Jobsite Safety Inspections and Audits
Jobsite safety inspections and audits
This domain tests how you plan and conduct inspections and audits, apply competent-person requirements, document findings, and drive corrective actions to closure. An inspection is frequent and compliance-focused; an audit is periodic, broader, and often independent, examining whether the safety system itself is working.
Core rules
- Under 1926.20(b)(2), a competent person must make frequent and periodic inspections of job sites, materials, and equipment.
- Excavations require inspection by a competent person before entry and as needed during the shift under 1926.651(k).
- Scaffolds must be inspected for visible defects by a competent person before each work shift and after any occurrence that could affect structural integrity under 1926.451(f)(3).
- Use checklists tied to the applicable standards, but record the finding, location, risk level, responsible owner, due date, and closure evidence.
- Track repeat findings and trends; they are leading indicators of system weaknesses.
Worked example
An inspector finds a scaffold with a missing midrail and no mudsill. The correct response is to tag the scaffold "do not use," remove workers, and correct the defects before reuse. The inspector documents the finding, assigns correction, and verifies a re-inspection. The reasoning is that the missing midrail is an imminent fall hazard; writing a report without removing access does not control it, and closure requires verification, not just a work order.
Traps that cost marks
- Producing a checklist with no corrective-action closure.
- Inspecting only worker behavior and ignoring conditions, equipment, and systems.
- Giving a competent person inspection duties without authority to stop work.
- Substituting an annual audit for required daily or per-shift inspections.