SAFETY INSPECTIONS
Safety inspections are designed to examine a specific area of the organization – oper-
ational department or manufacturing process – in order to locate and define any
faults in the system, equipment, plant or machines, or any operational errors that
might be the source of accidents. Safety inspections should be carried out on a regular
and systematic basis by line managers and supervisors with the advice and help of
health and safety advisers. The steps to be taken in carrying out safety inspections are
as follows:
● Allocate the responsibility for conducting the inspection.
● Define the points to be covered in the form of a checklist.
● Divide the department or plant into areas and list the points to which attention
needs to be given in each area.
● Define the frequency with which inspections should be carried out – daily in
critical areas.
● Use the check lists as the basis for the inspection.
● Carry out sample or spot checks on a random basis.
● Carry out special investigations as necessary to deal with special problems such
as operating machinery without guards to increase throughput.
● Set up a reporting system (a form should be used for recording the results of
inspections).
● Set up a system for monitoring that safety inspections are being conducted
properly and on schedule and that corrective action has been taken where
necessary.
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAMMES
Almost 20 million working days a year are lost because of work-related illness. Two
million people say they suffer from an illness they believe was caused by their work.
Muscular disorders, including repetitive strain injury and back pain, are by far the
most commonly reported illnesses with 1.2 million affected, and the numbers are
rising. The next biggest problem is stress, which 500,000 people say is so bad that it is
making them ill. These are large and disturbing figures and they show that high
priority must be given to creating and maintaining programmes for the improvement
of occupational health.
The control of occupational health and hygiene problems can be achieved by:
838 ❚ Health, safety and welfare