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Work Equipment
Inspection and Examination

Arrangements need to be in place for the inspection and examination of plant and work equipment.  This applies to plant and work equipment which the BBC owns and / or uses, including hired equipment.  The arrangements will be specified within the individual Divisional statement of arrangements.
  • A visual inspection should be conducted by the operator prior to use.
  • In most instances the inspection should be recorded, for example, the weekly / monthly / annual inspections.  Examples of this are inspection logs for fork lift trucks, PAT labels on electrical equipment and tags on ladders.
  • Any hired equipment must come with evidence of current thorough examinations (aka statutory inspections), and routine inspections where appropriate. If it is being rigged for use on a structure it must be inspected in this context.
  • For routine inspections, the competent persons do not have to be external, but they must have the knowledge, experience, independence and authority to carry out their function effectively. Experienced, in-house employees that know what needs to be inspected, such as a department manager or supervisor may be able to fulfil this role.
  • Competent persons for thorough examinations (aka statutory inspections) must have appropriate practical and theoretical knowledge and experience of the equipment such that they can detect defects or weaknesses and assess their importance in relation to the safety and continued use of the equipment.
  • Competent persons must be sufficiently independent and impartial to allow objective decisions to be made. They do not necessarily have to come from an external company. However, if employers use 'in-house' examiners, they must ensure that the examiners have genuine authority and independence to ensure that examinations are properly carried out and that the necessary recommendations arising from them are made without fear or favour. In most cases though the competent person for thorough examinations (aka statutory inspections) would be supplied by an engineering insurance company.
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