Health and Safety

Audit and Inspection

Inspection

Inspection is a range of approaches and techniques used for a number of reasons.

These include:

  • To monitor and maintain health and safety standards.
  • To improve health and safety standards.
  • To improve other areas of performance such as resource usage, pollution control, and quality of work.
  • To improve culture and include staff in supporting the organisational goals to improve their work place.

Techniques

There are three basic techniques which can be used in different ways to monitor performance. These are:

  • Visual inspection (can include physical measurements e.g. occupational health monitoring such as noise level measurements).
  • Talk to people (sometimes referred to as interviewing but this implies quite a formal technique, when in fact a conversational style can be effective).
  • Review documents (can include looking at simple on device records such as affixed test records).

Examples of approaches to measure performance

Simple check list. Can be repeated several times a day and can be as simple as an initialled checklist. Used for toilet checks or food temperature checks. Does need a process to escalate and deal with any issues found. Simple area check, as seen in catering facility toilets, and a temperature record as used in food storage areas. These can be adapted for other uses e.g. initial area check or for checking a guard on a high hazard piece of equipment.

Simple check list with more detailed recorded. Examples include:

  • The function of an interlock guard on a guillotine.
  • The contents of a first aid kit.
  • Can be used to record weekly statutory tests such as water flows of rarely used outlets, or weekly fire alarm checks.

Periodic area or activity checklists. These are the most common inspection forms and processes used when a new area starts an inspection programme. High hazard area template shows a recently implemented form that was used within a laboratory area. Low hazard area template can be used for office envrionments for example. These can be adapted for specific areas. This form also allows progress tracking over a period of time to enable progress to be measured and trends to be identified.

HS F031 Health Safety Termly Inspection - High hazard area template

HS F034 Termly Safety Inspection - Low Hazard Area Template

Audit

There are many views and definitions of what constitutes a health and safety audit. It is sometimes described as an expert assessment of an organisation’s health and safety policies, systems and procedures, and should address:

  • Are current procedures and systems correct and delivering the expected outcomes?
  • Is the organisation protecting the wellbeing of the workforce and complying with the relevant regulations?

In the University Sector HASMAP (Health and Safety Management Profile) is a management standard developed for use in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) by the Universities Safety & Health Association (USHA) is a standard that forms the basis of more in depth audits.

References

Inspection

Audit