What function does inspection equipment serve?

Inspection equipment is provided to determine whether work equipment can be used, adjusted, and maintained properly. Any deterioration should be found and repaired before it poses a risk to health and safety. Not all work equipment needs to be formally inspected in order to ensure safety; in many circumstances, a quick visual inspection before to use is sufficient. However, it is necessary to inspect any equipment that offers a significant threat to someone’s health and safety owing to poor installation, reinstallation, deterioration, or any other circumstance. To determine whether quality inspection tools are required and how frequently they should take place, risk assessment should be used. You should inspect the work equipment if your risk assessment identifies any noteworthy threat (such as the potential for serious harm) to operators and others from the equipment’s installation or use. The results of the examination must be recorded, and this documentation must be kept on file at least until the equipment is the subject of another inspection. Although it is not necessary to keep records in writing, they should be kept safely and made available to any enforcing authority upon request. Unless you are positive that the inspection has already been completed, exercise caution when utilising work equipment that needs to be inspected.

Some more details

The type of work equipment utilised, how it is used, and the environments it is exposed to will all affect this. The choice should be taken following careful consideration of all manufacturer guidelines and a risk analysis. Seeking the advice of others, such as trade associations, consultants, and other published sources of health and safety recommendations, may also be advantageous. An examination should concentrate on the safety-related parts needed for the efficient use of tools; in some cases, this may entail testing or disassembly. It may not be necessary to periodically inspect every safety-critical component on a given piece of work equipment, though.

The following examples highlight how the scope of an inspection may change:

• quick checks prior to use (eg electric cable condition on hand-held power tools, functional testing of brakes, lights on mobile machinery)
• weekly checkups (eg presence of guarding, function of safety devices, tyre pressures, and the condition of windows, mirrors and CCTV on mobile plant)
• more frequent and thorough inspections, such as once every three months or more (eg general condition of a ladder, close examination of a safety harness, portable appliance testing)