Health and safety inspections are not only a proactive leading indicator; they form part of building a good health and safety culture.
Health and safety inspections can take different forms and you or your representatives will need to agree the best methods for your workplace.
Here are some of the ways inspections can take place.
- Safety tours - general inspections of the workplace.
- Safety sampling - systematic sampling of particular dangerous activities, processes or areas.
- Safety surveys - general inspections of particular dangerous activities, processes or areas.
- Incident inspections - carried out after an accident causing a fatality, injury, or near miss, which could have resulted in an injury, or case of ill health which had been reported to DMCC or any other authority.
Inspecting the workplace
Your company appointed health and safety representatives can inspect the workplace at any time or schedule specific inspections as required. The frequency of inspections will depend on the nature of the work. Inspections may be less often, for example, if the work environment is low risk like in a predominantly administrative office. But if there are certain areas of a workplace or specific activities that are high risk or changing rapidly, more frequent inspection may be justified, for example in industrial activities.
Good practice
- Plan a programme of inspections - you and your representatives can plan a programme of inspections in advance.
- Agree the number of representatives - agree the number of people taking part in any formal inspection.
- Inspect together - it will help your relationship to engage with local authorities.
- Consult specialists – engage health and safety consultants or other specialist third parties.
- Break down tasks - for larger workplaces, it may not be practical to conduct a formal inspection of the entire workplace in a single session.
Following-up after an inspection
- Note the reasons for any follow-up action you decide to take.
- Share the follow-up action taken throughout the workplace and with other relevant parts of the business.
There may be times when immediate actions may not be appropriate, you may not be able to act straight away; so give a reasonable period of time for close out and explain the reasons for the actions you have decided to take.
For more information on HSE inspections or any HSE issues, please contact HSE@dmcc.ae.