How Often Should You Conduct Safety Inspections?

A common question from safety professionals is, How often should I be conducting safety inspections? Now, the answer to that is that there is no exact timeframe. Because every industry, job site, and management team has different rules and factors to consider before scheduling an inspection, there is not just one answer. However, laid out below are some of those factors and suggestions for what the inspection rate should be.

Factors Affecting Safety Inspection Frequency

To begin, here are some factors that may lead to more or less frequent safety inspections:

First, administrative agency policies and guidelines for planned formal inspections.
Secondly, the possible risk of work environments, operations, and equipment used.
Next, the number of worker shifts.
When there are new methods, pieces of equipment, workers, or regulations.
Finally, at-risk activity and past incidents or near-miss records could spark the need for an inspection.

As you can see, any of these factors can change the frequency of safety inspections. Now, the only way to know how often they are needed is by thoroughly reviewing all aspects of the job site, manufacturing floor, operations, and knowledge of the crew. So, basic guidelines approved by administrative agencies can set the stage. But, the most effective safety programs are always changing to the environment and interactions of the crew.

OSHA Safety Inspection Guidelines

Next, as part of its Voluntary Protection Programs, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) puts out recommendations that employers can use to improve their health and safety programs.

OSHA splits the guidelines between the construction industry and general industries. Now, construction safety inspections, or self-inspections as OSHA refers to them, are recommended to cover the entire worksite and be done weekly. Therefore, all subcontractors on-site should also follow a similar inspection schedule. And, due to the different nature of construction and building, inspections may be more frequent and focus on separate areas or equipment set for each.

Now, the guidelines for non-construction industries are less frequent. They suggest safety inspections happen monthly for certain areas and crews while the entire worksite has a quarterly review.

Additionally, OSHA states that regularly scheduled safety inspections have the following factors included in the self-inspection plan:

First, a tool or checklist of all items and operations to be reviewed.
Have clear and recurring inspection schedules.
Completion and findings were recorded and available for management and crew to review following the inspection.
Next, responsibility for crew members to reduce or eliminate risks.
Finally, tracking of known hazards and when it was corrected.

Conclusion

Now, that list may make safety inspections seem like there is so much to consider. However, the Safety Reports app suite makes inspections a breeze for every safety professional. The Safety Reports Inspection App is an industry-leading mobile safety inspection system. This app puts the power of a checklist and reporting system in your palm through any mobile phone, tablet, or computer. The app includes template checklists and reports for nearly any industry with safety standards, as well as the ability to customize for any situation.

Find the perfect checklist for your industry and then schedule a free demo to see each app feature in action.

Want to update how you do Inspections?

To begin with, using the Safety-Reports mobile inspection app will cut report writing time! All you do is select ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on the applicable checklist items and submit your report. And our templates come with pre-loaded observations and suggestions that virtually get rid of report writing time.