Regular workplace safety checks ensure your workplace meets basic standards of safety.

Checklists are a great tool for reminding us to perform certain tasks to determine common standards and ensure consistency in the workplace. They are used mostly as documentary evidence that a workplace has a system in place that identifies and controls hazards and risks.

So, what are checklists?

A checklist is a type of informational job aid used to reduce failure by compensating for potential limits of human memory and attention. It helps to ensure consistency and completeness in carrying out a task. A basic example is the “to do list.” A more advanced checklist would be a schedule, which lays out tasks to be done according to time of day or other factors. A primary task in checklist is documentation of the task and auditing against the documentation. 

So when it comes down to basics a checklist is a great way to get your employees to perform a task safety and effectively but also a great way to show compliance.

What checklists should I complete?

• Checklists for plant and equipment items
• Checklists for activities that need a procedure or safe working process
• Checklists for chemicals that needs a safe handling procedure
• Checklists for contractors including site inductions or processes they need to complete
• Anything that needs to have a process in place to make the activity undertaken safely and in a certain process.

Where would you get the information to undertake these checklist?

• For plant and equipment look at the user manual as it should have:
  • Pre-start checklists
  • Maintenance checklist
  • Safe use checklists
• For chemicals look at the Safety Data Sheet (SDS, formerly known as MSDS) as it will have:
  • Handling procedures
  • Personal protection equipment needed
  • Hazards relating and precautions relating to the chemical
• For activities there should be a Safe Work Method Statement relating to the item where you can build processes to ensure safety undertaking that activity.

You should build checklists relating to any site, activity, position, plant item, chemical, procedure and process that needs to be undertaken in a safe way to firstly make sure your employees are safe but also show compliance to safety legislation.