Proactive Safety Management with Workplace Inspections
Safety incidents happen when risks are ignored and allowed to fester and blow up into an incident later. Sometimes, even with diligent risk mitigation, some may slip through the net to become a potential hazard. This creates occupational health hazards for the employees, the people around the unit where the incident happens, and the environment in the area.
Proactive identification, mitigation, and monitoring of risks are critical to managing such risks continuously. One key tool enabling this is safety inspections.
Workplace inspections help mitigate the risk of incidents, injuries, and illnesses by critically assessing the workplace for potential hazards, recording them, and taking corrective action. They form a critical part of the health and safety program and management of hazards at the workplace and involve the following:
- Inspecting premises to identify current and potential hazards
- Identifying nonconformance and noncompliance to internal and external policies and procedures
- Interviewing workers and supervisors to identify nonadherence to processes and other concerns
- Getting a clear understanding of the jobs and tasks performed in the unit
- Determining the underlying causes of hazards
- Recording observations and sharing with all stakeholders and top leadership for further action
- Recommending corrective action
- Assessing the steps taken to mitigate hazards and risks recommended earlier and their impact
Workplace Hazards that Impact Environment and Workers
Hazards can be divided into the following types based on the nature of the materials:
- Safety Hazards: In a workplace, machinery, vehicles, energy devices such as electrical, pneumatic, gravitational, etc., heights, confined spaces, and poor housekeeping are all potential hazards and need mitigative measures to minimize the risks.
- Biological Hazards: In some industries, microorganisms, and insects may be used and must be handled properly to prevent illnesses and contaminating the environment.
- Chemical Hazards: Chemicals are another hazard to people and the environment if not handled properly.
- Ergonomic Hazards: Something as simple as standing all day, or sitting with improper posture can cause occupational health hazards. These hazards can be of two types: physiological involving repetitive and forceful movements, awkward postures, or overloading; and psychological causing stress due to long work hours or poor work environment.
- Physical Hazards: Constant noise, vibration, extreme temperatures, radiation, pressure, smell, dust, etc., also are potential hazards to the environment and the worker’s health.
How Inspections Improve Management of Environmental and Occupational Health Hazards
During inspections, the inspectors first understand the nature of the work being performed in the inspected area. They alert the employees of their visit so they can be prepared with data and a spokesperson to help the inspector navigate the site.
During the inspection, the inspectors ask questions and observe activities. They carry checklists for the various activities so that they can take advantage of any operation where a hazard may remain undiscovered.
Inspections may be conducted as a routine activity or in response to an incident. They conduct earlier observations to see if recommended rectifications have been carried out and how effective those actions have been in mitigating risks.
In case of an inspection in response to an event, they have access to the root cause investigation results and assess the impact of any corrective action taken to prevent recurrence. Interviews with the workers also provide them with insights into what is being done right and what is not.
Based on these observations and reports, they make recommendations. If something needs to be corrected immediately, it may be done during the inspection process. Otherwise, the reports are shared with the managers and other stakeholders to make data-driven decisions that can help mitigate the risks effectively.
The impact of the corrective actions carried out based on the current inspection will be evaluated during subsequent inspections. This process helps with the continuous improvement of the safety management system. If something is not delivering the desired results, mid-course correction is done to achieve the expected outcomes.
Periodic inspections help improve the management of potential hazards and the continuous improvement of the safety management system. They enable implementing a risk-based approach, as inspections reveal potentially risky areas and their impact on workplace safety. Based on the intensity and frequency of the risk, safety leaders can implement corrective and preventive action to prevent any event in the future.
Periodic safety inspections also make the units audit-ready. This minimizes warning letters from auditing agencies and improves product quality and performance. As safety improves, so does employee engagement and productivity. When they see their inputs being acknowledged and corrective actions taken, they participate more proactively in improving workplace safety.
Given the complexity and digitization of the modern shopfloor, a cloud-based EHS solution can improve visibility into processes, empower management with data that can help plan and schedule inspections based on priority, and track and monitor the changes introduced for greater efficiency and effectiveness.
ComplianceQuest’s SafetyQuest is a safety management system built on Salesforce aligned with all major safety regulations and standards. It helps integrate workflows seamlessly and automate safety management. AI-infused EHS also expands the scope of safety management to manage environmental and occupational health hazards better. They also empower employees to report safety observations, improving inspection quality and its outcomes.
To know more, visit www.compliancequest.com.
