Safety and Health Audit Instrument

These checklists are by no means all-inclusive. You should add to them or delete portions or items that do not apply to your operations however, carefully consider each item as you come to it and then make your decision. You will also need to refer to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards for complete and specific standards that may apply to your situation. (Note These checklists are typical for general industry but not for construction or maritime.) You can find a similar checklist for construction in the Handbook ofOSHA Construction Safety and Health, 2nd edn., published by CRC Press/Taylor Francis. 

Confined spaces Crane safety Driver and vehicle safety Electrical 

Emergency response and planning Ergonomics Excavations/Trenches Fall protection 

Fire protection and prevention Flammable and combustible materials Forklifts 

Hand and portable powered tools Hazard communication Hazardous chemical exposures 

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The use of workplace inspections makes it necessary to have or develop written safety and health audit instruments. These instruments need to be tailored to meet the specific needs and intended purposes. Those using audit instruments need to be trained on their use and application. This means that they should be able to identify the hazards that are recorded on the audit form and must understand the workings of the workplace, process, equipment, etc., that they are to audit. These completed instruments are a record and documentation of one facet of your safety and health effort. A written sample safety and health audit policy is found in Figure 7.4. In Figure 7.5, you can find a sample jobsite inspection that can be altered and tailored to meet the unique needs of a particular company. 

Safety and health audits and inspections can be done on or for the entire plant (e.g., manufacturing), a department (e.g., quality coutrol), a specific worker unit (e.g., boiler repair), a job or task (e.g., diving), a certain work environment (e.g., confined spaces), a specific piece of equipment (e.g., foiklift), a worker performing a task (e.g., power press operator), or prevention of an event (e.g., fire). It is important to ensure that iuspectious and audits are tailored to meet the needs of your company in auditing for safety and health concerns. An example of a safety and health audit instrument can be found in Appendix D and further information can be found in Chapter 7. You will need to develop safety and health audit instruments that meet your specific needs. 

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