• Inspection reports include notations about hazard correction alongside hazard information.

Many companies use the form that documents the original discovery of a hazard to track the correction of the hazard. Inspection reports include notations about hazard correction alongside the information about the hazard. Employee reports of hazards and reports of accident/incident investigations also should provide space for notations about hazard correction.

When recording information about hazard correction, it is important to note all interim protective measures and to include the date of a completed action. Otherwise, the company runs the risk of intended corrections never actually being completed. This may not pose a problem if the hazard can be corrected in a short period of time. Someone probably will remember to see that the final correction occurs.

There is always a danger, however, that the expected correction will “slip through the cracks.” This can happen when a part must be ordered and time is needed for procurement, or when interim, less-than-adequate measures become substitutes for preferred but possibly more costly or time-consuming actions.