How One Organisation Tripled Hazard and Near-Miss Reporting with Donesafe

One of the hardest parts of managing risk is not identifying what needs to change. It is knowing what is happening in the first place. We sat down with Andre Witzel to discuss the role technology plays in connecting frontline safety insights with better organisational decision-making. Hear how his team improved reporting adoption, increased visibility, and built a more proactive approach to risk management. Listen below or read the summary.

Across a network of sites and almost 1,000 workers, Andre Witzel saw how difficult it could be to turn frontline observations into meaningful safety insights. The organisation had processes in place, but the reporting experience created friction. Forms took time to complete, information was difficult to analyse, and valuable insights from the people closest to the work were not always reaching the teams responsible for managing risk.

Over twelve months, the organisation transformed that approach. By moving to a configurable EHS platform that could adapt to their operational needs, they made reporting easier for frontline workers, improved visibility for leaders, and tripled the volume of hazards, near misses, and incident reports captured.

The result did not stop at an increase in reporting activity, it was a shift in how people engaged with safety across the business.

When Reporting Becomes a Barrier, Visibility Suffers

Before making the change, Andre’s team faced a challenge familiar to many multi-site organisations. Safety reporting was important, but the process itself could be difficult to navigate.

When workers are balancing operational priorities, a reporting process that feels slow or complicated can become something they put aside. Over time, those small moments matter. A hazard noticed on site, a near miss that almost occurred, or an unsafe condition that could have been corrected early may never become visible in the data.

For Andre, this created a gap between what was happening in the field and what leadership could see.

“Old school and very tedious and cumbersome to actually do reporting… If you don’t have that insight and the full picture of the whole data, then you can’t do anything about it. That’s the big obstacle: you can’t see trends, you can’t do an analysis of data, and with that, you cannot plan to prevent incidents and the root causes that have led to it.”

— Andre Witzel

The challenge was creating a connection between frontline activity and organisational decision-making. Without timely reporting, safety teams were often relying on incomplete information and responding to issues after they had already escalated.

Building a System That Could Adapt With the Business

When reviewing their approach, Andre knew the solution needed to work for both sides of the safety equation.

Frontline workers needed a simple way to report what they were seeing in the moment. Safety and operational teams needed the flexibility to adjust processes as the business changed.

This adaptability became one of the most important parts of the transformation. Andre describes Donesafe using an analogy that captures the value of a configurable platform:

“I always say when I talk about Donesafe, it’s like an empty kitchen shelf… you can fill the baskets, the modules, to where you want them. I would never want to work with a system that puts me into a box and tells me how to use and read data. It has to adjust to my needs as an organisation.”

— Andre Witzel

For the team managing safety processes internally, this flexibility meant they could update forms, adjust workflows, and refine reporting requirements as operational needs evolved.

Instead of waiting for lengthy system changes, they could continue improving the way safety information was captured and managed across the business.

For workers in the field, the biggest change was simplicity.

The reporting experience became quick enough to fit naturally into the working day.

“Being able to log an incident in less than 30 seconds, taking a photo or video… removed all the obstacles of ‘Oh, rolling your eyes, another form… why do I have to do this?’”

— Andre Witzel

More Reports, Better Insight, Stronger Engagement

Within twelve months, the volume of hazards, near misses, and incident reports captured through the system tripled.

For safety leaders, an increase in reporting can sometimes appear concerning. However, in this case, the change reflected something far more valuable: employees were actively identifying risks earlier and feeling confident enough to raise them.

Andre saw the shift happen across the workforce.

“In terms of numbers, it actually tripled the number of incidents… After a year, people were talking about health and safety, they were pointing out hazards, talking about near misses… and how proud they were to actually log it in the system themselves.”

— Andre Witzel

The impact extended beyond frontline participation. With more complete data available, leaders gained a clearer understanding of what was happening across different locations and where attention was needed most.

Live dashboards provided visibility into emerging trends, helping leadership teams identify patterns, compare risks across sites, and make decisions based on current information rather than historical reports.

The improved visibility also changed conversations around investment.

As Andre explained, the value of a safety platform becomes clearer when organisations consider the true cost of unmanaged incidents, including lost time, operational disruption, and the impact on workers.

“Look at incidents you had in the past, look at what it has cost you… look at the cost, the time away from those workers, and multiply that… and then you will see the return.”

— Andre Witzel

The Bigger Lesson for Safety Leaders

Andre’s experience highlights a fundamental principle of safety culture: reporting behaviour is shaped by the systems that support people.

A mature safety culture does not exist because nothing goes wrong. It exists because people feel comfortable identifying issues early and have practical tools that allow them to speak up.

When reporting becomes simple, accessible, and connected to action, organisations gain something far more valuable than more data. They gain a clearer understanding of risk and the opportunity to address problems before they become incidents.

The future of safety management is not about collecting more information for the sake of it. It is about creating the visibility, trust, and agility needed to turn everyday observations into meaningful prevention.