Safety Inspections

Safety inspections, like many things, seems to be vulnerable to the winds of fashion.  While I was employed I saw many safety inspection sheets come-and-go.  In my opinion they either erred by being overly detailed or by having no detail at all.  The most comprehensive inspection had 104 questions and was to be done weekly.  The skimpiest one directed the auditor to contact a random employee and ask them what they thought was the most likely cause of a workplace injury.

The form listed below is my swing at the ball.  It is based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for non-fatal injuries.  The percentage of injuries attributed to a given cause is listed on the middle column.  To the right of that is the cumulative percentage.  It is notable that over 80% of the injuries are caused by three sources: Overexertion/reaction, Falls-slips-trips and Contact with objects/equipment.

One of the largest book stores in the Lansing area.  Books are paper.  Paper burns.  The fire extinguisher is hidden from 90% of the floor space by the bulletin board and access is blocked by the bench.

Now do you see the fire extinguisher?  When pointed out to the clerk, he informed me that the Fire Marshal directed them to place the fire extinguisher in that exact location.

Apologies for the awkward formatting.  As always, you can click on the pictures to embiggen.

Thirty-three questions feels a little bit "fat" for a weekly inspection but it could probably be skinnied up.  For instance, curbs, once painted, do not need to be inspected every week.