Health and Safety Services: Safety inspection report form and guidance

Safety Inspection Report Form and Guidance

Area :			Date :
Inspection team :
Circulation list : All staff of school/department
Background : Employers have a general duty of care to provide safe conditions in workplaces. Local aspects of this duty are usually delegated to managers. Carrying out health and safety inspections and publishing the findings to employees are essential steps in ensuring safe conditions. Employees have a legal duty to co-operate with their employer in safety matters - generally to use equipment and follow procedures provided for safety and to ensure that their acts or omissions do not cause injury to themselves or others. Staff are also required to report to their employer, usually through managers, shortcomings in the employer's arrangements for health and safety or workplace conditions that could lead to serious and imminent danger.
General description of the area and its activities:
Section A - main findings and recommendations
A1.
A2. insert extra rows in table as necessary
Section B - General health and safety advice for employees
B1 Office occupants should regularly look over their own areas and report any problems they cannot remedy themselves to their safety coordinator or manager e.g. : Trip hazards - wires/cables across floor, in the way of feet when under desks, damaged flooring/floor covering Electrical equipment - not safety tested recently, defective, overloaded sockets, extension leads or adaptors. Step/Ladders with bends, bashes, damaged feet or rungs.
B2. Maintain your awareness of the fire procedures for staff. Read the info here
B3. Ensure all hourly paid lecturers receive a copy of the fire instructions with their contracts. Click here for a printable version
B4. Maintain your awareness of good computer set up and practice via this web page.
B5. Report all accidents and incidents using the form here or phone the safety officer on 6218
B6. Maintain awareness of the College policy on Occupational Stress. Try the stress questionnaire.
B7. Report any incidence of violence or aggression to the Safety Officer
B8. Maintain safety as a standing agenda item in school/dept/section meetings as per College policy.
Section C - Particular area items to report Action time-scales for risk levels: high – immediate action; med – within one month; low – action within three months; ongoing – keep up procedures/monitoring months
Item	Room	Nature of Hazard plus Remedial Action Taken / Necessary	Risk level low/med /high	Person to act or arrange	Action Taken (date)
C1	general	List here items that need tested for electrical safety - then discuss with the College Safety Officer the options for getting them tested.	------------	Area safety coordinator	ongoing
C2
C3		insert extra rows in table as necessary

SAFETY INSPECTION PROCEDURE
a) The Inspection party: This should consist of a minimum of two persons - the local area safety coordinator and a safety coordinator from a different but preferably similar area. A safety representative from a relevant trade union can also be asked if they wish to attend. The Safety Advisor should be invited if you have not carried out an inspection before.
b) The pre-inspection discussion
1. Previous inspection reports - do any significant items remain outstanding?
2. DSE - include this link on the final report form: http://www.learninglink.ac.uk/keepfit/index.htm
3. Accidents - were all accidents investigated and remedial action taken? Include the accident form link: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/so/forms/accident on the final report
4. Risk Assessments - Are all risk assessments up-to-date? Has there been a risk assessment for occupational stress issues? Is the school/dept is engaging in any new activities that may need a risk assessment? Use this activities list to assist you: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/so/forms/activities - complete and return to the Safety Officer.
5. First Aid - Do any first aiders/emergency responders need refresher training?
6. Fire - zone fire marshals designated where required?
7. Radiation issues - This is area subject to a separate inspection by the Radiation Protection Adviser
8. Occupational Noise issues - any? 9. Mechanical Hazards - any?
10. Manual Handling - are all relevant staff trained? See the Safety Officer if not.
11. Excessive Occupational Stress - are any staff complaining about excessive workloads or taking sick leave due to stress? See (4) above.
12. Violence and Aggression - Have there been any incidents? Remind staff to report all concerns.
13. Field Trips issues - are these being adequately risk assessed? Is the minibus policy being
complied with? See: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/so/policies/drive
c) The walk round - Check, look at/for:
1. Poor housekeeping causing hazards e.g. trips, obstructions, fire risks
2. Trip hazards - wires, cables, damaged flooring, items stored on floor
3. Electrical equipment - not PAT tested, defective, unauthorised fires, toasters etc, overloaded sockets, extension leads and adaptors.
4. Safety signage - missing, damaged, obscured
5. Fire doors incl. office doors - damaged, gaps in, missing closers, not closing properly; signage, defects in sealing strips
6. Smoking - in no smoking areas
7. Fire extinguishers - missing, used, not checked in last 12 months
8. Junk in fire escape routes
9. Ladders - check for any defects - bends, bashes, missing feet or rungs, wobbly etc.
10. Staff complaints/comments - ask staff if they have any.
11. First Aid - are all boxes reasonably stocked?

d) The written report
The inspection report should be written while the inspection is still reasonably fresh in the mind.
Select all, copy and paste the form overleaf into WORD. Insert extra lines into the table as necessary. Include each issue you have noted below the general information that we wish all staff to see each year. Make sure you say what needs to be done and who is to arrange to do it. e.g. 'report to Estates' - M.Y. Self. Give each item a risk level that will dictate when action should be completed by. If this is not obvious it can be worked out as follows:

SIMPLE RISK LEVEL ESTIMATION

RISK LEVEL = (A) POSSIBLE SEVERITY OF HARM FROM THE HAZARD
                          X (B) LIKELIHOOD OF HARMFUL EVENT OCCURRING

(A) POSSIBLE SEVERITY OF HARM
1 = Minor harm (< 3 days off work)
2 = Moderate harm (> 3 days off work)
3 = Serious harm (death or major injury)

(B) LIKELIHOOD OF HARMFUL EVENT (taking control measures into consideration)
1 = An event that could result in harm of that severity is unlikely to occur
2 = An event that could result in harm of that severity is has an even chance of occurring
3 = An event that could result in harm of that severity is very likely to occur

A RISK LEVEL (A x B) OF:
6/9 = High Risk - Take immediate action to reduce risk by elimination or more controls
4   = Medium Risk - Take action within one month or less to reduce risk
1-3 = Low Risk - Accept risk or take action within three months or less to reduce risk

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Health & Safety Services, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX. Tel: 020 7631 6218, email: t.mccartney@bbk.ac.uk