Nobody Comes To Work To Get Hurt.
No leader wants people injured on their watch. The problem isn’t intent – it’s timely information. When inspection findings flow rapidly to owned actions and visible closure, leaders can act on leading indicators and risk actually drops. Until then, we’re inspecting for the sake of it.
We Already Know How To Do This – At Home.
Consider the places and routines you care about. Your home workshop where every tool has a place. The kitchen with a clear bench, knives sharp, ingredients ready. A pilot walking around the aircraft before take-off, hand on the fuselage, eyes on the tyres. A surgical team pausing to confirm the patient, the procedure and the instruments. Everything in its place, because when it is, the task happens the way it’s meant to – and it happens safely.
We do this instinctively. We check the gas bottle before we light the barbecue because once you’ve run out halfway through dinner (or discovered a slow leak) you learn to inspect the less obvious things at the right time. That’s what most “inspections” really are, small moments of foresight that keep the job flowing and prevent the nasty surprise. We are, in fact, pretty good at inspections in daily life.
So Why Do Workplace Inspections Feel Like Friction?
Walk any site and you’ll find people doing inspections in good faith. Photos get taken, boxes are ticked, reports arrive at the end of the month. But the same trip hazard shows up next week, the same blocked exit reappears on night shift. It’s not that inspections aren’t happening, it’s that the loop isn’t being closed.
The hard truth we’ve learned across distributed operations is that an inspection that doesn’t turn into a closed action isn’t an inspection – it’s a walk. Workers raise issues but never see a resolution, so enthusiasm fades. Leaders want to help but can’t see, right now, what’s due, what’s overdue and what’s done. Culture drifts toward tick–box theatre because nothing visibly changes.
Leaders Don’t Lack Intent – They Lack Signal.
Australian WHS laws are pretty clear: identify hazards, control risks and regularly review that controls are effective. All the while keeping evidence of what was checked, what was found, and what was done about it, in consultation with your people. Most organisations believe this. The catch is signal: timely, trustworthy information that lets leaders act on leading indicators before harm occurs.
That’s why the quality of the inspection loop matters more than the quantity of checklists. Evidence beats intent. Your inspection trail is the story of how you manage risk.
Connectivity Has Changed The Game (And The Excuses).
The last few years have transformed the baseline as mobile coverage keeps expanding and satellite internet has made truly remote connectivity practical. This shift removes the usual blocker – “we can’t go digital because we won’t have offline capability.” You can now aim for online by default, so assignments, checks and dashboards are live, keeping reliable offline capture as a safety net for when coverage dips. The point isn’t online vs offline; it’s having current, trustworthy information so people can act with confidence.
What Good Looks Like (In Practice).
When inspections mirror the way we work at our best, clear, organised and anticipatory, both safety and productivity lift. A functioning programme doesn’t feel like admin, it feels like momentum. Workers capture a photo and a short note in seconds and can watch that issue move to closure. Findings automatically become actions with an owner and a due date, with reminders and escalations baked in so nothing drifts. Leaders see completion, hotspots and repeat problems in real-time, not at month-end. Closure means fixed and verified, not just “marked done.”
When that loop hums, repeat findings fall, critical controls stay healthy, and culture shifts: people speak up because speaking up leads to change.
A Thought To Sit With.
If someone asked you right now, which incomplete inspections were due today, which actions were overdue and which controls were weakest – could you answer that rapidly? If not, the problem isn’t people. It’s the loop.
Where To Next?
Part 2 will be the practical path: how to rebuild inspections around the flow we trust – finding → owner → due date → verified close – and why going "beyond" compliance matters. Because when everything is in its place and nothing is in the way, work runs the way it should: no surprises, no disruption, no injuries. Inspections aren’t just a safety box to tick; they’re a cornerstone of orderly, efficient, high-performing operations.
Lead well and be safe...
Cheers
Paul
