What is an Industrial Safety Checklist?
An industrial safety checklist is primarily used by safety inspectors or industrial engineers to ensure the overall safety of a facility in any industrial setting such as manufacturing, chemical processing, and mining. The regular use of industrial safety checklists can help inspectors anticipate and mitigate the specific risks involved when working in their respective fields and easily demonstrate compliance with safety regulations.
Why is Industrial Safety Important?
The industrial sector is one of the most dangerous places to work in. Manufacturing facilities and processing plants have powerful machines with moving parts, as well as industrial-grade chemical solutions that can cause serious injury and even death to workers in some cases. Consistent pre-use and post-operation checks are necessary to mitigate these risks and ensure industrial workplace safety.
While the term “industrial safety” often refers to “safety in the manufacturing industry”, it can also be synonymous to “occupational safety” in that the government agency for occupational safety and health in India is called the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH).
Top 3 Industrial Safety Risks to Overcome in 2020
Unsafe work conditions in industrial settings should never be ignored or go unnoticed because it can be a matter of life or death for workers and site visitors. Safety inspectors, supervisors and industrial engineers should periodically assess the safety of industrial environments, identify areas of improvement, and reinforce preventive measures.
Here are the top 3 industrial safety-related risks you should look out for based on OSHA’s latest list of most-cited violations:
- Lockout/Tagout
Compromising lock out tag out (LOTO) procedures can cause industrial machines to unintentionally expel hazardous energy during maintenance and repair work. Due to the unsafe nature of industrial safety equipment repair and maintenance, it is crucial to adhere to LOTO procedures to guarantee all dangerous machinery is properly shut off, locked out, and tagged before performing maintenance checks.
- Powered Industrial Trucks (Forklifts)
Inadequate forklift operator training leads to poor traveling, maneuvering, and load handling techniques. Inconsistent pre-operation checks have also caused serious damages, injuries, and even deaths. In the U.S., all forklifts should be examined at least daily before being placed in service, while forklifts used on a round-the-clock basis must be examined after each shift.
- Machine Guarding
Workers are constantly exposed to risks such as being caught in between moving parts, and injury by material and chemical shrapnels when machine guarding measures are inadequate. Proper machine guarding should be a priority to ensure industrial safety.
Elements of an Industrial Safety Checklist
Using safety checklists for industrial environments are essential to minimizing incidents, improving safety outcomes, and building a safety culture from the ground up. Listed below are elements typically included in an industrial safety checklist:
- Training and Work Process (Consider a safety program)
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Employee Facilities and Housekeeping
- Work Environment, including Lighting, Floor and Wall Openings, and Stairs, Ladders, and Platforms
- Elevating Devices, Confined Spaces, and Temporary Work Structures
- Tools, Machinery, and Machine Guards
- Electrical, including LOTO
- Materials Handling and Storage, including workplace Hazardous Product or Chemical Storage
- Fire Emergency Procedures, Means of Exit, and Medical and First Aid
