The Monthly Safety Review Checklist

Why this matters

Per-job safety checks catch the hazard in front of the tech today. They do not catch the hazards that build up slowly: a lapsed certification, an incident nobody logged, a truck overdue for brakes, a first-aid kit that has been empty for a month. This checklist is the monthly, management-level review that catches those slow failures before they become an injury or a claim. The miss it prevents: a preventable incident that a monthly look would have caught weeks earlier.

Phase 1: Incidents and near-misses (highest priority)

• Review every incident and near-miss reported this month. A near-miss is a free warning; treat it like one.
• Confirm each has a root cause and a corrective action assigned to a named person, not just a note.
• Check that last month's corrective actions actually got done.
• Look for patterns: the same hazard, the same tech, or the same job type recurring.

Phase 2: People and training currency

• Verify required certifications and licenses are current, and flag any that expire before the next review.
• Confirm new hires completed their safety onboarding before going to the field.
• Note any skill gap a recent incident exposed and schedule the training.
• Confirm everyone knows the current emergency and reporting procedure.

Phase 3: Equipment and vehicles

• Confirm fire extinguishers, first-aid kits, and eyewash are stocked, charged, and in-date across shop and trucks.
• Verify PPE stock is adequate and replacements are on hand.
• Check vehicle maintenance is current: brakes, tires, lights. A work truck is a safety-critical tool.
• Confirm the tool and equipment audit was done and its failures were actually cleared.

Phase 4: Environment, documentation, and compliance

• Walk the shop for housekeeping hazards: blocked exits, trip hazards, improper chemical storage.
• Confirm safety data sheets are current and accessible for every chemical on hand.
• Check that required safety postings and injury records are in place and up to date.
• Confirm any regulatory reporting obligation for the period is met.

Close the review

• Write down what you found and what you assigned. An unrecorded review did not happen.
• Set the next review date and name an owner for each open action.

The rule to keep

Safety is a system that decays without attention. The monthly review exists to catch the decay, the expired, the empty, the overdue, while it is still paperwork and not yet an injury.

References

• OSHA 29 CFR 1910, general industry standards, recordkeeping, and hazard communication
• NFPA fire-extinguisher and fire-safety standards
• See related: Job-Site Safety Checklist, The Tool and Equipment Audit Checklist