We often hear from customers that the biggest challenge with inspections is making sure they get done. Managing inspections can become difficult when competing priorities such as time and productivity are in the forefront of our minds.
By providing employees with the tools to make inspections easy and highly visible, our customers have been able to create a culture where employees choose to work safely rather than being told to. Here are some tips on implementing an inspection program that gets everyone involved:
Make Safe Working Easy
Inspections can often get overlooked when the process of getting them done requires operators and supervisors to go out of their way. By making inspections readily available and easy to do, operators will begin to see the inspection process as part of their routine. The goal with inspections is consistency – which is often driven by simplicity.
Our Inspection Checklist Solution sits on the side of your equipment and acts as a visual reminder for operators to perform their (often OSHA required) inspections. The checklist then easily guides them through their inspection - taking the guesswork out of the process and making it user friendly and time-efficient.
Eric Kope – Warehouse manager at Hardware Resources – shared a great story with us about how one of his operators made sure to let him know that his inspection was getting done without being asked. Stories like this are a great example of how the Inspection Checklist Solution builds ownership and accountability for inspections – getting everyone involved. Check out his story here!
Drive Engagement Through Visibility
With the often-fast paced environment of a facility, operators and supervisors may not always remember to complete and check equipment inspections. The key to getting them done lies in visibility – and providing employees with tools that reinforce the safety messages taught in training.
The Inspection Checklist Solution is a great way to provide operators with a visual cue that reminds them to complete their inspections. The red DO NOT USE status makes it clear to operators that the inspection needs to be done, and the visible PASS or FAILED slips make it easy for supervisors to see at a glance if the equipment is safe to use. This visibility introduces a level of accountability and encourages operators to complete inspections without being told (watch How It Works here!).
Celebrate Safe Behavior
Many of our customers have shared with us that when it comes to motivating employees, celebrating safe behavior proves to be more effective than calling out mistakes. In fact, most would say that reprimanding employees comes with feelings of mistrust and doesn’t always foster engagement and build culture. If a supervisor is walking past a forklift and tells the operator “Great job doing your inspection!”, that operator is more likely to be encouraged to do it again the next day.
By making it easy for everyone to see who’s completed their inspections, the Inspection Checklist can be a great tool for supervisors to celebrate safe behavior and involve employees in their safety program.
