Regular inspections ensures that effective Health and Safety arrangements are in place for works carried out by the main contractor and its service providers, and that plant, equipment, materials, and workplaces are safe. There are regulatory requirements for inspection, testing and servicing of a range of plant and equipment used on construction sites.

Responsibilities

Project Managers are responsible for ensuring that:

• all required OHS inspections are undertaken;
• appropriate records are kept; and
• an inspection schedule is established; and the Site Supervisor is advised of the schedule so that equipment is available for inspection at the scheduled times.

Project Managers must identify and engage competent persons to undertake inspections. A competent person, as defined in the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 is ‘for any task, a person who has acquired through training, qualification or experience, or a combination of them, the knowledge and skills to carry out that task’.

Competent persons may be contractor’s own staff members or external services providers.

Site Supervisors are responsible for ensuring that:

• only plant and equipment that has been inspected and maintained in a safe condition is used by staff, hired-plant operators and subcontractors.
• any issues or defects found in inspection are acted upon as soon as practicable (timeframes to be based on risk assessment).

Using relevant checklist, inspectors must verify each item for compliance. Any deficiencies found must be recorded as such along with any immediate action taken.

The Site Supervisor reviews and signs off the resulting inspection reports each week and takes appropriate action to address issues. The Site Supervisor raises a Non-conformance Report for any safety deficiency found in inspection.

A schedule of regular inspections, testing and servicing must be developed for each project.

The schedule addresses:

• specified requirements and frequencies of inspections or testings
• the range of known workplace hazards
• the level of risk associated with known hazards
• the likelihood of unforeseen hazards emerging between inspections
• the operating and servicing instructions provided by the designer, manufacturer or supplier of plant and materials
• any regulatory requirements, especially those dealing with the inspection and registration of plant and equipment.

Inspections and tests are based on checklists that are designed to:

• evaluate all of the risk factors known to be present in the workplace
• show whether risk controls are working effectively
• identify new or previously unforeseen risks.

What to test or inspect on each construction project

The following items must be incorporated in the schedule of inspection and testing for construction projects:

• Materials received on site
• Workplace health and safety inspections (visual)
• Plant and trucks
• Electrical equipment
• Lifting gear
• Fire protection equipment
• Fall arrest systems and devices
• Portable ladders
• Scaffolding
• Welding equipment
• First aid kits
• Personal protective equipment
• Emergency response equipment
• And any other plant or equipment not listed above

In summary on each construction site conducting scheduled inspections and testing ensures that the workplace is safe for workers, contractors and visitors to the construction site.

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