Keeping the workplace safe and all employees healthy are some of the most crucial responsibilities of any employer or business owner. Safety risks are inherent to running any business, as anything from stray electrical wiring in an office to heavy machinery in a factory to fall hazards at a construction site can cause injuries to workers. These risks must be mitigated through proper risk management and safety training.
Before managing the risks, however, you need to know what those risks are. A safety inspection helps you find the potential hazards in your workplace so you can take corrective actions before they do any harm.
Safety inspections must be carried out regularly to ensure that your workplace is always safe and complying with regulations. Here’s when a safety inspection is necessary:
Of course, an inspection is not useful unless all findings are well-documented. A thorough inspection report recording all the inspection findings in detail can be referred to while implementing and reviewing actions for mitigating the safety hazards. An effective site inspection report not only summarizes all the safety risks identified and preventive measures already in place, but also outlines recommendations to manage the risks not currently being controlled for.
A good inspection report contains all the data necessary for safety officers and managers to create a workplace safety plan and risk management procedures. In the event of an incident, it can also be used as evidence during insurance claims.
In this article, we’ll cover how to write an effective inspection report, what the report should include, and tools you can use to help you during the process, including a handy inspection report template.
A good inspection report is clear, concise, and includes specific information about which actions should be taken to ensure safety. The contents of each report may vary depending on what is to be inspected. In large organizations, different teams or job sites may need to prepare inspection reports, and what is included in those reports would depend on the size of the team, the available resources, and the nature of work (e.g., on-site work involving machines or chemicals would have different risks compared to work done on computers). But here are some considerations so your inspection report will be effective and actionable.
While you’re conducting the safety inspection, documenting it clearly and effectively should be a priority. In this way, you are preparing to write the inspection report. The inspection should be streamlined and your notes should be organized in such a way that you don’t miss anything while creating the report.
To make the process easier, you can use tools such as:
Your inspection report could ultimately be meant for different types of audiences. For example, the report of a routine safety inspection would probably stay internal, but you may need to show it to external parties (such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or insurance companies) on request. On the other hand, an inspection carried out after an incident or at the beginning of a project may be meant for external audiences in the first place, such as service providers, customers, and regulators.
Once you can guess at the likely audience for the report, you can decide on the language and terminology that should be used to ensure that the information is communicated clearly to whoever is reading it. For instance, an internal report can include company jargon that only employees would understand, but a report meant for regulators or customers should avoid such specialized language.
Depending on the size of your business, it may be a challenge to keep the tone, language, and clarity of your documentation consistent. Especially in large organizations with multiple branches, it’s important that safety inspection reports adhere to a common quality standard. This is because safety is not confined to a single team, department, or site but is an organization-wide issue. So, the inspection report may be read and acted on by employees across sites and departments, and everyone should be able to understand exactly what the report says and what needs to be done with it.
A well-written inspection report is concise, factual, and structured. The information described should be specific rather than vague. For example, you should write: “Pipe leakage in 5th boiler room on 2nd floor,” instead of just, “Pipe leakage in boiler room.” Other good writing practices include:
Finally, make sure to recognize all of the good. Mention the industry best practices being followed and the safety measures already in place. This acknowledgement helps to build a good relationship with the workers and supervisors, which is always beneficial for a good workplace culture and encourages them to cooperate during inspections. Also, acknowledging the good further facilitates the workplace safety culture.
Most business reports have a specific, consistent format. Structuring your inspection report according to the common format helps to make it clear and easily readable for all stakeholders involved. A report typically has the following sections:
The specific information you include in your inspection report would usually depend on the observations you make during the inspection and the nature of work being inspected. But here is some general information that typically needs to be present in all inspection reports:
Writing an inspection report effectively, in a way that corrective actions can be taken promptly and safety is taken seriously, can be a daunting task. And keeping the report in mind while conducting your inspection can get overwhelming, especially if everything is done manually.
Besides, handling so many paper documents — inspection checklists, inspection form templates, earlier inspection reports, and more — can lead to errors, and paper can always be misplaced. Using a software solution such as Pulpstream to manage your inspections and report writing can make your work much easier. You can access all the checklists and forms online, and copy your observations directly onto an online (Excel or Microsoft Word) inspection report template. This can save you time and effort, and allow you to focus on the critical, practical steps, such as deciding on corrective actions that need to be taken.