Defects written up with no owner
“Edge protection missing, level 4” tells nobody what to do. Without the place, the action, the person responsible and a date, the defect is still there on the next walk, and the one after.
Site forms · Safety inspection
Site safety inspection checklist for the weekly walk round
On most UK sites the site manager walks the job once a week with a safety checklist, and a health and safety adviser audits it less often. The checklist only earns its keep if the record it leaves shows what was found, who has to put it right and whether it was put right by the next walk. This page looks at the weekly site safety inspection from the point of view of the person carrying it out, using the UK template in Fidrel’s site forms: what to look for under each line, how to write up defects, and how to read the inspections together.
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What weakens a weekly safety inspection
Inspection and audit confused
The weekly walk is meant to catch conditions on the ground; the adviser’s audit checks whether the arrangements behind them work. When one form tries to do both, it does neither well.
Weeks that cannot be compared
Paper sheets in a binder make it hard to see that scaffolds failed on three walks running, or that one area always scores worse. Patterns only show when inspections can be lined up side by side.
Inspection or audit?
A site safety inspection is a walk round the physical site, usually weekly and usually by the site manager or a supervisor: are the routes clear, is the edge protection in place, is the scaffold tagged. A site safety audit is a periodic, wider review, often by a health and safety adviser, that also checks paperwork such as briefings, inspections of equipment and training records. The UK template in Fidrel is built for the walk round. An adviser can build a separate audit template in the same Site forms with the lines their audit uses.
Site forms
The seven lines, and what a useful answer looks like
Housekeeping and access routes: walkways, stairs and ladders clear, materials stacked safely, lighting working. Working at height and edge protection: guardrails complete on every open edge, openings covered and marked, mobile towers inspected. Scaffolds and ladders: scaffolds inspected and tagged, nothing removed without authority, ladders tied and in good order. Plant, electrics and tools: guards fitted, leads undamaged and protected, plant checked daily. COSHH and PPE: hazardous substances stored and labelled, data sheets to hand, protective equipment worn where it is needed. First aid and emergency arrangements: kits stocked, first aiders named, fire points and escape routes clear. Defects found and person responsible: the written follow-up. A Fail is only useful with that last line filled in.
The weekly walk in Fidrel
Step 1
Add the UK standard templates
In Site forms open Templates and choose Add standard templates. In a UK project the set includes the site safety inspection, alongside the inspection and test record, delivery inspection and permit to work templates.
Step 2
Add the lines your site needs
Edit the safety inspection for the risks of your job, for example excavations, lifting operations, hoarding and public protection or traffic routes, and make the lines that must always be answered required.
Step 3
Answer each line as you walk
Choose Fill in a form and the safety inspection, set Location / element to the whole site or the area walked, and answer each line Pass, Fail or N/A on a phone or tablet while you are standing in front of it.
Step 4
Write the defects and submit
List each defect with its location, the action and the person responsible in the last line, then Submit. The form is locked, and the list of completed forms shows how many lines failed on that walk.
Writing the defects line so it gets acted on
Give each defect four parts: where it is, what is wrong, what must be done and who must do it, ideally with a date. “Level 4, north elevation: two missing guardrail sections at bay 6; scaffold contractor to replace before work resumes on that edge” can be checked on the next walk; “edge protection poor” cannot. Keep one defect per line of text, so that the next inspection can go down the list and confirm each one.
Comparing one week with the next
Completed forms are listed newest first with their F- number, location, inspector and date, and each shows how many lines failed. Filter the list to the safety inspection template and the weekly walks line up one after another; search by location or inspector to see one block or one supervisor’s walks. Because each submitted form keeps its own copy of the lines and is locked for everyone, administrators included, the series cannot be edited after the event.
Following up between walks
Some things cannot wait a week. In Fidrel’s H&S forms, a near miss or safety observation records what was seen, where, the immediate action and the person responsible, and a toolbox talk record can brief the team on what the inspection found. Repeated failures in the same place are worth raising in the next toolbox talk rather than writing up again.
What the checklist does not do
Filling in the checklist does not show that a site meets any legal duty; it records what the person walking the site saw on that day. No inspection is scheduled or reminded: each walk starts when someone chooses Fill in a form. A Fail does not create a task, a non-conformance or a notice to the person responsible; the follow-up is written on the form and chased by the site team. The form has no photos or attachments, and it needs a connection to save.
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Site forms · Safety inspection
Frequently asked questions
Anything else on your mind? We are happy to help.
Talk to usWeekly is common on UK sites, with more frequent checks where conditions change quickly. The frequency is set by your own arrangements and risk assessment, not by Fidrel.
Usually the site manager or a supervisor who knows the site. In Fidrel any project member who can write in the project can fill in the form, and Carried out by records who did.
Yes. Add lines for excavations, lifting, traffic management or anything your site needs, as a check, text, number or date, and make them required if they must always be answered.
It is counted on the form and shown in the list. Write the defect, the action and the person responsible in the last line; Fidrel does not raise a task from it.
No. Once submitted the form is locked for everyone, administrators included. If something was wrong, fill in a new form that explains the correction.
No. It covers the weekly walk round. An adviser’s audit can be built as a separate template in Site forms with the lines that audit needs.