How to Conduct a Health and Safety Inspection
Table of Contents
- Requirements for Inspection
- Reasons for Conducting Inspections
- Inspection Process and Approach
- Roles of Internal and External Inspectors
- Compliance and Enforcement
- Reference
- Bibliography
Requirements for Inspection
Health and safety inspections are rather a proactive way of identifying uncontrolled hazards in the workplace and eliminating them where practicable to prevent injury, illness and property damage. A health and Safety Inspection can be carried out internally by competent persons or externally by an enforcement agency like the Health and Safety Executive. In some cases the health and safety inspection allows an organization to satisfy compliance related issues. For organizations who subscribe to health and safety management systems and international standards, a health and safety inspection can be a normal process to keep worksites checked.
Reasons for Conducting Inspections
There are however a number of factors that will necessitate a health and safety inspection to be carried out. First and foremost, the inspection can be carried out in order to satisfy a legal requirement. A second factor is the fulfilment of international standards which are ascribed as voluntary systems. A Near miss incident or Accidents can also provide basis for health and safety inspection regimes. Last but not the least, a health and safety inspection is a way to evaluate previous training received by workers to check if they are applying what they have learned effectively on the job. Finally, inspections can be initiated by clients especially in cases where jobs are to be awarded to a company.
Inspection Process and Approach
Prior to health and safety inspections, the inspector if an internal competent of the organization may have a fair idea of the overall layout of the site and will apply internal procedures to get the exercise completed. Where external are involved, some form of information will have to be exchanged depending on the nature of work that is being undertaken at the worksite. As a minimum, the external inspector who will usually be from a competent authority will consider a risk register of the site, an induction to cater for access to welfare facilities, emergency and other needs. In some cases a site attendant or an appointed person will act as a guide. External Inspectors from the enforcement agencies may sometime visit the workplace without prior notice. This is one they ensure that enforcement of laws are achieved.
Roles of Internal and External Inspectors
A competent internal inspector will usually focus on uncontrolled hazards that exist in the workplace and where applicable review the status of legal compliance to avoid fines and notices served on the company. This will be followed by analyzing the level of risk for hazards identified and evaluating its impact thereof. The Inspector will then have to come up with measures to eliminate of control the hazards identified and assign its correction to a department or person to for corrective action within a time frame. It is usually a good practice to carry out inspections with other team members like electricians, mechanics and supervisors. Senior management is actively involved in the entire process. Where the inspector is an external person who is from an enforcement agency like the Health and Safety Executive, the main focus may be on compliance
1. Be able to conduct an inspection of the workplace
issues relating to legal requirements. But will generally identify hazards through
observations and make recommendations to senior management for necessary action.
Compliance and Enforcement
(Health and Safety Executive, 2017) “Where there is a breach of health and safety law, the company is served with a notification of contravention (NoC), a document to indicate the law or laws breached and the company can be fined”. (553 Words)
Reference
Health and Safety Executive, 2017. When a health and safety inspector calls. London: Health and Safety Executive.
Bibliography
constructaquote.com, 2017. A Guide To HSE Inspections And How To Prepare Your Business. [Online] Available at: https://blog.constructaquote.com/guide-hse-inspections/ [Accessed 23 February 2021].
Health and Safety Executive, 2014. Regulation of health and safety at work. London: Health and Safety Executive.
Health and Safety Executive, 2017. When a health and safety inspector calls. London: Health and Safety Executive.
