Getting Started with SafetyToolbox Online (Written Guide)

This guide provides written guidance with links to additional Help Guides.   If you prefer to watch a video, please view our 30 minute video 'Getting Started with SafetyToolbox'

SafetyToolbox Online is the online platform we use to help manage health, safety and property compliance. The platform enables authorised individuals, like you, to access information and carry out tasks associated with the buildings and activities you are responsible for or help to manage.

Some people have a user account as part of their paid role, however, lots of people volunteer to help manage property and health and safety in their parish or other diocesan service. If this is you, thank you for offering your support. You can find out more about your role and how it relates to other roles in the Diocese in the Diocesan Health and Safety Policy and Guidelines which are available from your online account, on the Diocesan website and/ or by contacting the person in the Diocese responsible for health and safety.

Why manage health and safety?

‘Health and safety’ is often regarded as something negative that interferes with how people carry out routine tasks and wastes time and money.  However, done well, health and safety is an unsung hero, preventing people from becoming ill or injured, physically or mentally.  How often do you see the headline ‘Correct use of ladder saves life?’

Illness and injury cause pain and anxiety, waste time, cost money and diminish the important work of the church.

Am I qualified to help with health and safety?

How qualified you need to be will depend on the role you have been appointed to.  Some people need professional qualifications to do their job e.g. health and safety coordinators or property managers. Most people who are involved in the day to day tasks associated with health, safety and property management in the diocese don’t have professional qualifications, but they do have the skills and other attributes needed e.g. practically minded, good communication skills and knowing when to ask for help.

SafetyToolbox Online has been designed by professionals for non-professionals, so there are lots of signposts telling people when they should seek professional help and where to go to find it.

How do I get started?

When your account is created for you, you receive a welcome email asking you to confirm your account and login. Simply follow the link, check the account details, create a password and login. If you get stuck, read the guide ‘Confirming your Account’ in the SafetyToolbox Online Help Centre.

Note:  If you don’t appear to have received a welcome email, check your spam/ junk folder before contacting the person in the Diocese responsible for health and safety.

If you have already confirmed your account, you can login to SafetyToolbox Online here. 

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Your Dashboard

When you first log into your account you will arrive on your Dashboard which will look similar to the screenshot below. 

Your dashboard gives at a glance information about the status of health and fire safety and/or property maintenance work for all the buildings you look after.  Please note that, if you look after more than one building the pie chart will reflect the status of your combined buildings.

Along the top of your screen is the Navigation bar (numbers 1-7 in the screenshot), which will appear on your screen at all times while working in SafetyToolbox.

1. Dashboard - Returns you to the dashboard screen from wherever you are within SafetyToolbox Online.
2. Profiles – Shows all the profiles you have access to.  Click on the profile you wish to view.  For further information, please see the Profile Page section later in this guide.
3. Tasks – View a list of all tasks for all the profiles you have access to. Tasks relate to compliance work e.g. risk assessments, routine maintenance work.

TIP:  The main task list shows the tasks for all of your profiles, which can be a lot if you manage more than one profile.   You might find it easier to view task lists by navigating to the profile you want to work on.

4. Resources takes you to the online Resource Library which contains guides, templates and other useful information to help you with a variety of issues from accident reporting to youth activities. 
   For further information on the Resource Library, please see our guide 'Introduction to the Resource Library'.
5. Help – Takes you to the online Help Centre where you can find guides on how to use the platform OR contact the SafetyToolbox Online Support Team if you need help using the system or have a health and safety query. There are two ways to get help by using this button which are explained under the heading ‘Getting Help with SafetyToolbox’ below.
6. Your name button – Choose the ‘Settings’ option to edit your personal details including changing your password or sign out of the platform.   
   For further information please see our user guide ‘Updating your User Account’ in the online Help Desk.
7. Task Status - The chart shows the status of tasks for all the profiles you have access to. SafetyToolbox uses a traffic light system where tasks that are red are overdue, orange tasks are falling due or in progress and green tasks are complete or not due.  Clicking on any segment of the chart takes shows the tasks which make up that segment. Charts work in the same way throughout SafetyToolbox Online.  
   For more detail on Tasks, please see the Help Centre guide 'Understanding the Task Page'. 
8. Resources - This box provides quick links to guides and templates in the online Resource Library that either you or your system administrator have marked as ‘Favourites’ or which have been recently updated.
   For more detail read the Help Guide ‘Introduction to the Resource Library’. 
9. Recent Users  - This box shows recent activity by other users who have access to your profiles.
10. Recently Updated Tasks - Any tasks in your Task List which have been updated recently will be listed in this box.

What is a Profile?

Profiles are essentially folders allowing us to group tasks together. Profiles can represent anything from a church or other building, to activities and people. Every profile has it's own online page containing three tabs: Overview; Tasks; Users.

The Overview tab (#1) includes summary information about the profile e.g. name, address. A pie chart (#2) showing the status of tasks for the current profile and quick links to related profiles, in our example buildings and events (#3) though you may see others such as people, plant and equipment etc..

The Progress Report (#4) button will display a printable report focussing on due and overdue tasks for the current profile and any related profiles.

The Tasks Tab (#5) shows the list of all tasks associated with an individual profile.

What is a Profile?

When a profile is first created, the task list is usually very short depending on how the System Administrator has set it up.  Typically, the list will have a set-up checklist which is a Q&A about a building or its activities.  When you complete the checklists, the answers provided will trigger the addition of further tasks.  Set up checklists should usually be completed first so you know what further work is needed. However, you should be guided by the priority assigned to the tasks in your list.  For further guidance on completing a checklist, please see our guide – ‘Completing a Task using an Online Checklist’ in the online Help Centre.

Once tasks have been triggered and you have carried them out e.g. Electrical System Condition Report, you can upload the report and confirm the date the inspection took place.  This will then ensure that you are advised when the task is next due.   For guidance on uploading documentation to a task, please see our guide ‘Task Attachments – Uploading, Downloading and Deleting’ in the online Help Centre.  

 

1. Task Title, in this example ‘Safe Access and Egress Risk Assessment’. You can access more information about a task, including previously uploaded records, by clicking on the task title.
   
   You can also upload records, change the status of the task and add explanatory notes and commentary.  For further guidance on tasks, please see the Tasks guides in the online Help Centre.
   
     Task Priority - Task lists for any profile are organised in order of priority to help you identify which tasks to focus on first.  Very high priority tasks feature at the beginning of the task list (three arrows in a red box as shown above) and descend through High (two arrows in a red box), Medium (one arrow in a yellow box), Low (one arrow pointing down in a green box) to Optional. Task priority is set by the system administrator and can be changed depending on the overall risk profile and health and safety implementation plan for the Diocese.
   
     When a task recurs, the frequency scheduling is set by the System Administrator and is shown under the task title.
   
     Some tasks may have associated sub tasks.  These will show in a label under the task title.  To access sub tasks, click on the task title.   To work on a sub task click on the sub task title from the list and proceed as for any task.  For more information on working with sub tasks, please read the Sub Tasks guide in the online Help Centre.
   
     Progress on a task is indicated by a label under the task title e.g. not started, in progress or complete.
   
   
2. Due Date - Task lists also show the status of each task using the traffic light approach, so a task where the Due Date cell is highlighted red means that task is overdue. An overdue, very high priority task should be given immediate attention.
3. Last Completed - To see the most recently submitted record for a task, click on the Last Completed date for the task. If there is no date, there are no submissions.
4. Export enables you to view and/or download a pie chart showing the Task Status based on the tasks currently visible in the Task List.

Find out more about working with tasks in the Tasks Section of the online Help Centre. 

Getting Help

There are various ways to find help when working on your health and fire, safety and property tasks.

1.  SafetyToolbox Online Help Centre

If you’re working online, you can access the Help Centre by clicking on the ‘Help’ button next to your name, as shown in the screenshot below:

Help Centre

The Help Centre is a library of guides to help you use the online system.  We’ve referenced some of these guides throughout this guide.

Resource Library

The answer to your query might be in the online Resource Library which you can access by clicking on the ‘Resources’ button on the Dashboard navigation bar.

Contact

To send us a message, whether it’s about how to use the platform, a health and safety or property matter, click the contact button and complete the form.  Your message comes into the SafetyToolbox Online Support Team where it will be processed either by the Support Team or sent on to your local administrator depending on the nature of the query. 

Alternatively, you can sent us an email directly to [e-mail] or call us on 02036 375 384.

Our support desk is open 9.00-5.00 Monday-Friday, excluding Bank holidays.