant workers, management, and the executive team has increased by 500% since implementing Donesafe. This is due to the user experience being fast and easy to use.”
Adrian Ditcher
âReporting has increased by 500% since implementing Donesafeâ
Overall, McDonaldâs has shifted the power of change to the hands of their employees and opened up a platform that gives everybody a voice.
Forms are completed in real-time with ease and reporting showcases what actions are taken as a direct result of their work. Donesafe includes the ability to upload photos, CCTV footage, and videos to records, which provides the business and managers with all the relevant information required for the issue at hand – instantly. This allows for a faster response and gives the leadership team instant transparency, which was not an option with the paper-based system. Moving paper forms from restaurant to HQ was a manual and time-consuming process. The EHS team has seen productivity gains with a system that automates this manual work, in turn giving them more time to focus on high-level preventative tasks.
In real-time, McDonaldâs management now has insights, alerts, and actions at their fingertips – rather than on a spreadsheet. Accessible anywhere.
McDonaldâs innovation was creating a better business systemâbetter methods, systems, controls, and constant improvement. Their reputation and success are incredible, and as Adrian, Yvonne, and Natalie have proven, the same formula can be applied to safety.
Incidents – Check it out
Hazards – Check it out
Donesafe Platform Features – Check it out