Using Pilla for Health and Safety Checks

Why checks matter

Risk assessments identify hazards and determine controls. But controls deteriorate. A fire door that was working perfectly last month might have a broken closer today. A first aid kit that was fully stocked at inspection might be missing key items after several minor injuries. Non-slip matting that was secured properly might have developed trip-hazard edges.

Controls don't enforce themselves. Every control in your risk assessment needs ongoing verification:

• Physical controls — Guards, barriers, safety equipment, fire doors — these can be damaged, moved, or bypassed
• Procedural controls — Safe systems of work only work if people follow them consistently
• Environmental controls — Lighting, ventilation, housekeeping — standards drift without monitoring
• Equipment controls — Everything mechanical eventually fails; regular checks catch failure early

The legal framework supports this. Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers must monitor the effectiveness of preventive and protective measures. This isn't optional — it's how you demonstrate your controls actually work.

Fire safety has specific requirements. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 requires the responsible person to ensure fire safety measures are maintained in working order. This translates to weekly fire alarm tests, monthly emergency lighting checks, and regular inspection of fire fighting equipment — all documented.

Insurance and liability depend on it. If an accident occurs and you can't demonstrate your controls were working, you face liability exposure even if you had good risk assessments. Regular documented checks prove ongoing diligence.

Types of health and safety checks

Health and safety checks fall into several categories based on frequency and purpose:

Daily checks (opening and closing)

These verify that basic safety conditions exist before operations begin and that premises are left safe at the end of the day.

Opening checks confirm:

• Fire exits are clear and unlocked for escape
• Fire fighting equipment is present and accessible
• First aid equipment is available
• Trip hazards are cleared
• Equipment is in safe working order
• Previous shift reported no unresolved issues

Closing checks verify:

• All equipment is switched off or in safe standby
• Gas is isolated (where applicable)
• No obvious fire risks remain
• Premises are secured appropriately
• Any incidents or concerns are recorded for the next shift

Daily checks are quick — they should be a checklist that takes a few minutes, not an hour-long inspection. The goal is verification that basic controls are in place, not detailed assessment.

Weekly checks

Some controls need more frequent verification than monthly but don't require daily attention.

Fire alarm testing — Legal requirement to test weekly, activating a different manual call point each week to cover the whole system over time. Same time and day each week so occupants expect the alarm.

First aid kit inspection — Check contents haven't been depleted, nothing has expired, kit is clean and accessible.

Equipment spot checks — Quick verification that guards are in place, safety features work, obvious defects haven't developed.

Monthly checks

Controls that don't change rapidly but need regular monitoring.

Emergency lighting — Monthly functional test simulating power failure. Check all units illuminate, batteries hold charge, no bulbs have failed.

Fire extinguisher inspection — Visual check that extinguishers are present, seals intact, gauges in green zone, no visible damage.

Fire door inspection — Check closers work, seals intact, doors close fully into frames, no propping or obstruction.

AED check — If you have a defibrillator, monthly check that it's accessible, pads haven't expired, battery indicator is positive.

Periodic checks

Some equipment and systems need less frequent but more thorough inspection.

Annual fire risk assessment review — Even if nothing has changed, fresh eyes often spot drift.

Professional fire system maintenance — Qualified contractor inspection of detection systems, emergency lighting, extinguishers.

PAT testing — Portable appliance testing of electrical equipment, with frequency depending on the environment and type of equipment.

Gas safety inspection — Annual inspection of gas appliances and installations by a Gas Safe registered engineer.

Using Pilla for health and safety checks

Pilla's work system is designed for exactly this kind of recurring operational task. Here's how to implement your checking regime:

Setting up check templates

Each type of check becomes a work template with structured elements that guide staff through what to verify:

Checklists — For simple presence/condition verification. "Fire extinguisher present ✓", "Exit route clear ✓". Staff tick items as they check each one.

Single choice — For status questions. "Indicator gauge reading: Green / Amber / Red". Forces explicit recording of condition.

Photo capture — For visual evidence. Photograph the fire panel display, the extinguisher gauge, any defects found.

Text input — For noting issues or actions taken. "Reported faulty emergency light in corridor to maintenance."

Issue reporting — For flagging problems that need resolution. Creates a record that feeds into your issue tracking.

Scheduling checks

Create recurring work items at appropriate frequencies:

• Daily checks — Opening check scheduled for your typical opening time, closing check for end of service
• Weekly checks — Fire alarm test on the same day and time each week (often quiet times like Tuesday morning)
• Monthly checks — Emergency lighting, fire extinguishers, fire doors, first aid kits scheduled to spread across the month

Pilla's scheduling ensures checks don't get forgotten. Staff see pending checks on their work list. Managers see completion rates in analytics.

Tracking completion

Every completed check creates a timestamped record showing:

• Who completed the check
• When it was completed
• What was found (every response recorded)
• Any issues raised

This creates the audit trail that demonstrates ongoing diligence. When an inspector asks "when was this last checked?", you have the answer with evidence.

Managing issues

When a check reveals a problem, the issue needs tracking to resolution:

1. Staff raises the issue — Photo evidence, description, severity indication
2. Manager is notified — Immediate alert for serious issues, daily summary for minor ones
3. Action is assigned — Who will fix it, by when
4. Resolution is recorded — What was done, evidence of completion
5. Check confirms fix — Next scheduled check verifies the issue is actually resolved

Pilla's issue tracking keeps this visible. Unresolved issues don't disappear — they stay on the dashboard until someone deals with them.

Fire safety checks

Fire safety checks have specific legal requirements that make them non-negotiable. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 places duties on the responsible person to ensure fire safety measures are maintained.

First aid and emergency equipment

First aid arrangements need regular verification to ensure they're actually ready when needed.

Equipment and workplace checks

Beyond fire and first aid, your risk assessments will have identified equipment and workplace controls that need monitoring.

Opening and closing checks

Daily safety checks bookend your operations, ensuring the workplace starts safe and ends safe.

Common mistakes

Tick-box mentality — Going through the motions without actually looking. A check someone does while looking at their phone isn't a check.

Skipping when busy — "We were too busy to do the fire alarm test this week." Fire doesn't care how busy you were. Statutory checks aren't optional.

Not recording issues — Finding a problem but not documenting it properly. If it's not recorded, you can't prove you knew about it, you can't track resolution, and it might get forgotten.

Closing issues without fixing them — Marking an issue resolved because you're tired of seeing it, not because someone actually fixed it.

No follow-up on findings — Completing checks but never analysing patterns. If the same fire door fails every month, something bigger is wrong.

Wrong person doing checks — Checks require competence. Someone who doesn't know what a working fire door closer looks like can't meaningfully assess one.

Inconsistent frequency — Doing weekly checks twice one month and not at all the next. Consistency is what makes monitoring effective.

Not adapting to findings — Your checks should evolve based on what you find. If you never find issues with fire extinguishers but regularly find fire doors propped open, shift your attention accordingly.

Building check discipline

For checks to work, they need to become habit — not something staff resist or forget.

Make checks quick and focused

A check that takes 30 seconds gets done. A check that takes 30 minutes gets skipped. Design your checklists to be efficient:

• Only include what genuinely needs checking at that frequency
• Use yes/no or present/absent responses where possible
• Reserve detailed assessment for periodic reviews
• Location-sequence items to avoid backtracking

Assign clear responsibility

"Someone should check the fire exits" means no one checks the fire exits. Every check needs:

• A named role responsible (not a named person — roles are more resilient)
• A clear schedule showing when it's due
• Visibility when it's not done

Make non-completion visible

If missed checks disappear quietly, they'll keep getting missed. Pilla's work analytics show:

• Completion rates by check type
• Overdue items highlighted
• Trends over time

Review this regularly. If a particular check routinely gets skipped, find out why and fix the system.

Act on what you find

If staff report issues and nothing happens, they'll stop reporting issues. Close the loop:

• Acknowledge issues promptly
• Update staff on resolution
• Thank people for thorough checking

A team that sees their checks lead to improvements will take checking more seriously.

Connecting to your safety system

Health and safety checks don't exist in isolation. They're one part of a complete safety management system:

Risk assessments identify controls — Your risk assessments determine what hazards exist and what controls you need. Every control in your assessment should have corresponding verification in your check regime.

Policies document procedures — Your health and safety system documents how controls should work. Checks verify they're actually working that way.

Training enables compliance — Staff can only check effectively if they know what they're looking for. Video training in Pilla explains the "why" behind each check.

Incidents trigger review — When something goes wrong, review your check records. Was the relevant check completed? Did it identify the problem? Should the check be modified?

Audits assess the system — Periodic audits look at whether your checking regime is adequate and whether it's being followed consistently.

The cycle works like this:

1. Risk assessments identify what needs controlling
2. Policies and training explain how controls work
3. Checks verify controls are in place and functioning
4. Incidents reveal where controls have failed
5. Reviews feed learning back into better assessments and checks

Without checks, you have documented controls with no verification they work. Without risk assessments, you have checks that might miss important hazards. Without policies, staff don't know what "good" looks like. All three elements work together.

Evidence for inspectors

When a Health and Safety Executive inspector or Environmental Health Officer visits, they're looking for evidence that you manage safety systematically. Your check records provide this:

Demonstrates ongoing diligence — Not just that you identified risks and wrote policies, but that you actively monitor them.

Shows what you found — A record of issues identified and resolved shows a functioning system.

Proves remediation — When problems are found, the record shows they were fixed promptly.

Reveals patterns — Trend analysis shows whether conditions are improving or deteriorating.

Answers "how do you know?" — The fundamental question inspectors ask is "how do you know your controls are working?" Check records are the answer.

Keep records organised and accessible. Digital records in Pilla are searchable, exportable, and permanent. When an inspector asks about fire alarm tests for the past six months, you can produce them immediately.

Next steps

If you're starting from scratch:

1. Identify required checks — Review your risk assessments. What controls need regular verification? What statutory checks are required?

2. Set up templates — Create work templates in Pilla for each check type, with appropriate elements to capture what matters.

3. Schedule appropriately — Daily, weekly, monthly frequencies based on requirements and risk.

4. Assign responsibility — Every check needs someone accountable for completing it.

5. Start completing checks — Begin the habit. Expect some resistance initially; persist.

6. Review and refine — After a month, review what's working. Adjust templates, frequencies, and responsibilities based on experience.

7. Analyse patterns — Look at completion rates, common issues, trends. Use this to improve your system.

Your health and safety checks are the verification system that turns paper controls into real protection. Without them, you're hoping your risk assessments are working. With them, you know.