Identifying and Controlling Hazards
Course 101
Safety Certified Supervisor Series

MODULE THREE: IDENTIFYING HAZARDS

Workplace inspections

Inspection Frequency

The regular site inspection is done at specified intervals. The employer must inspect as often as the type of operation or character of equipment requires. Think about the most hazardous operation or location in your company. How often are safety inspections conducted there?

I'm sure you can see from the above discussion that a quarterly inspection by the safety committee may not be sufficient to ensure hazards are effectively identified. OSHA recommends that, at a minimum, medium and large fixed worksites be inspected completely at least every quarter, with some part of the inspection occurring each month. For construction sites, OSHA recommends site inspections at least weekly because of the rapidly changing nature of the site and its hazards.

At small fixed worksites, the entire site should be inspected at one time. And even for the smallest worksite, inspections should be done at least quarterly. If the small worksite uses hazardous materials or involves hazardous procedures or conditions that change frequently, inspections should be done more often

.