Safety Observation Report Example

What Is a Safety Observation Report?

A safety observation report is a document that analyzes the workplace for potential dangers that might compromise a worker’s right to safety and health. In this report, a safety officer can determine which tasks or environments pose a liability to the company. Having a written report on file can not only reveal hazardous working conditions but can also keep track of mitigation strategies and their effectiveness.

According to the Health and Safety Act of 1970, all workers are entitled to a safe workplace where they don’t have to fear incurring bodily injury or harm. For that reason, unwillingness to abide by these laws will have serious legal ramifications resulting in heavy fines, lawsuits, or even permanent closure of the business.

However, employers don’t have to worry about injured workers and paying out worker’s compensation, lawsuits, or heavy fines if they use a daily safety observation report to look at the internal risk factors employees face on a day-to-day basis.

It is important to gather all safety information pertinent to ensuring employees safety. Safety compliance applies to all businesses, but especially to high-risk industries such as construction, engineering, manufacturing or mining. Using a safety observation report is a useful method for identifying unsafe conditions and actions by reporting any and all details pertaining to an onsite accident.

This article addresses the following points:

1. What a safety observation report covers

2. Who writes up a safety observation report

3. The benefits of digital tool for writing a safety observation report

What Does a Safety Observation Report Consist Of?

When writing a safety observation report, it’s important to follow these steps in the order in which they’re listed. First, the project and the particular place of work must be described in detail. A distinction is made between the following three points:

1. Unsafe team actions and inattention
2. Unsafe working conditions
3. Safe observations of procedures

Examples of safety observations include:

• Discouraging disregard to wear specific protective equipment
• General safety protocol observations, such as ensuring that there are no obstructions to workplace equipment or high-trafficked areas
• Ensruing that the proper storage procedures are adhered to
• Validating that workers are using equipment and workstations for their designated purpose.
• Looking out for slippery floors, clutter, unsanitary working conditions, etc.
• Noting disorganized workspaces, ergonomic breaches, insufficient lighting, etc.
• Identifying unsecured entrances and exits
• Documenting which safety procedures are correctly performed and making sure all observations are described in detail.

These are just a few examples of what observing safety precautions in the workplace look like. Keep in mind that there is a virtually unlimited number of dangerous senarios, objects, and tasks that could lead to workplace mishaps. It widely depends on the industry, what safety measures you’re already observing, and how often you perform safety audits within your organization. To mitigate these risks, Lumiform recommends reviewing and updating your safety report at least every six months, if not more frequently.

Who Is Responsible for the Daily Observation Report?

In industries such as construction, unsafe working conditions can have dramatic consequences. If they are not reported, the workplace can become very dangerous. Worst case scenario employees can result in injuries, dismemberment, and even death. The on-site team is responsible for ensuring that specified safety conditions are met.

The safety officer is responsible for the daily observation reports.They are not obligated to complete this form but should ensure that all employees have access so that they can collectively update the information.

Using a safety observation report as a tool to comply with safety regulations and reduce the number of incidents and injuries is the best use of your resources. The demands of a stable company-wide safety structure also helps to improve the overall safety situation.

The Benefits of Using a Digital Tool for and Safety Observation Report

Reporting incidents is essential to keep your team safe at work. Performing a safety observation report enables you to identify hazards. Use a digital checklist to document all relevant information in the safety observation report. Lumiform’s digital software and mobile app supports while you strive to maintain the highest level of safety.

With Lumiform's mobile app, you can easily fill out a safety observation report via tablet or smartphone - online or offline. With the desktop software, you can create checklists and evaluate the data collected in the field. This significantly reduces the risk of quality loss, accidents at work, documentation errors, and damage to reputation.

Capitilize on all benefits of a digital safety observation report.

• Increase the efficiency of your internal processes: communicate more efficiently with the team, third parties, and management for faster incident reporting. This lets you solve up to 4x faster than ever before.
• Continuous improvement of quality and safety: with the flexible checklist construction kit, you can continuously optimize internal operations. Lumiform guides you and your team through the inspection. No training is required.
• All results, images, and comments are automatically bundled in a digital report.
• The flexible checklist builder from Lumiform helps you effortlessly convert any individual paper list into a digital checklist within minutes.