Comparison:
HammerTech vs SignOnSite
What you need to know when evaluating these construction safety products
What you need to know when evaluating these construction safety products
HammerTech and SignOnSite are two of the more well-known construction safety solutions on the market. Both products help companies improve site safety using sign-ins, inductions, reporting, and integrating with Procore, and offer a long list of other features to help improve construction site safety.
EVA Check-in is another option for construction and civil works companies looking to improve their site safety.
When you look at the features offered by HammerTech, SignOnSite, and EVA Check-in, there is a lot of overlap in what each has to offer. However, despite listing a similar feature set at a high level, there are also some key differences. We've written this article to help Safety, Operations, and Site Managers better understand these differences.
HammerTech and SignOnSite are both construction safety solutions, but they have some key differences.
Both HammerTech and SignOnSite improve the safety of contractors at work. They both include site sign-in (via QR code, geofence, and kiosk), pre-arrival inductions, SWMS management, integration with Procore, and reporting. In addition to these jobsite safety features, HammerTech primarily focuses on enterprise safety planning and management tools. It centralises operational, safety, quality, and daily job site management in the same platform. Think of it as safety management software similar in size and scale to enterprise software like Microsoft or Salesforce. Potentially it has too many features (and too high cost) if you're a small to medium-sized business with up to 20 projects on the go at any one time. SignOnSite in contrast, focuses mainly on helping Site Managers manage the daily work site safety activities.
EVACheck-in is closer to SignOnSite. It helps Site Managers keep their sites safe, efficiently and it gives confidence to Health and Safety managers that processes are being followed on-site. Like SignOnSite, it's focus is on site sign-in (QR code, geofence, tablet kiosk etc.), inductions, Procore integration, SWMS management and general reporting. However, it also includes features like real-time evacuations, incident and near-miss self-reporting, and access to site safety documents that provide additional protection to contractors on site.
When an evacuation is called, you need to be able to account for everyone quickly. If you need to evacuate using HammerTech, log on to your web portal and activate a pre-set mobile notification. There are obviously potential delays with this approach, and it requires that everyone on-site has their notifications and sound turned on on their mobile device and that they review the notification. Evacuating using SignOnSite is a more direct task. You can activate an evacuation from either the mobile app or web portal in one click, and it sends a mobile notification to everyone on site. As with HammerTech, the contractors need to have their mobile phones' notifications and sound turned on and review the messages. There is no specific help in either product for managing the evacuation other than a simple checklist system for marking contractors off as present.
When using EVA Check-in, evacuations can be triggered quickly by anyone from the kiosk home screen or in the web portal (which also works on mobile browsers). Once an evacuation has been triggered, it can be rapidly shared via mobile notification – and of course, like HammerTech and SignOnSite there is an automatic mobile notification for all contractors signed into the site.
If you're running large construction projects with one or more exits or muster zones, you'll need a tool to manage evacuations with multiple wardens in real-time. EVA Check-in wardens can mark contractors off as present across different exits and muster points. Every warden can see live updates. This gives you the most accurate and immediate view of who is safe and who perhaps is not.
(Note - Our view is that irrespective of whether you're using Hammertech, SignOnSite, or EVA Check-in, an air horn/siren should always be used alongside software to indicate an emergency is in progress. Contractors won't receive a timely notification if their phone is turned off or on silent or they are wearing ear protection.)
Reporting hazards and near-misses promptly is an essential part of improving site safety. HammerTech is an enterprise safety management suite. Safety Managers and others can log and link safety incidents and accidents to metrics like lost time incidents, incidents that need medical treatment, etc. This information is entered by the Site Manager or Health and Safety Manager - there is no easy way for contractors to self-report through the app.
SignOnSite's mobile app enables everyone who has the app to log a safety incident or near-miss. With a one-step submission workflow, it uses a customizable form that is stored in the forms bank amongst all the other forms.
EVA Check-in is a job site safety tool that allows everyone to self-report incidents and near-misses. Users have two options to log an incident. They can log it via the free EVA Check-in app or scan a QR code. Either way, the data collected can be exported as shareable PDF reports and rolled up into reporting on metrics like time lost to injury, medical treatment injury, and more. You can also set up notifications so that anyone who needs to know gets alerted to incidents as soon as they're logged.
Let's face it. When working in safety, there is a lot of documentation, such as safety data sheets, operator manuals, risk assessments, and more. Part of the challenge working with contractors is making this information available when people need it, without resorting to holding it in the site office and asking contractors to traipse back to the office to view it each time. Neither HammerTech nor SignOnSite allow contractors to view site-specific safety documents as they need to, wherever they are on-site.
Contractors can view and read any documents or images using the free EVA Check-in app or by scanning unique QR codes that link to the documents. The documents are stored securely and can be reused across all sites. For example, our customers print and waterproof QR codes to attach to forklifts or other equipment to provide relevant safety info.
EVA Check-in also lets you add multiple check-in zones within the same site for no additional cost.
HammerTech and SignOnSite websites ask prospective customers to contact them for bespoke or customised pricing. Neither are transparent about their prices. We understand that HammerTech is very expensive if you're a small to mid-sized construction company. SignOnSite is less costly, but it is hard to gauge this as they state that they price according to "value received".
We're transparent about our pricing. Starting at just $50NZD/$40USD per site and with discounts of 80% for companies with more than five sites, we're unbeatable value for money. There are no per-user prices, so it doesn’t matter how many workers you have.
Try our pricing calculator to see for yourself.
Both the HammerTech and SignOnSite websites refer to enterprise pricing, which may include multi-site discounts. However, as the pricing or the scope of their plans aren't listed on their websites, we couldn't review it.
We're transparent about our pricing. Your 6th, 7th, and 8thsites etc. get a whopping 80% discount. Try our pricing calculator to see it for yourself. We know that our customers with multiple locations love this discount. This local council uses EVA Check-in to manage sign-ins and inductions at 34 sites with varying safety profiles. This means this customer pays just $12/month USD for each site.
Most of our contractors come to our sites frequently – we now have everyone using EVA Check-in to sign-in and complete inductions. We're getting about 1,500 sign-ins and H&S inductions each month across 34 sites. Everything is online and is fantastic value for money – the substantial volume site discount makes a huge difference to us.
Duncan Barr, CIO, Napier City Council
EVA Check-in also lets you add multiple check-in zones within the same site for no additional cost which is particularly useful for large construction sites.
Ultimately, the choice between HammerTech and SignOnSite depends on your needs and size. If you're sure you need an enterprise construction safety management suite, then HammerTech should be on your evaluation list.
If on the other hand if you're considering a jobsite safety tool like SignOnSite, EVA Check-in should be part of this evaluation too. Especially if you:
Here at EVA Check-in we work closely with our customers to understand their needs. Our roadmap is influenced strongly by what our customers' need to be successful. Join us today.
