Draft and Revise Checklists

Once you have developed the list of pinpointed safety practices, begin the process of designing the actual checklists. The first step is probably to shorten your list of pinpointed items. To do so, consider the following criteria  

Do not eliminate any safety practices that you identified on the basis of serious injuries. If possible, every unsafe act that has caused an incident during the last several years should be addressed by a safe work practice reflected on your final list, although it may be combined with other behaviors under a common safety practice. You should also consider eliminating pinpointed checklist items that (1) have a relatively low risk of minor injury and (2) would not have a major impact on performance. 

Rule of Thumb Keep your observation checklists to no more than one side of one sheet of paper. 

Note that this discussion has been about developing multiple checklists, not a single checklist. You want the observation data to reflect the responsibilities of a single group or area. Each checklist will be more meaningful for discussion in 

Depending on the size and complexity of your organization, you may need several different checklists. Safety practices are different in the laboratory, in the warehouse, on the plant floor, and for maintenance. At the same time, keep the number of checklists as small as practicable. If your organization is not large and complex, you may be able to get by with one or two checklists. 

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Choose a draft of one of your own papers. Then, use the Content Revision Checklist on page 75 to evaluate your paper and revise one of the paragraphs. 

Develop behavioral checklists for particular jobs and departments. When checklists are developed, they are not cast in stone. First draft checklists, then revise and improve them as necessary to aid the observation process. In general, checklists should be developed for each area. Keep the list of checklists as small as practical. A good practice is to keep the checklists short and manageable— ensure checklists focus on the critical behaviors. Don t forget to... 

In response to these commenters, EPA has revised that draft recordkeeping checklist to be more in the nature of a checklist, with a certification that the representations on the form are true and correct. Narrative information is still required where necessary, such as an identification of the brand of test kits used, the locations where they were used, and the results. EPA has also revised the regulatory text to describe the specific information that must be provided and the specific items for which a certification of compliance is required. 

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