Workplace Inspections and Incident Investigations

It is required under the Occupational Health and Safety Act that the workplace be inspected on a monthly basis. Where it is not practical to inspect the workplace at least once a month, the inspection of the complete workplace should be at least once a year, inspecting at least a part of the workplace each month.

Even where inspections are not legally required, a well managed inspection program can help to identify problems and assess risks before accidents or injuries occur. An adequate inspection program can:

 

Identify potential problems:

• Identify deficiencies in equipment and or machinery
• Assess and determine the degree of compliance
• Demonstrate management support for the health and safety program
• Identify gaps in the occupational health and safety management system
• Risk management and mitigation

Workplace accidents do happen, its human nature. However, pinpointing the exact root of the problem is the most important part. At canaPHEM, our H&S Specialists can teach you how to prepare yourself for workplace investigations. This is an instructor lead session or workshop that can be done on-site or via an online webinar using Zoom (or another similar application). The workshop/session will last 3 hours. When it comes to an investigation, the most important information is found on the unobstructed scene. It is important for the first person on-site to be adequately trained to analyze the scene to document the findings.

 

Proper incident investigations can implement and help identify:

• Corrective actions to prevent future occurrences
• Errors in your safety management system
• Identify hazards in your operations
• Discovering the root cause
• How to adequately handle records and documentation
• How to adequately conduct workplace incident investigations

Companies are required to have certain policies, programs, and procedures set in place to be compliant with provincial and federal laws. Our Health and Safety specialists are able to help ensure that your company will be compliant.