Field Compliance

There are two commonly used and effective ways to measure field compliance field safety inspections and hands-on field audits. Notice that the terms field and hands-on are used in the previous sentence. These are key words because trying to perform inspections and audits from the office or the ivory tower is just not the same as being there. 

The inspection and audit process should be a positive rather than a negative experience. If your safety culture is developing, your inspections should show that shortcomings that were pointed out during previous 

Described as follows are two tools that are used extensively in measuring field compliance the audit and the inspection. I define these two tools as related but different. The main differences between them are in their scope. Many health and safety professionals do not realize or believe that there is a difference between the safety program and the site-specific safety plan. Similarly, many health and safety professionals will not admit to a difference between the safety inspection and safety audit, but there is a difference—and the difference is substantial. Safety inspections, and why these safety inspections are important, is discussed in the following section. After completing the discussion on safety inspections, safety audits are discussed. 

MEASURING FIELD COMPLIANCE USING SAFETY INSPECTIONS 

Safety inspections are a valuable tool to aid in determining field compliance. Inspections can be used to reveal gaps between field activities and safety programs and plans. Safety inspections take place at various levels, including the following  

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To enforce its standards, OSHA is authorized under the Act to conduct workplace inspections. Every establishment covered by the Act is subject to inspection by OSHA compliance safety and health officers who are chosen for their knowledge and experience in the occupational safety and health field. Compliance officers are vigorously trained in OSHA standards and in the recognition of safety and health hazards. Inspections occur as a result of the following priorities established by OSHA ... 

In a well-developed safety culture, there will typically be two types of documents used for planning field compliance a safety program (or general safety manual) and a site-specific safety plan. These two documents are sometimes intertwined and used interchangeably, even among safety experts, but these two documents are very different. These two key planning documents will aid in attaining safe work performance. 

Most organizations establish a goal of 100 percent field compliance. This 100 percent goal is for in-house and outside standards. I believe that companies have more success complying with their in-house standards rather than outside compliance issues. It is difficult to determine OSHA compliance because compliance officers may examine differently than in-house safety persons. Let s look at an example. 

MEASURING FIELD COMPLIANCE USING SAFETY INSPECTIONS... 

Safety audits are another valuable tool to aid in determining field compliance. Audits can also reveal gaps between field activities and safety programs and plans, but the audit attempts to look at compliance from a different level than an inspection. The audit looks at the big picture as far as safety is concerned. This big picture will look at general compliance in safety-related areas. These areas can vary, but typical areas that are examined include the following ... 

Final audit findings get sent to a committee that reviews the results of the audits. Because this chapter deals with measuring field compliance, we will not go any further with the subject of dealing with audit findings at this time however, I will pick up this discussion of how to proceed with implementing safety audit findings in a chapter to follow. At this point, if the reader has followed the discussion to this point, you should be able to measure field compliance with the use of safety inspections and safety audits. For the remainder of this chapter, I will discuss some key points of how to ensure that your safety audits are as fair and accurate as possible. 

Audits and inspections are useful tools in determining field compliance. Inspections should be performed at a variety of levels and at least once, if not more so, during any one shift. Inspections will concentrate on the here and now. Inspections typically focus on items that determine whether a piece of equipment or a production line is safe to operate or should be sidelined. An audit is more focused on big picture items. 

Sometimes success comes in small steps. Accomplishing field compliance using tools such as an effective inspection and audit program will likely come in small steps. These tools are all part of a developing safety culture. Each step that is made in the development of safety culture is a step in the right direction. 

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