SafeCare BC Logo
SafeCare BC Logo
Resources & Tools

Resources and Tools

View All
The Home Care and Community Health Support Pocketbook was created to bring awareness to several health and safety issues faced in home and community care.
Files Attached
View Toolkit
In long-term care it is increasingly apparent that who is on shift is just as important as how many staff are on shift. Quality care is difficult to achieve when we do not routinely engage with one another in a positive, or civil, manner.
View Toolkit
Programs & Services

Programs and Services

View All
Register
Leading from the Inside Out
Leading from the Inside Out waitlist
Leading from the Inside Out provides a safe space for leaders in continuing care to share their challenges and learn self-care practices.
View Service
The Provincial Violence Prevention Curriculum is recognized as best-practice in violence prevention training for health care workers.
View Service
Guidelines & Regulations

Guidelines and Regulations

View All
WorkSafeBC’s healthcare and social services planned inspection initiative focuses on high-risk activities in the workplace that lead to serious injuries and time-loss claims.
View News Story
WorkSafeBC is releasing a discussion paper with proposed amendments to the Current Rehabilitation Services and Claims Manual that guide wage rate decisions related to short-term and long-term disability compensation. Recommended amendments include: These changes may affect your claims costs. Click here to view the proposed changes and offer feedback to WorkSafeBC – The deadline is 4:30 p.m. on Friday, […]
View News Story
Safety Month - August 2024

Workplace Inspections

Workplace inspections are an essential incident prevention tool in an organization's occupational health and safety program. Inspections involve critically examining the workplace to identify and record hazards for corrective action.

When should you do inspections?

  • Scheduled at all workplaces, with enough frequency to prevent unsafe working conditions, for example
    • daily, weekly, or monthly of equipment (such as overhead or floor lifts)
    • pre-use and post-use of a vehicle
    • daily or weekly by supervisors
    • weekly or monthly of departments (such as laundry/housekeeping, kitchen/food services, recreation services, maintenance, occupational therapy/physiotherapy department, beauty salon, and administrative offices)
  • Inspections as required by an incident or malfunction (for example, after a laundry dryer fire) or when you add a new process or equipment (such as new kitchen equipment)

Workplace Inspections

Workplace inspections include: 

  • structures, and external surrounding areas (for example, buildings and the property outside)
  • equipment, tools, machinery (for example, lifts, carts for medication or laundry, furniture)
  • work methods and practices (for example, handling of residents and hand hygiene)

Who does the inspections?

Where feasible, inspections must include the participation of the joint occupational health and safety committee or worker health and safety representative. Inspectors should be familiar with the work process and the areas they inspect. Inspectors must be given instructions in the inspection system and be aware of the standards in the areas they inspect.

What should you do before an inspection?

Develop written organizational policies, procedures, and tools, including a checklist and floor plan guide to ensure consistent and effective inspections.

Before each inspection, inspectors should:

  • Review the previous inspection and incident records to help look for issues.
  • Define the areas or items to inspect and review the planned path.
  • Have a toolkit including a floorplan guide and a checklist, means to record findings (a portable electronic device or a pen/paper, camera), suitable clothing and relevant personal protective equipment.
  • Contact the supervisor in charge of the area(s) to be inspected.

What should you do during an inspection?

  • Look out for other hazardous conditions besides what’s on the checklist. Look up, down, inside, and around.
  • Ask questions to workers being mindful to avoid interrupting their activity.
  • Inform the supervisor about any immediate danger before leaving the area (if the supervisor is not on the inspection team).
  • Record items even if they are corrected during the inspection.
  • Never ignore any items because you feel you don’t have adequate knowledge to judge safety.

What happens after an inspection?

Inspectors must report unsafe or harmful conditions to a supervisor or the employer without delay (although inspectors might respond to a situation during the inspection, such as putting up a wet floor sign where there’s a spill or removing a broken step stool). The supervisor or employer receiving a report must investigate and take corrective action. Avoid using findings from inspections for disciplinary measures.

The joint occupational health and safety committee should also receive a copy of the report to review.

Review the general inspection requirements in the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations sections 3.5 to 3.11 for more information.

kitchen related hazards

is 50% off for August

Have questions about this month's topic? Ask us!

12 Months Contact Form
Workplace Inspections

Featured Resources

Download this safety huddle to help guide your staff through the proper reporting procedures set out by your organization.
Files Attached
View Safety Huddle
Workplace inspections are an essential incident prevention tool in an organization's occupational health and safety program. Use this checklist to help identify and record hazards for corrective action.
Files Attached
View Checklist
Workplace Inspections

Videos

This video was created to help you know what to expect when a WorkSafeBC prevention officer visits your workplace to conduct a safety inspection. It will help you better understand the inspection process so that it will be more efficient and productive.
View Video
Filter

Workplace Inspections resources

Musculoskeletal disorders know no age or lifestyle bounds, impacting an astonishing 1.71 billion individuals worldwide—a testament to their widespread prevalence and the urgent need for awareness and action. (2022, par 1).   There are numerous ways to get musculoskeletal disorders, both within and outside of the workplace. Awareness of these common causes may prevent musculoskeletal injuries […]
View News Story
Your first step in protecting workers involves accurately identifying potential hazards in your workplace. You're looking for all the things and situations that could possibly harm your workers or other workers that may be on site.
View Web link
Risks should be systematically identified and reviewed to ensure those things, activities, situations, processes, etc. that cause harm to people or property are controlled.
View Web link
This series of photos illustrates a care worker bathing a client. They show many hazards that may be encountered by a care worker while providing care in a client's bathroom. You can use these photos during safety meetings, or post them on the wall to encourage staff to spot the hazards.
View Web link
See how many hazards you can spot. Challenge your students, staff or co-workers. Take the picture to a safety committee or staff meeting - anywhere you can to generate discussion about the safety issues in the photo.
View Web link
If you are an employer with floor lifts for patients in your workplace, you are required to inspect them regularly. This information sheet will help guide you in that process. It outlines what to look for when you conduct your inspections. It also identifies related regulatory requirements and CSA standards.
View Web link
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety provides resources for conducting effective workplace inspections.
View Web link
Starting at $15
Kitchen working conditions vary from those of a private household where you are the only cook to large commercial kitchens where you are preparing meals with an entire team. Either way, kitchens are full of safety hazards and it is important to understand what they are and how to avoid them.
View E-Learning
Managing risk includes identifying hazards, assessing the risk, and deciding on control measures to eliminate or minimize the risk. When identifying hazards, it’s important to look for all the conditions and situations that could possibly harm your workers.
View Safety Topic
SafeCare BC Logo
©2024 SafeCare BC | All rights reserved.
We strive to empower those working in the continuing care sector to create safer, healthier workplaces by fostering a culture of safety through evidence-based education, leadership, and collaboration.
crosschevron-down