The Ultimate Safety Audit Checklist

There’s nothing more important than safety in your workplace. Productivity, efficiency, and profitability all come as a result of a safe workspace. But safety does not happen on its own. It happens when employers and employees work together to implement safety procedures and guidelines. This safety audit checklist can help ensure you remain compliant while keeping your employees safe at work.

What Is A Safety Audit Checklist?

A safety audit checklist is a document used by companies to ensure their workspaces are compliant with industry health and safety standards. This document helps to identify any potential dangers or risks within your workplace and are used to foster a safe work environment.

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Who Needs Safety Audit Checklist?

If you are a business, you need a safety audit checklist. If you have people working for you, deal with customers or vendors, and if you want to avoid costly fines for violating workplace safety regulations, you need a safety audit checklist.

A good question to ask yourself is this: If your business experienced a safety audit today, would you pass? If you have a checklist in place that you check off periodically, you could answer that question with a confident “yes.”

If some time has passed since your last checklist was created, check out our blog post on Why You Need to Update Your Safety Audit Checklist.

What To Include in Your Checklist

To truly identify workplace hazards and safety risks, you need a checklist that covers the details of your equipment or facility. Your comprehensive safety audit checklist should identify risks associated with the work processes, the work environment, fire emergency procedures, warehouse and shipping guidelines, lighting, electrical, and overall housekeeping, just to name a few.

Here are a few examples of the types of questions to include in your checklist:

Work Process

Your checklist should help users identify the risks associated with standard workplace processes and procedures, as well as ensuring the environment where workers spend most of their time is safe. Consider including questions like:

• Is there proper ventilation in the workspace?
• Are there safety and eyewash stations, and is the personal protective equipment easily accessible?
• Are all commercial vehicles (like forklifts and other heavy machinery) maintained regularly?
• Are all hazards marked with signage and tags?

Fire Emergency

Your checklist should address how to prevent fires and identify a clear fire safety evacuation plan. These questions could look something like:

• Are all workers aware of the fire escape plan?
• Are all fire extinguishers easily accessible and fully charged?
• Are fire drills held regularly?
• Are there enough fire extinguishers on the property?

Loading & Unloading

If your business requires regular loading and unloading of goods or supplies, your safety audit checklist should look into the details of these procedures and how to keep everyone safe during the process. Some questions regarding loading and unloading include:

• Are steps, ramps, and raised platforms in good condition?
• Are all loading arms working correctly?
• Are all connections tight and secure?
• Are wiring and junction boxes in good condition?

Lighting & Electrical

Adequate lighting is critical in a safe workplace. Your checklist should help you identify how lighting impacts productivity and safety. Lighting and electrical questions include:

• Does the current lighting create a glare on work surfaces, screens, or monitors?
• Is there emergency lighting in place, and is it tested regularly?
• Do all workspaces have enough light for workers to see clearly and work comfortably?

Tools & Machinery

If you rely on heavy machinery, commercial vehicles, and industry-specific tools to run your business, ensuring they are in working order is critical in establishing a safe work environment. Some important questions include:

• Do employees have access to manufacturer’s manuals for all equipment and machinery?
• Are employees trained to work and care for specific machines and equipment?
• Do all power tools meet industry safety standards?

Heights, Elevating Devices, Stairs & Ladders

Injuries from falling make up 25% of workplace injuries. This is why stairs, elevating devices, ladders, and workspaces that are up off the ground should be regularly inspected. Here are some questions to include on your safety audit checklist regarding heights:

• Are stairs and handrails in good condition?
• Are employees taught how to set up ladders properly?
• Are elevating devices regularly checked and maintained?
• Are restrictions for weight posted on elevated platforms?
• Are all operators trained to handle elevating equipment?

Personal Protective Equipment

Many workplace injuries can be prevented when employees are trained on how to use personal protective equipment (PPE) and know where to find it in case of an emergency. Here are some examples of PPE related questions to include:

• Is there PPE on-site and used regularly?
• Are there signs to notify workers when they enter areas that require PPE?
• Is the PPE in each area specifically for the potential hazards in each workspace?

Hazardous Product & Chemical Storage

If your employees come in contact with hazardous materials or chemicals on the job site, it is your responsibility to ensure policies and procedures are in place to keep everyone safe and that training is required across the board. Consider including the following questions:

• Is there PPE easily accessible for jobs that require contact with chemicals?
• Are hazardous materials stored safely and away from heat sources?
• Are containers inspected for broken seals, holes, and leaks?
• Are all products labeled?
• Are clean up supplies easy to get to and sufficient in case of an emergency?

Create Your Custom Checklist With Device Magic

Device Magic’s Mobile Forms make it easy to create a custom safety audit checklist with all of the features you need. Our custom form builder allows you to drop question and answer segments, photos, free text, and instructions into the form to create a safety audit checklist that can be accessed from anywhere, even offline. Field data collection has never been easier!

Take your safety audit checklist a step further and integrate it with your existing business platforms like Google Drive, Dropbox, and Sharefile. Save, print, and convert documents to a PDF with a click of a button and easily decide who sees, authorizes, edits, and has access to the checklist.

The overall safety of your workplace directly impacts the productivity of your business. Start building your custom safety audit checklist and other mobile forms with Device Magic Today.