Sample workplace inspection

Chemical exposures

• Is employee exposure to chemicals kept within acceptable levels?
• Are eyewash fountains and safety showers provided in areas where caustic corrosive chemicals are handled?
• Are all employees required to use personal protective clothing and equipment (gloves, eye protection, respirators) when handling chemicals?
• Are flammable or toxic chemicals kept in closed containers when not in use?
• Where corrosive liquids are frequently handled in open containers or drawn from storage vessels or pipelines, are adequate means provided to neutralize or dispose of spills or overflows (properly and safely)?
• Have standard operating procedures been established, and are they being followed when chemical spills are cleaned up?
• Are respirators stored in a convenient and clean location?
• Are emergency-use respirators adequate for the various conditions under which they may be used?
• Are employees prohibited from eating in areas where hazardous chemicals are present?
• Is personal protective equipment provided, used, and maintained whenever necessary?
• Are there written standard operating procedures for selecting and using respirators where needed?
• If you have a respirator protection program, are your employees instructed on the correct usage and limitations of the respirators?
• Are the respirators NIOSH-approved for particular applications?
• Are respirators inspected and cleaned, sanitized, and maintained regularly?
• Are you familiar with the Threshold Limit Value (TLV) or Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) of airborne contaminants and physical agents used in your workplace?
• Have you considered having an industrial hygienist or environmental health specialist evaluate your work operations?

Cranes and hoists

• Are cranes visually inspected for defective components before the start of any work shift?
• Are all electrically-operated cranes effectively grounded?
• Is a crane preventive maintenance program established?
• Is the load chart clearly visible to the operator?
• Are all operators trained and provided the operator's manual for the particular crane being operated?
• Have operators of construction-industry cranes of 5-ton capacity or greater capacity qualified for and been issued a valid operator's card?
• Are operating controls clearly identified?
• Is a fire extinguisher provided at the operator's station?
• Is the rated capacity visibly marked on each crane?
• Is an audible warning device mounted on each crane?
• Is sufficient lighting provided for the operator to perform the work safely?
• Does each crane have a certificate indicating that required testing and examinations have been performed?
• Are crane inspection and maintenance records maintained and available for examination?

Electrical safety

• Are only qualified persons allowed to work on electrical equipment and are they familiar with OSHA electrical safety rules?
• Are lockout/tagout procedures required when electrical equipment is being serviced?
• Are portable hand-held electrical tools and equipment grounded or double-insulated?
• Are electrical appliances — such as refrigerators, coffee pots, vacuum cleaners, polishers, and vending machines — grounded?
• Do extension cords have a ground prong?
• Are ground-fault circuit interrupters, which are not a part of the permanent wiring of the building, installed on 125-volt, single phase, 15-, 20-, and 30-ampere receptacles?
• If not, do you have an assured equipment-grounding program or use portable GFCI for temporary work?
• Do you repair or replace damaged wiring or frayed cords promptly?
• Do flexible cords or cables have strain relief at plug ends and is the cord jacket securely held in place?
• If you work in damp or wet areas, are your electrical tools and equipment approved for that kind of work?
• Are metal ladders prohibited from use in areas where there could be exposure to energized parts of equipment, fixtures, or circuit conductors?
• Are all disconnecting switches labeled to indicate their use or the equipment they serve?
• Are energized parts of electrical equipment operating at 50 volts or more enclosed in approved cabinets?
• Is there sufficient access and working space around all electrical equipment?
• Are all unused openings in breaker boxes appropriately plugged or covered?
• Is the use of each circuit breaker properly labeled?
• Do switches, receptacles, and junction boxes have tight-fitting covers or face plates?
• Are employees forbidden from working within 10 feet of high-voltage (over 600 volts) lines?

Emergency action plan

• Have you developed an emergency action plan?
• Have emergency-escape procedures and routes been developed and communicated to all employees?
• Do employees who must complete critical plant operations before evacuating know the proper procedures?
• Is the employee alarm system emergency warning recognizable and perceptible above ambient conditions?
• Are alarm systems properly maintained and tested regularly?
• Is the emergency action plan reviewed and revised periodically?
• Do employees know their responsibilities for the following:
  • Reporting emergencies?
  • Responding to emergency warnings?
  • Performing rescue and medical duties?

Exit doors

• Are doors required to serve as exits designed and constructed so that the way of exit travel is obvious and direct?
• Are windows that could be mistaken for exit doors made inaccessible by barriers or railing?
• Are exit doors able to open from the direction of exit travel without the use of a key or special knowledge or effort?
• Is a revolving, sliding, or overhead door prohibited from serving as a required exit door?
• When panic hardware is installed on a required exit door, will it allow the door to open by applying a force of 15 pounds or less in the direction of the exit traffic?
• Are doors on cold-storage rooms provided with inside release mechanisms that release the latches and open the doors even they are padlocked or otherwise locked on the outside?
• Where exit doors open directly onto a street, alley, or other area where vehicles may be operated, are adequate barriers and warnings provided to prevent employees from stepping directly into traffic?
• Do doors that swing both directions have viewing panels in each door if they are frequently used?

Ladders: portable

• Are all ladders in good condition, joints between steps and side rails tight, all hardware and fittings securely attached, and moveable parts operating freely without binding or undue play?
• Are there non-slip safety feet on all ladders except step ladders?
• Are ladder rungs and steps free of grease and oil?
• Are employees prohibited from placing a ladder in front of doors opening toward the ladder except when the door is blocked open, locked, or guarded?
• Are employees prohibited from placing ladders on boxes, barrels, or other unstable bases?
• Are employees instructed to face the ladder when ascending and descending?
• Are employees prohibited from using ladders that are broken, missing steps, rungs, cleats, broken side rails, or other faulty parts?
• Are employees instructed not to use the top step of ordinary stepladders as a step?
• When portable rung ladders are used to gain access to elevated platforms, roofs, and the like, does the ladder always extend at least three feet above the elevated surface?
• Do you require the users of portable rung or cleat-type ladders to place the base so that slipping will not occur or to lash or otherwise hold the ladder in place?
• Do portable metal ladders have legible signs reading "CAUTION— Do Not Use Around Electrical Equipment" or equivalent wording?
• Are the rungs of ladders uniformly spaced at 12 inches, center to center?

Lockout/tagout

• Have you established a written program consisting of energy control procedures, training, and periodic inspections for servicing and maintaining machinery or equipment where the release of stored energy or unexpected energizing could cause injury to an employee?
• Do your procedures clearly outline the scope, purpose, authorization, rules and techniques to be used in controlling hazardous energy?
• Does your lockout/tagout program include a means to enforce compliance?
• Have your employees who are authorized to use lockout/tagout been trained on the procedures?
• Do you retrain your employees on lockout/ tagout when their job assignments change, machinery or processes change and present a new hazard, or procedures change?
• Is all machinery or equipment, where unexpected energizing or release of stored energy could cause injury to an employee, locked out or tagged out during servicing or maintenance?
• Are employees required to remove or bypass a guard or safety device during servicing and maintenance of any equipment or machinery?
• Are employees required to place any part of their body into an area on a machine or piece of equipment where work is actually performed upon the material being processed (point of operation) or where an associated danger zone exists during a machine operating cycle?
• When doing service or maintenance work on cord and plug connected machinery or equipment is the plug under the exclusive control of the employee performing the work?
• Have you identified procedures for the following?
  • Affixing lockout/tagout devices to energy isolating devices to disable machinery or equipment and prevent unexpected energizing?
  • Shutting down, isolating, blocking, and securing machinery and equipment?
  • Placing, removing, and transferring of lockout/tagout devices?
  • Determining the effectiveness of the lockout/tagout devices?
• Do you instruct your employees to lock equipment and machinery out at the main power disconnects?
• Does the lockout/tagout procedure require that stored (potential) energy be released or blocked before equipment is locked-out for repairs?
• Do your procedures identify how affected employees will be notified that machinery or equipment is being locked out or that lock-out devices are being removed?
• Have you identified procedures to be used for removing a lockout/tagout device when the employee who placed it is not available?
• Are appropriate employees provided with individually keyed personal safety locks that identify the user?
• Are your lockout and tagout devices standardized by color, shape, or size?
• Are employees required to maintain exclusive control of their keys while they have safety locks in use?
• Do you require employees to check the safety of the lockout by attempting to start up after making sure no one is exposed?
• When the power-disconnecting means does not also disconnect the electrical control circuit:
  • Are appropriate electrical enclosures identified?
  • Are means provided to ensure the control circuit can also be disconnected and locked out?
• Do you have an authorized person perform a periodic inspection of your energy control procedures at least annually?
• Do you certify that the periodic inspections have been conducted?

Machine guarding

• Is there an employee training program for safe methods of machine operation?
• Is there adequate supervision to ensure that employees follow safe machine operating procedures?
• Is there a regular program of safety inspection for machinery and equipment?
• Is all machinery and equipment clean and properly maintained?
• Is sufficient clearance provided around and between machines to allow for safe operation, setup, servicing, material handling, and waste removal?
• Is equipment and machinery securely placed and anchored when necessary to prevent tipping or other movement that could result in personal injury?
• Is there a power shutoff switch within reach of the operator's position at each machine?
• Are the noncurrent-carrying metal parts of electrically-operated machines bonded and grounded?
• Are foot-operated switches guarded or arranged to prevent accidental actuation by personnel or falling objects?
• Are manually operated valves and switches that control the operation of equipment and machines clearly identified and readily accessible?
• Are all emergency stop buttons colored red?
• Are all pulleys and belts (within seven feet of the floor or working level) properly guarded?
• Are all moving chains and gears properly guarded?
• Are methods provided to protect the operator and other employees in the machine area from hazards created at the point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, flying chips, and sparks?
• Are machinery guards secured and arranged so they do not present a hazard in their use?
• If special hand tools are used for placing and removing material, do they protect the operator's hands?
• Are revolving drums, barrels, and containers that are required to be guarded by an enclosure that is interlocked with the drive mechanism so that revolution cannot occur, so guarded?
• Do arbors and mandrels have firm and secure bearings, and are they free from play?
• Are provisions made to prevent machines from automatically starting when power is restored following a power failure or shut-down?
• Are machines constructed to be free from excessive vibration when the largest size tool is mounted and run at full speed?
• If machinery is cleaned with compressed air, is air pressure controlled and personal protective equipment or other safeguards used to protect operators and other workers from eye and body injury?
• Are fan blades protected with a guard having openings no larger than 1⁄2 inch when operating within seven feet of the floor?
• Do saws used for ripping have anti-kickback devices and spreaders?
• Are radial arm saws guarded and so arranged that the cutting head will gently return to the back of the table when released?

Material handling

• Are materials stored so that they prevent sprains or strains when employees retrieve them?
• Is there a safe clearance for moving equipment through aisles and doorways?
• Are aisles permanently marked and kept clear to allow safe passage?
• Are motorized vehicles and mechanized equipment inspected daily or before use?
• Are vehicles shut off and brakes set before loading and unloading?
• Are containers of combustibles or flammables properly stacked and stabilized when they are being moved?
• Are trucks and trailers secured from movement during loading and unloading?
• Are dock boards (dock plates) used during loading and unloading operations?
• Are dock plates and loading ramps adequately constructed and maintained to support imposed loads?
• Are hand trucks maintained in safe operating condition?
• Are chutes equipped with side boards of sufficient height to prevent materials from falling off?
• Are chutes and gravity-roller sections firmly placed or secured to prevent displacement?
• At the delivery end of rollers or chutes, are provisions made to brake the movement of materials?
• Are materials handled at a uniform level to prevent lifting or twisting injuries?
• Are material-handling aids used to lift or transfer heavy or awkward objects?
• Are pallets usually inspected before loading or moving them?
• Do you use hooks with safety latches or other devices when hoisting materials, so that slings or load attachments cannot accidentally slip off the hoist hooks?
• Are securing chains, ropes, chokers, or slings adequate for the job?
• When equipment or materials are being hoisted, do you ensure that no one will be passing under the suspended loads?

Hand tools and equipment

• Are all company- and employee-owned tools and equipment in good working condition?
• Are hand tools such as chisels or punches that develop mushroomed heads reconditioned or replaced as necessary?
• Are broken or fractured handles on hammers, axes, or similar equipment replaced promptly?
• Are appropriate handles used on files and similar tools?
• Do employees use appropriate safety glasses, face shields, and similar equipment when using hand tools or equipment that might produce flying materials or be subject to breakage?
• Are jacks checked periodically to ensure they are in good operating condition?
• Are tool handles wedged tightly in the heads of all tools?
• Are tool-cutting edges kept sharp tools will smoothly without binding or skipping?
• Do employees use eye and face protection when they drive hardened or tempered tools, bits, or nails?

Noise: hearing conservation

• Are there areas in your workplace where continuous noise levels exceed 85 dBA?
• Are noise levels measured using a sound-level meter or an octave band analyzer, and are you keeping records of these levels?
• Have you tried isolating noisy machinery from the rest of your operation?
• Have engineering controls been used to reduce excessive noise?
• Where engineering controls are not feasible, are administrative controls used to minimize employee exposure to noise?
• Is there a preventive health program that educates employees about safe levels of noise and exposure, effects of noise on their health, and use of personal protection?
• Are employees who are exposed to continuous noise above 85 dBA retrained annually?
• Have you identified and posted work areas in which noise levels make voice communication difficult?
• Does every employee working in areas where noise levels exceed 90 dBA use approved hearing protection equipment (noise attenuating devices)?
• Are employees properly fitted and instructed in the proper use and care of hearing protection?
• Are employees who are exposed to continuous noise above 85 dBA given periodic audiometric testing to ensure that you have an effective hearing-protection system?

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

• Have you assessed workplace hazards that might require PPE and reviewed related injuries?
• Has the assessment been documented?
• Does the documentation identify the workplace evaluated?
• Has training been provided to each employee who is required to wear PPE?
• Has the training been documented?
• Are protective goggles or face shields provided to employees and worn when there may be danger of flying material or caustic or corrosive materials?
• Are ANSI-approved safety glasses worn at all times in areas where there is risk of eye injury?
• Are protective gloves, aprons, or shields provided to employees for protection against cuts, corrosive liquids, and chemicals?
• Are hardhats provided and worn where there is a danger of falling objects?
• Are hardhats inspected periodically for damage to the shell and the suspension system?
• Do employees exposed to vehicular traffic wear high visibility garments that make them stand out from their surroundings?
• Do workers wear reflective garments at night?
• Are appropriate respirators provided for regular or emergency use where they are necessary?
• Is there a written respirator program?
• Are the respirators inspected before and after each use?
• Is a written record kept of all inspection dates and findings?
• Have all employees been trained in work procedures, and proper use and maintenance of protective clothing and equipment for cleaning up spilled toxic or other hazardous materials or liquids?
• Is a spill kit available for employees to clean up spilled toxic or hazardous materials?
• Are employees required to wear safety shoes when they are exposed to conditions that could cause foot injuries?
• Is all protective equipment sanitary and ready to use?
• Is there an eyewash facility and a quick-drench shower in each work area where employees are exposed to caustic or corrosive materials?
• Do employees have lunch areas in areas where there is no exposure to toxic materials?
• Is protection from occupational noise provided when sound levels exceed those of the OSHA hearing conservation standard— 1910.95?

Tools and equipment: portable power-operated

• Do grinders, saws, and similar equipment have appropriate safety guards?
• Are power tools used with the shield or guard that the manufacturer recommends?
• Are portable circular saws equipped with guards above and below the base shoe?
• Are circular saw guards checked to ensure guarding of the lower blade portion?
• Are rotating or moving parts of equipment guarded to prevent physical contact?
• Are all cord-connected, electrically-operated tools and equipment either grounded or of the approved double-insulated type?
• Are effective guards in place over belts, pulleys, chains, and sprockets on equipment such as concrete mixers, air compressors, and the like?
• Are portable fans provided with full guards having openings of 1⁄2 inch or less?
• Is hoisting equipment available and used for lifting heavy objects, and are hoist ratings and characteristics appropriate for the task?
• Are ground-fault circuit interrupters (on all temporary electrical 15-, 20-, and 30-ampere circuits) used during periods of construction?

• Is there an assured equipment-grounding conductor program in place during periods of construction?
• Are pneumatic and hydraulic hoses on power-operated tools checked regularly for deterioration or damage?

Walkways

• Are aisles and passageways kept clear and at least 22 inches wide?
• Are aisles and walkways appropriately marked?
• Are wet surfaces covered with non-slip materials?
• Are openings or holes in the floors or other walking surfaces repaired or otherwise made safe?
• Is there a safe clearance for walking in aisles in which vehicles operate?
• Are materials and equipment stored so sharp objects do not obstruct the walkway?
• Are changes of direction or elevation easily identified?
• Do aisles or walkways near moving or operating machinery, welding, and similar operations keep employees away from hazards?
• Are standard guardrails provided wherever aisle or walkway surfaces are elevated more than four feet above floor or ground?
• Are bridges provided over conveyors and similar hazards?

Work environment: general

• Are all work areas clean and orderly?
• Are walking surfaces dry or slip-resistant?
• Are spilled materials or liquids cleaned up immediately?
• Is combustible scrap, debris, and waste safely contained and removed from the site promptly?
• Are covered metal waste cans used for oily and paint-soaked waste?
• Is the appropriate number of toilets and washing facilities provided?
• Are toilets and washing facilities sanitary?
• Are work areas adequately lighted?

This is not an exhaustive list of all potential hazards in the workplace. Your facility may have additional exposures, state or local standards or company requirements that differ from this list. Workplace inspections need to be conducted by a person who is familiar with safety and health requirements and the exposures found at your facility.

Reference: Oregon OSHA

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