Introduction

Health and safety inspections are very useful in maintaining a safe working environment. The
types of health and safety inspections include formal, informal, and critical parts inspection.
These are useful in that they help to identify potential and existing safety, physical, biological
and chemical hazards, wide coverage of inspecting the whole organization, good for reactive and
proactive measures, risk management and other factors hence maintaining a safe working
environment. Inspections are done by managers, workers, safety teams and specialists for
appraisal of existing conditions processes and practices to improve and maintain safe working
environment. However health and safety inspections have their weaknesses and that there are
also other interventions to maintain a safe working environment. More shall be shown as the
essay proceeds.
Utility of Formal Inspections
a)

Proactive and Reactive actions

Formal inspection is one of safety inspections that is useful to maintain a safe working
environment in that it gives the organization time for proactive or reactive actions towards
problems identified. This is an inspection that is done for the whole organization and it is
planned. The fact that this inspection involves feedback, it helps managers to take action for
example proactive actions are done if there is any potential hazard. This is supported by
Amstrong (2006) when he involves effective feedback as a vital issue that contribute to
successful planning hence safe working environment is maintained since potential hazards can be
avoided before they occur or controlled . Therefore this means that safety inspections are useful
in maintaining a safe working environment.
b) Wide coverage of inspecting whole organization helps future survival and compliance to
safety rules
There is wide coverage of inspecting the whole organization and hence future survival plans are
set for a good state of safe working environment continuation. This is mainly supported by the
formal inspection where there is regular inspection that helps to identify safety hazards since
they can emanate from any sector of an organization. This is supported by Guidotti T (2011)

when he involves inspection of the whole organization as helpful to the organizations to check
their levels of compliance to safety standards and usefulness of available safety structures at a
wide scope. Safety audits are used which brings the whole organization for a close examination
by evaluating and checking work environment and qualitative elements not easily measured such
as information flows, maintenance control schedules and others and hence after this collective
measures are done such as distribution of protective clothing, improvement of managerial control
and others to prevent unsafe conditions in the whole organisation hence it shows that safety
inspections are useful in maintaining a safe working environment.
Utility of informal inspections
a) Risk assessment and controlling
Informal inspection promotes the issue of risk management. Occupational health and safety
usually demands that a risk assessment be carried out prior to making an intervention. Risk
management requires risk to be managed to a level that is as low as reasonably practical. The
informal inspections by doing day to day checkings is therefore important to identify possible
risk hence they are planned to be reduced to maintain a healthy working environment. According
to Stellman J et al (1998) this assessment should detect the hazards, identify all affected by the
hazards, evaluate the risk, and offer and prioritize appropriate control measures. This means that
the needs to solve a certain risk are identified and analyzed hence corrective measure is taken.
This therefore shows that safety inspections are important to maintain a safe working
environment.
b) Provision of continuous checking to eliminate work place hazards
Informal inspection is useful as another type of safety inspection in that it provides a continuous
process of checking any threats to safe environment and it helps to identify and eliminate hazards
before workers safety is threatened. They encompass general checks by the worker, spot checks
by the supervisor as well as any unscheduled checks by other officials which help to identify any
existing or potential hazard and take measures on that time. This is also important in providing a
continuous assessment of the system and workers receive feedback on any risks and
recommended remedial action which means that a safe working environment is maintained. This
means that risk management is also supported by regular checks by the informal inspection

hence minimization of occurrence of unsafe events is done. Therefore this shows that safety
inspections are useful in maintaining a safe working environment.

Utility of Critical parts inspection

a) Examination of specific components or systems that needs immediate attention
Critical parts inspection is another type of inspection which is useful in maintaining safe
working environment in that it used to examine specific component or system hence it has
advantage of time factor and dealing with the hazard before it causes accidents and loss. This is
done by using detailed analysis from the checklist or an audit and deal with critical parts that
need immediate attention. To add on, this is also called special inspection for example inspection
of a new machinery entering a company hence safety measures such as protective clothing are
already taken since the risks or potential hazards are identified and this maintain the safe
working environment To add on systems can also be identified with some loopholes leading to
unsafe conditions and critical parts inspection inspect that and hence corrective measures are
taken and this therefore shows that this inspection is useful in maintaining a safe working
environment.
However Side
Drawbacks of safety inspections
a) They require highly trained personnel to conduct them well
However inspections are not only the way to maintain a safe working environment since they
have their weakness. Some of the weakness is that they require highly trained personnel to
conduct them. This is shown by Wilthagen T (2000) when he involves inspections as high
knowledge and experience demanding for different situations. This means that there is high
possibility of failure to handle an inspection due to its complexity for example failure of
management to identify possible risk or inspecting wrong areas. New equipment inspection for
example is a drawback to inspectors since it needs people who know a certain machine hence a
product related training has to be done to the inspectors which is expensive and time consuming

and the organization will be at risk .Therefore it shows that inspections have their drawbacks in
improving safe working environment
b) Other factors Human motivation and Education
Human motivation and education are also other interventions that maintain safe working
environment since some of the unsafe working environments are caused by human behavior this
is supported by A Maslow (1943) when he involves motivation of people due to satisfied needs.
Therefore a working environment with highly motivated workers also maintain safety that one
with demotivated workers. Rules and regulations are also important in that good practice is to
benchmark a businesss occupational health and safety performance to establish the systems level
of effectiveness. Good sources include the benchmarks published by some countries regulatory
agencies responsible for health and safety enforcement, for example in Zimbabwe the National
Social Security Authority (NASSA) set some safety standards that are recognized by employer
and employee hence safe work environment is also maintained. This Therefore shows that not
only safety inspection but also other interventions maintain a safe work environment.
Conclusion
To conclude, safety inspection alone are not enough to maintain the safe working environment
hence other interventions are important. This means that a multidisciplinary approach is therefore
important to maintain a safe working environment.

References
Armstrong, M (2006). A Handbook of Human Resources Management Practice, London, Kogan
Page
Abraham Maslow (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation.
Guidotti T (2011) Global Occupational Health. New York Oxford
Stellman J et al (1998) The Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety. Geneva Press
Wilthagen T (2000). Systematic Occupational Health and Safety Management Oxford