By: Troy Tepp, MS, CSP – Sentry Insurance Director of Safety Services
Identifying physical hazards by conducting self-inspections is one of the best ways to help you reveal unsafe conditions or actions before they lead to an injury or accident. A self-inspection walk-through of your operations is also a good opportunity for you to demonstrate leadership through your commitment to your company’s safety and health program, which will help sell the concept of safety to your employees. Each time an inspection of a particular work area is made, your commitment is visibly reemphasized. Regular plant tours encourage individual employees to inspect their own work areas as well.
Types of Inspections
There are several types of inspections that can be performed throughout your work area. The objectives often differ; however, the outcomes are normally the same – they reveal problems before they lead to an accident or injury. Maintaining safe work conditions will also help to reduce downtime and improve project quality and productivity.
General inspections – are regularly scheduled within predetermined intervals. For example, a comprehensive physical inspection may be needed quarterly to get a good overview of general operating conditions. A more detailed, focused inspection may be needed for targeting specific tasks, equipment or departments.
Random inspections – are made at nonscheduled intervals. This is the most common type found at most businesses. A random inspection may include an unannounced survey of a particular department, work area, machine or process. The intent is to keep supervisory staff alert and to locate and correct hazardous conditions that may have been missed during other inspections. This type of review can be made by person(s) that have been appropriately trained in what to look for and how to record their findings.
Focused inspections – are normally intended to emphasize a particular process, area or piece of equipment. For example, this may be needed when installing a new machine or when changing a work method. The primary purpose is to verify that no unusual hazards exist or that special changes are taken care of before the final installation or revision. Industrial hygiene air sampling is one example of a focused inspection used to identify what air contaminants may be present in a given process. Focused inspections may also be triggered by a review of accidents in a specific department. These inspections target a particular aspect of your operation, to the exclusion of other safety matters in the immediate area.
Third-party inspections – are conducted at your facility by nonemployees. Such activity may include inspections by the fire department, insurance safety consultants, OSHA, EPA, heating and cooling contractors, etc.
Planning Your Inspection
Before the inspection, there are a number of items you’ll need to prepare to meet your goals:
- Analyze your accident history to emphasize those conditions or operations known to be a problem area.
- Consider using a checklist as a guide for each department or operation dealing with conditions or practices likely to be encountered. The person making the inspection should be trained in what to recognize and how to use this checklist more effectively. The extent of your findings need not be confined to the topics on your checklist.
- Prioritize your findings based on level of urgency and the hazards posed to employee safety or property. Of primary importance is the need to establish a corrective action plan and a deadline to see that things are taken care of in a timely manner.
- Prepare a clear and concise report as a result of your tour and provide a summary of explanations for corrective action.
- Send reports directly to those responsible for safety and health coordination to determine who is responsible for corrective action. This will also assure that the most urgent situations are given priority.
- Be prepared to address various regulatory safety and health standards that may have a bearing on your findings. For example, general safety and health standards are subject to OSHA (federal or state) enforcement. Fire safety issues are a concern with local fire officials.
Conducting the Inspection
Inspections need not be time consuming or exhaustive. There are a number of areas that should be emphasized during each survey. Two sample checklists are attached to serve as guides of basic items to include in your self-inspection plan. Be sure to acquaint yourself with the topics on these lists and adapt them to your work environment. Note that the second is more detailed with many items that may not be present in your operations. The first is more general and may be better suited to nonmanufacturers and/or smaller businesses.
Key Issues
Direct your attention to some of these more common workplace issues:
- Employee safety and health – Lockout/tagout provisions, electrical safety practices, slip and fall hazards, lower back and repetitive motion injuries, equipment guarding, material handling (hoists, forklifts, conveyors), welding/grinding, vapor degreasing, personal protective equipment use, first aid and emergency response, exhaust ventilation, etc.
- Fire safety – Disaster preparedness and evacuation planning, firefighting capabilities, smoking/ ignition source control, flammable liquid storage and use, paint booth maintenance, spill containment plans, etc.
Inspection Hints
When preparing for an inspection, conducting the tour, or completing follow-up reports, keep these points in mind:
- Always be sure to wear appropriate personal protection as required in the area you are reviewing.
- Avoid fault finding. Emphasize fact finding. Correct conditions through the appropriate department head or supervisory channel.
- Make brief, accurate notes as you methodically tour an area. Locate and list each problem and try to determine the root cause(s). You may need to seek technical advice if you are not sure about something. Suggest alternative solutions.
- Keep accurate records and follow up on a regularly scheduled basis. Be sure that those things that pose imminent danger are taken care of properly.