Title:
OHS Workplace
Inspections Guideline
Version
2.0
TRIM file number
07/XXXX
Short description
Guidelines on conducting Workplace Health and
Safety Workplace Inspections
Relevant to
All workers
Approved by
Executive Director, Division of Human Resources
Responsible officer
Manager, OHS
Responsible office
Division of Human Resources
Date introduced
29, June, 2007
Date(s) modified
12 April 2013
Next scheduled review date
April 2016
Related University documents
Occupational Health and Safety Policy
Occupational Health and Safety Objectives and
Responsibilities
OHS Workplace Inspections Policy
Related legislation
Workplace Health and Safety Act 2011
Workplace Health and Safety Regulations 2011
Key words
Guidelines, occupational health and safety, OHS,
work health and safety, WHS, workplace
inspections, action sheets.
1.
PURPOSE
This guideline describes how to undertake occupational health and safety (OHS) workplace
inspections.
2.
ELIGIBILITY
These guidelines apply to all Workers (employees) of Charles Sturt University (CSU).
3.
4.
BACKGROUND
3.1
The purpose of conducting workplace inspections is to take a systematic approach to
the identification of hazards in the workplace and to either eliminate the hazards or
reduce the risk of injury from them. Regular inspections can be the key to the
prevention of workplace incidents.
3.3
The OHS workplace inspections are designed to ensure all areas of CSU are able to
translate their ‘duty of care’ under WHS legislation into the management of risk.
CONSULTATION WITH EMPLOYEES
An important element of successfully implementing OHS workplace inspections involves
meaningful and effective communication with workers aimed at achieving commitment from
all areas and levels within each organisational unit. Managers need to plan for how
consultation will be achieved and how ideas and actions will be communicated.
For assistance or guidance on WHS consultation at CSU refer to the CSU Consultation
Statement.
5.
CONDUCT OF OHS WORKPLACE INSPECTIONS
5.1
Managers / Supervisors of facilities that are shared need to arrange for the assignment
of investigation responsibilities to ensure that duplication of effort does not occur. Using
a joint team with members from each area, or rotating the responsibility for the conduct
of the inspection between areas are possible methods for managing shared facilities.
5.2
Where workplaces are geographically large or where there are a large number of
facilities, then it may be prudent to carry out inspections on the separate locations and
then combine them into a single report. This approach can be carried out over a
number of months and still meet the recommended reporting schedule.
5.3
Managers / Supervisors should enlist the aid of their employees to assist in the conduct
of inspections. Where relevant, these assistants may be chosen for their knowledge or
expertise in particular areas. The number of persons needed to carry out an inspection
is generally limited to about three (3) persons, but the employees carrying out the
inspection may be rotated to ensure the involvement of as many employees as
possible in the workplace inspection program over a number of years.
5.4
Managers / Supervisors are encouraged to use and develop workplace inspection
checklists to enable efficient inspections of workplaces to be conducted. The aim of
developing checklists for particular facilities or operations is to ensure that inspections
meet any specific local needs. Basic/generic checklists are available on the Human
Resources, Health Safety and Wellbeing website. These basic/generic checklists may
be adapted by business units according to the specific local needs of a work area.
Modified checklists can be discussed with the Manager, OHS prior to use to ensure
they are adequate in assessing all areas of the physical work environment and/or
safety management systems for the particular area.
6.
5.5
Health and Safety Representatives (HSR) have a legal right to inspect workplaces and
may schedule this activity. Managers / Supervisors may find it beneficial to conduct
inspections with their HSR and should keep in contact with their representative.
5.6
The purpose of a workplace inspection is to detect hazards and as such the inspection
should not deteriorate into an exercise in simple ‘nit-picking’. The approach of the
inspection team should be more to determine that everything is satisfactory rather than
to determine how many things are wrong. For further information on the completion of
workplace inspections, please refer to the Health, Safety and Wellbeing website for
presentations on how to conduct inspections or ‘Workplace Inspections Guidance
Notes’
5.7
Items identified during the inspection need to be rectified and the workplace inspection
action sheet is the document designed to assist this process. Regular reviews are
necessary to ensure that the required actions are being undertaken and the identified
problems rectified by the responsible person(s).
5.8
Once all the hazards have identified during the inspection they will need to be
prioritised for rectification.
PRIORITISING PROBLEMS
6.1
The purpose of prioritising your OHS issues is to ensure that serious problems are
dealt with immediately, regardless of cost. The Hazard Scale in Clause 7 (adapted from
WorkCover NSW) will help you to prioritise the hazards within your workplace. In order
to prioritise the issues you will need to:
a) Determine the likelihood of an incident occurring as a result of the identified hazard.
You must decide if the likelihood is very likely, likely, unlikely or very unlikely.
b) Determine the severity of an incident stemming from the identified hazard. What
would happen to a person if an accident happened because of this hazard? Would
they be killed, severely injured, would time off work be needed or would first aid be
appropriate? Select the most severe outcome for each hazard; and
7.
6.2
Serious hazards (denoted ‘S’) require immediate action regardless of impact on the
operations of the workplace.
6.3
ER indicates that a risk is easily resolved and, as such, should receive immediate
attention, eg moving packing crates that have been stacked in front of an exit.
6.4
All risks in between the two extremes above are prioritised as Priority 1 – Priority 5
(‘P1-P5’) and should be dealt with as quickly as possible, with Priority 1 being the
highest.
HAZARD SCALE
SEVERITY
LIKELIHOOD
Could it hurt someone?
OR
How ill could it make
someone?
Very likely
Likely
Unlikely
Very unlikely
Could happen
any time
Could happen
sometime
Could happen,
but very rarely
Could happen,
but probably
never will
Kill or cause permanent
disability
S
S
P1
P2
Long-term illness or
serious injury
S
P1
P2
P3
Medical attention and
several days off work
P1
P2
P3
P4
First aid needed
P2
P3
P4
P5
8.
RESPONSIBILITY
Delegation of the issues to be resolved should be assigned to appropriate employees.
Assigning different issues to other employees will ensure as many employees as possible
are included in the plan. Details of employees and the actions they are required to complete
should be clearly spelled out together with target dates to complete actions. These dates
should be realistic.
9.
RESOURCES
In order to effectively manage OHS and to action issues, adequate resources must be made
available. These resources are not only financial but also physical (i.e. facilities and
equipment) and human. Generally your greatest resource challenges will be time and
personnel, not financial.
10.
TRAINING
Workplace inspection training presentations are available from the Human Resources
website.
11.
OHS WORKPLACE INSPECTION WORKFLOW DIAGRAM
Table of amendments
Version
number
Version 2.0
Date
15 April 2013
Short description of amendment
Amended with up to date legislative references, Safety
Management Plans removed from document to create
stand alone and specific Workplace Inspections
Guidelines.