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A quick guide to developing good inspection checklists

By Maddy GlynnDigital Marketing Specialist
Published on October 15, 2020

It is pivotal for managers to create and maintain a safe working environment. Not only does it instil confidence among employees that their workplace values them. But mandates for regular checks also work to prevent serious accidents that may be costly for companies in both finance and reputation as well.

Periodical inspection checklist records can help companies minimize the risk of incidents and ensure that employees achieve all the tasks assigned to them. For example, health and safety audits, OHS inspections, and more. 

Ensure that quality standards are being followed and all product/service requirements are adequately met by implementing inspection checklists. 

At the end of the day, any function or process that needs to meet objective criteria or follow regulatory standards can benefit from a relevant inspection checklist.

What exactly is an inspection checklist?

Inspection checklists are a tool used to assess if companies are meeting their compliance requirements. These can be requirements dictated by both internal and external stakeholders or regulatory bodies.

Supervisors use checklists to verify a company's procedures and processes and see if they follow specific guidelines, operations, facilities, equipment, etc. against the standards set internally, locally, or internationally. 

It ensures that the purpose of inspection has been achieved through comprehensive evaluation and documentation. That makes it essential to create an inspection checklist to gauge and mitigate risks and establish responsibilities. 

Therefore, checklists must be comprehensive enough to cover all facets of a process. But at the same time, they should be designed simply and logically to ensure a quick but thorough inspection. In essence, they should be easy to use or no one’s going to bother using them. The best and most comprehensive checklist will be for naught if its complexity makes its use impractical.

Traditionally, checklists have always been paper-based, but now you can make and use lists digitally. In fact, Sine lets you incorporate your inspection checklists within your employee management software so you can be sure that jobs are completed before employees leave for the day. 

This is a great way to ensure reporting is easy and save time on internal checks. 

The importance of regular inspections and checklists

Inspections are a cornerstone of excellence in service, product, facility, safety, compliance and equipment. Ensuring that these areas are all up to your quality criteria. The scrutiny helps businesses ensure that their offerings meet and exceed the end user's expectations.

digitize inspection checklists with sine

Thorough inspections critically review each equipment piece and then communicates the information to the maintenance department to significantly improve planning and decision-making.

Maintenance personnel can then act on these findings accordingly and decide a course of action to resolve any risks to safety, productivity or potential financial loss.

Furthermore, there are several other reasons why regular checks are crucial for businesses.

Safety

Regular inspections help identify the red flags. Through early detection, they can then be avoided to ensure safety. It allows companies to establish a clear line between a safe working environment and the one that is beset with perils.

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Maintenance

Inspections discourage and regulate the misuse of equipment, facility, or any processes. Inspection records are a crucial component for organizations, and they can better assess their risk management procedures and work to make sure the standards are being met and maintained.  

Furthermore, the managers can strengthen the upkeep programs and plan to maintain the quality of their assets.

Reputation

Reputation management is something that is not easy, yet holds great value for a company. No organization likes it when they appear on the news for doing something terrible. 

Regular checks enable the companies to rectify the issues immediately fix issues before they become impactful.

Business costs

Periodic inspections save businesses from unforeseen and dangerous workplace incidents, which can result in financial loss, compensation claims, or even worse – loss of life. Regular checks let you identify compliance breaches, if any, and allows you to monitor your operations.

Benefits of using inspection checklists

The two main elements that can help you gain the most benefits out of the inspection checklists are accurately conducted inspections and effective communication of the relevant team's outcomes. 

When leveraged correctly, inspection checks (or inspection sheets) carried out by professional evaluators can better guide you to monitor and track your performance accurately. Inspection checklists offer many benefits to businesses. These include:

Increases employee's safety and security 

Inspections checklists keep people aligned on the tasks and foster a well-organized culture. It also gives employees a sense of comfort and safety. They know that their workplace has taken all the necessary and preventive measures to alleviate any risks.

Minimizes the chances of errors 

With regular inspections, you can stimulate and ensure consistency within the organization. Also, it helps you identify the causes of a recurring problem and enables you to decide and plan on a suitable workaround. 

Naturally, if a company is able to identify the errors and deficiencies, only then can it work towards improving it. Once you have recognized the gaps, you can bridge the gaps between the expectations and results.

Documentation for regulatory requirements

Compliance makes it easier to develop and foster a safe environment for your team while promoting accountability and responsibility in the office. 

Furthermore, it is crucial to document inspection records to comply with the standards and provide a written record to regulatory bodies about the inspections. 

It also minimizes deviation and streamline a company's processes and help them stay ahead of the curve by achieving excellence.

How Sine can help with managing inspection checklists

As a manager, you can’t overlook the need to create a safe and secure workplace. Not only employees, but it is also essential to protect your visitors from any unforeseen hazards. 

Digitize inspection checklists like Sine's can help you reduce clerical work and automate your filing system for inspections. When geographically located, it also enables the inspection team to complete the checklists by providing the items' photos that are being reviewed. 

With Sine's digitized checklists, you get automated inspection term-end warnings and that the inspection is required again. That way, you can easily spot, identify, and address the compliance-related concerns and red flags.

Book your Sine demo today to see how to keep your workplace safety as the utmost priority while remaining compliant!

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