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Checklists
Self-Inspection
The most widely accepted way to identify hazards
is to conduct safety and health inspections. The
only way you can be certain of the actual situation is for you to look
at it from time to time.
Make a Self-Inspection of Your Business
Begin a program of self-inspection in your workplace. Self-inspection
is a must if you are to know where hazards exist and whether they are
under control.
Following this introduction, you will find checklists
designed to assist you in this fact-finding. They
will give you some indication of where you should begin to make your workplace
safer and more healthful for all employees.
These checklists are by no means all-inclusive. You
may wish to add to them or delete portions that do not apply to your business. Consider
carefully each item as you come to it and then make your decision.
Dont inspect for items that obviously have
no application to your business. Make
sure you or your designee see each item. Leave
nothing to memory or chance. Write down what
you see, or dont see, and what you think you should do about it.
When you have completed the checklist, add this
material to your injury information, your employee information, and your
process and equipment information. You will now
possess many facts that will help you determine what problems exist. Then,
if you use the HIOSH standards in your problem solving process, it will
be much easier for you to determine the action needed to solve these problems.
Once the hazards have been identified, you can institute
control procedures and incorporate them into your injury and illness prevention
program.
Technical assistance in self-inspection may be available
to you through your insurance carrier, safety organizations, and many
local, state, and federal agencies, including HIOSH. Additional
checklists are available from the Internet, trade associations, insurance
companies, and other similar service organizations.
Self-Inspection Scope
The scope of your self-inspection should include
the following:
Processing, Receiving, Shipping and Storage: equipment,
job planning, layout, heights, floor loads, projection of materials,
materials-handling and storage methods.
Building and Grounds Conditions: floors,
walls, ceilings, exits, stairs, walkways, ramps, platforms, driveways,
aisles.
Housekeeping Program: waste disposal,
tools, objects, materials, leakage and spillage, cleaning methods,
schedules, work areas, remote areas, storage areas.
Electricity: equipment, switches,
breakers, fuses, switch-boxes, junction boxes, special fixtures, circuits,
insulation, extension cords, tools, motors, grounding, NEC compliance.
Lighting: type, intensity, controls,
conditions, diffusion, location, glare and shadow control.
Heating and Ventilation: type,
effectiveness, temperature, humidity, controls, natural and artificial
ventilation and exhausting.
Machinery: points of operations,
flywheels, gears, shafts, pulleys, keyways, belts, couplings, sprockets,
chains, frames, controls, lighting for tools and equipment, brakes,
exhausting, feeding, oiling, adjusting, maintenance, lockout, grounding,
work space, location, purchasing standards.
Personnel: training, experience,
methods of checking machines before use, type clothing, personal protective
equipment, use of guards, tool storage, work practices, methods of
cleaning, servicing, or adjusting machinery.
Hand and Power Tools: purchasing
standards, inspection, storage, repair, types, maintenance, grounding
use and handling.
Chemicals: storage, handling, transportation,
spills, disposal, amounts used, toxicity or other harmful effects,
warning signs, supervision, training, protective clothing and equipment.
Fire Prevention: extinguishers,
alarms, sprinklers, smoking rules, exits, personnel assigned, separation
of flammable materials and dangerous operations, explosion-proof fixtures
in hazardous locations, waste disposal, training.
Maintenance: regularity, effectiveness,
training of personnel, materials and equipment used, records maintained,
specific methods of locking out machinery, general methods.
Personal Protective Equipment: type,
size, maintenance, repair, storage, assignment of responsibility, purchasing
methods, standards observed, training in care and use, rules of use,
methods of assignment, medical evaluation.
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