I often talk about why it’s imperative for personnel to understand the importance of safety inspections. Without that awareness, even the best inspection policies won’t improve safety.

You can spell out inspection procedures, but if they’re not followed by the personnel doing the inspections, they’re just sheets of paper.

Workplace safety requires management support of safety best practices.Even a tool such as The Checker inspection checklists, which guide personnel through equipment-specific inspections, aren’t enough to overcome apathy or laziness. Personnel can turn in the checklist forms, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t simply pencil-whip them.

There’s a flip side to this coin, however. I’m certainly not speaking about all cases, but I know there are many companies in which supervisors don’t truly encourage inspections to be done properly.

The company may say it wants inspections done right. It may have invested in a tool such as The Checker. Yet, when it comes down to it, supervisors are actually discouraging proper inspections.

I see this happening in several ways:

  • Not enough time is allocated for personnel to do the inspections properly.
  • Supervisors have a “shoot the messenger” mentality when personnel report problems.
  • No timely action is taken when problems are reported, sending the message to personnel that inspections really aren’t that important.
  • Supervisors are okay with personnel skipping inspections if they’re under time pressure.
  • Management offers no tangible rewards for personnel who diligently inspect equipment and follow other safety procedures.

Supervisors Also Have to Buy In

At the root of these problems is a failure to understand that insisting on good inspections is good management. Safety inspections aren’t just about keeping people safe; they also help lower costs and increase productivity.

From an operations standpoint, inspections can identify equipment problems that are affecting the efficiency of equipment. Regularly inspecting equipment also means that you avoid the costly work disruptions that come when equipment breaks down on the job. It’s much better to identify problems before using the equipment, allowing for prudent scheduling around any necessary repairs.

From a maintenance standpoint, inspections identify problems earlier than if no one was regularly checking the equipment. Therefore, problems can be fixed before they escalate into costlier, more-time-consuming problems that stress the maintenance budget and schedule. It’s almost always best to fix problems sooner rather than later, but maintenance can’t fix problems it doesn’t know about!

When a supervisor—in operations, maintenance, or even upper management—takes an “I don’t want to hear about it” attitude toward problems revealed by inspections, they’re not only completely undermining any effort by their company to achieve a strong inspection program, they’re actually hurting their own job performance.

When personnel report equipment problems they’ve found by doing thorough, conscientious inspections, supervisors should applaud their diligence. They’re helping the supervisors be better supervisors.

Takeaway

An effective inspection program that improves safety and the bottom line requires buy-in from both the personnel doing the inspections and the people supervising them.

 

Image courtesy of Compliance and Safety LLC , Creative Commons.

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