Workplace Inspection, Audit and Safety Performance Monitoring
Domain scope
This domain tests workplace inspection, audit and performance measurement. You must distinguish inspection from audit and calculate and interpret rates correctly.
Core rules and concepts
- Inspection is a routine physical check of a workplace against standards, often by supervisors and safety representatives; it produces observations and corrective actions.
- Audit is a systematic, independent and documented process for obtaining evidence and evaluating it against criteria; ISO 19011 provides guidance.
- Audits need competent auditors, scope, criteria, sampling, evidence and a report; inspections need checklists, frequency and follow-up.
- Leading indicators include inspections completed, training hours, near-miss reports and audit actions closed. Lagging indicators include injuries, lost time and severity.
- LTIFR equals lost-time injuries multiplied by 1,000,000 divided by hours worked. TRIR often uses 200,000 hours.
Worked example
A site works 1,200,000 hours and records three lost-time injuries. LTIFR equals 3 times 1,000,000 divided by 1,200,000, which is 2.5 per million hours. Using the 200,000-hour base, TRIR equals 3 times 200,000 divided by 1,200,000, which is 0.5. The figures are only comparable if the definition of a recordable case and the hours base are consistent.
Traps
Calling an inspection an audit; using the wrong denominator; comparing rates with different definitions; auditing without competent auditors; and closing corrective actions without verification.