Quality Control in Occupational Safety & Health > Chapter- 1 > Topic - Safety Appraisal & Control Techniques > Sub-Topic- Plant Safety Inspection( PSI)

 Plant Safety Inspection (PSI)

Definition- 

Plant Safety Inspection (PSI) can be defined as the monitoring function conducted in an organization to locate and report hazards, which have the capacity to cause accidents in the workplace.

Objectives of the Plant Safety Inspection

• Keeping the workplace safe by locating accident causes and taking corrective measures
• Controlling unsafe acts
• Removing unsafe conditions
• Maintaining product quality, operational efficiency and profitability 

Plant Safety Inspection (PSI)

• PSI is a method of discovering hazards and potential risks. 

• Its basic aim is to identify and eliminate or minimize hazards in the jobs before accidents can occur. 

• It is one of the oldest accident prevention techniques.

• It is useful in accident prevention just as product inspection is in quality control. 

• Development of safety-related statutory regulations and inspections by Factory Inspectorate have given drive to PSI.

• Since majority of accidents are caused by unsafe acts, it is necessary that all unsafe acts are noted in each PSI round. 

• Not only unsafe conditions, but all unsafe acts should also be noted.

• It may not be possible to find all hazards in the entire plant in a single inspection. 

• Hence regular periodic inspections are necessary

• PSI helps in adopting safe practices with an ultimate aim of removing all unsafe acts and unsafe conditions. 

PSI is the monitoring function conducted in an organization to locate and report hazards, which have the capacity to cause accidents in the workplace.

How is it different from: 

• Safety survey,
• Safety tour, and 
• Safety sampling 

• Safety Inspection: A scheduled inspection of a plant or unit
• Safety Survey: A detailed examination of a narrow field 
• Safety Tour: An unscheduled tour of a plant or unit carried out by an “outsider” (a person from a different department) such as the Works Manager or S.O.
• Safety Sampling: A specific application of a safety inspection or safety tour designed to measure accident potential.

Techniques of Plant Safety Inspection- 

• Record all unsafe practices and any deviations from statutory requirements, SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), SMPs (Standard Maintenance Procedures) and the company’s HSE Policy. 

• Find facts, not faults of persons

• Record all findings and give recommendations

• Faults and deviations should be corrected by the line manager or under his authority. 

How we can Act upon the PSI Findings

Making Physical or Mechanical Conditions Safe: 

This can be achieved by:

• Selecting safer raw materials and processes
• Incorporating systems safety or built-in safety
• Machine guarding and fencing
• Instrumentation for safe operations
• Interlocks, alarms and trips
• Developing and implementing safe work procedures

Developing Safe Attitudes : 

• Changing employee attitude is the key
• Education and training
• Managers setting examples
• Adherence to work procedures
• Encouraging use of required PPE
• SAE rounds or “STOP” (Safety Tour and Observation Program)
• Addressing OH&S-related problems promptly

Involving workers is beneficial

Plant managers, supervisors or safety officer carrying out PSI could make it more successful by consulting workers, thus – 

• Enlisting their cooperation
• Getting useful suggestions from them
• Realizing practical aspects of problems
• Making implementation of any changes or recommendations easy 

Responsibility of PSI 

• Any competent plant personnel can carry out PSI

• Safety is basically a line management responsibility (line function)

• Hence, the line management is mainly responsible for PSI

• The responsibility for PSI should be shared by all concerned in the line function

• Within the plant, all personnel at various levels should clearly understand their responsibilities and functions to implement the management objectives through their individual and coordinated efforts. 

• In addition, PSI can also be carried out by the staff functions like safety officer, maintenance engineer, etc. 

• It is a good practice to involve both the line function and the staff function in PSI.

Role wise PSI Responsibilities

1. PSI by Line Function 

By Senior Management:

• Safety starts from top
• Set examples
• Interest in OH&S can be created and sustained at all levels if senior management makes it obvious that it is keen on safety
• Ensure that a safety policy is formulated and implemented effectively
• Ensure that all legal obligations are met
• Carry out PSI on a regular basis
• Regular PSI by senior management shows it is committed to OH&S
• Workers feel that management cares for them. 

By Line Supervisors: 

• As an integral part of his duty, each supervisor should look out for any U.A. or U.C. by workers in his department.
• Besides continual inspection of this type, he should carry out PSI regularly
• He should also periodically carry out special inspections of the equipment in his department
• Report to senior management and take corrective actions promptly 
• Ensure all procedures and safety rules are followed in his department 

By workers:

• Since workers are closely in “in the know” of the plant, equipment and tools, etc., they can easily detect any hazard, unsafe condition, defect, or abnormality
• They should be encouraged to report any hazard, defect, or abnormality to the management.

2. PSI by Staff Function 

By Maintenance Staff:

• They can make an effective contribution to OH&S by carrying out PSI and maintaining equipment in safe condition
• They can enhance safety by carrying out preventive and planned maintenance.

By Safety Officer:

• S.O. can play a useful role in PSI
• He knows the statutory requirements better than others
• He will have a different perspective and be unbiased unlike people from the same department
• He may identify U.A. and U.C., which otherwise would have been overlooked by the plant staff.

What are the types of Inspections- 

1. Periodic Inspection

• It is well planned and carried out at regular intervals
• Periodicity of PSI would depend upon the need
• Generally, it is carried out by the line function, but it may be carried out by staff function as well.
• It includes statutory inspections

1. Stability of plant buildings and structures
2. Testing of hoists and lifting devices, etc.
3. Testing of pressure vessels
4. Boiler inspection
5. Testing of earthing (grounding), etc.

2. Intermittent Inspections

• It is an unannounced PSI.
• It can be carried out by plant supervisors, safety committee, safety officer, etc. 

3. Continuous Inspections

• Some selected employees spend their time in maintaining and serving certain equipment or operations

1.  Instrument technicians
2.  Electricians

• Example: Continuous inspection of tools in the tool-room of a workshop, or scaffold material
• Inspection of equipment/ pipelines on a continuous basis (Mech./Elec./Inst. Departments)
• Supervisors ensuring that subordinates follow all procedures and safety rules at all times

4. Special Inspections 

Certain occasions or situations may require special inspections: 

• New building or plant
• New equipment or process
• Any plant change or modification
• Scaffolding
• Machine guards
• Illumination survey
• Noise survey
• Health and hygiene surveys, etc.

5. Statutory Inspections

There are certain statutory requirements regarding inspection by a Government-approved Competent Person: 

• Stability Certificate for buildings and structures
• Testing of pressure vessels/pressure plant
• Testing of RV
• Testing of lifting tackles, slings, hoists and lifts
• Testing of cranes 
• Testing of fork-lift trucks (FLTs)
• Testing of gas cylinders

Plant Safety Inspection Procedures 

• Persons carrying out inspections should be familiar with the process, equipment and operations, associated hazards and the precautions to be taken.

• They should also be familiar with the company’s OH&S policy, the safety rules and all applicable statutes dealing with OH&S.

• An inspection should be –

        - Systematic
        - Comprehensive enough to cover all operations, equipment, etc.

• This will ensure that no hazards have been overlooked
• Do not rely on memory; record all observations.
• Checklists can be very useful
• Should be prepared by knowledgeable and experienced persons
• It eliminates chances of forgetting or overlooking certain aspects of inspection
• Checklist is a means of transferring experience to less experienced persons
• Prepare an inspection report and give recommendations, where necessary.
• Indicate responsibility and the target date for implementation against each recommendation.
• Report should be clear and concise.
• Distribute copy of the report to all concerned for implementation of recommendations.
• Have a periodic review and follow up the progress of implementation of approved recommendations.

Benefits of PSI 

• It is a proactive approach to safety
• It helps in accident prevention
• It helps in reducing losses
• It improves employee morale

Reference- 

• NSO Notes- 
• Fundamentals of Industrial Safety and Health By - K.U.Mistry