Committees are pivotal to the inspection process. Inspection of workplaces is key to a positive safety and health culture.
An inspection is a planned walk-through of the workplace to identify safety or health hazards that may be present. An inspection may examine a selected work area or particular hazard, certain types of machinery, tools or equipment, or specific work practices.
Regular inspections have been shown to reduce illness and injury, and improve the internal responsibility system. Committee members must inspect the workplace, as well as the work processes and procedures at the workplace, at least once before each regularly scheduled meeting of the committee (a minimum of once every 90 days, as legally required). These inspections must be conducted jointly by employer and worker representatives.
Questions that can be used to spark discussion:
1. Our workplace is huge. Can we break up the areas being inspected? How long should the inspection take?
Setting aside time to complete an inspection is a good place to start. An inspection should not be rushed. Enough time should be allowed to accurately and thoroughly inspect the workplace. The amount of time required will depend on the type of industry, complexity of the work and how much is found throughout the inspection. If the inspection might take more than an hour, a workplace may consider breaking it into smaller time frames to ensure everything is accurately inspected. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety provides a
detailed document that outlines effective inspections.
The frequency of workplace inspections is also based on the level of risk in the workplace. For example, the level of risk in the steel industry is very high, and that risk level will dictate the frequency of daily, weekly and monthly inspections as it pertains to various types of activities performed in that industry. These inspections are maintenance- and production-driven to ensure compliance in high-risk areas is controlled.
If your committee meets monthly, then inspections would be done once a month as well.
2. What are we looking for?
The inspection team should be trained to identify hazards while looking at work processes and procedures specific to the workplace. For example, the committee may inspect a workplace and see that there is an abundance of furniture in an area, which should be cleaned out to ensure people can exit the area in an emergency. Most inspections are about finding something that is out of the ordinary that can cause an injury.
There are five types of hazards the committee can look for:
- physical
- musculoskeletal
- chemical and mineral
- biological
- psychosocial
Communication with workers is also important, since workers can provide valuable feedback. Workers' familiarity with the workplace and their job duties will benefit your inspection process and lead to a more thorough inspection. This is also an opportunity to take notice of the work practices being performed well.
3. How can we do the inspection and who should be involved?
Consider the following steps:
Develop a plan for the area to be inspected and review the previous inspection record to ensure no outstanding items need to be completed.
Use an inspection template to record findings or hazards.
Ensure that all inspection tools and resources have been put into place before the inspection begins.
Establish your inspection team's route and the type of inspection being carried out to maintain consistency.
Inform supervisors when performing inspections in their departments and inform them when finished.
Perform the inspection process the same way each time to avoid missing a hazard that should have been obvious.
Inspect other areas of the workplace where complacency may be an issue. New eyes could make a difference in spotting a hazard.
Talk to workers. This will help you understand the workers' jobs and alert you to risks that you may not be aware of.
Inspect procedures as well – this is required. Procedures must be updated with any changes to a work process or equipment.
Conduct inspections with two inspectors, one representing workers and one representing management. This will help you spot the hazards and give the process more credibility.
4. Should we use a checklist or template for our inspections?
Use a template with the site map to break down the areas.
A checklist will help to focus and plan your inspection route. However, caution should be exercised to use this as a tool and not forget to look for other hazardous conditions that may be occurring.
You can also consider reviewing previous inspections, including checklists, to see whether previously identified concerns have been resolved or are recurring.
5. What happens if I find something that I can fix right now? What happens if it takes longer to correct?
While conducting an inspection, the committee member may be able to safely correct an issue. For example, if during an inspection, it is noted that a mat is creating a trip hazard because it has inadvertently flipped over, the committee member could correct this issue and note this on the report.
If an employer receives written recommendations from the committee or representative to control hazards that may pose a danger, the employer must respond to the committee or representative in writing no later than 30 days after receiving the recommendations, including short- and long-term control measures used to address the recommendation.6. What information should the final inspection report include?
It is important to have detailed information in the final report. This will be the communication between the committee and management. The hazards can be dealt with by putting forward recommendations to the employer to eliminate or control the risk.
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety indicates that a final report should include the following:
- a copy of all unfinished items from the previous report
- the observed unsafe condition (be specific about what was seen and accurately identify the location)
- recommended corrective action/control measures (include specifics such as correction date).
The date, department/area inspected, inspection team names and titles should also be added, as well as who has been notified of the hazard.
For further information on what a report should include,
visit the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety website.
Top Tips:
Review previous inspections to see what concerns were previously identified and whether they are controlled or recurring.
Talk to the workers doing the tasks – they may be aware of hazards that you don't see or that are not listed on the inspection checklist.
Review previous inspections and incorporate any unfinished items into the current inspection. Be specific in the report.
Additional Resources and References: