618 Managing Safety and Health: Construction

The Comprehensive Baseline Survey

A comprehensive hazard survey is the most basic of all the tools used to establish the inventory of hazards and potential hazards at the worksite. After a baseline has been established, periodic comprehensive surveys need to be done to take advantage of new information about hazards or the introduction of new hazards into the workplace.

Each time there is a change of facilities, equipment, processes or materials in your workplace, they should be analyzed for hazards before they are introduced. Ideally, auditing segments of the survey should be assessed for continuous improvement.

The baseline survey should include a review of the following:

1. copies of written inspections and surveys by: fire department, in-house as required by safety and health standards (e.g., overhead crane inspections, powered industrial truck daily inspection, etc.);
2. employee report of hazards or potential hazards;
3. accident and incident investigations with corrective actions and follow-up;
4. injury and illness trend analysis;
5. personal protective equipment assessment;
6. ergonomic analysis;
7. specific identification of confined spaces; and
8. identification of energy sources for specific machines.

As part of the worksite analysis process, the employer/general contractor should also require subcontractors to perform a baseline analysis as necessary in accordance with OSHA and company requirements. The subcontractors should share pertinent information with the general contractor, and/or other subcontractors.

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