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Inspection template in the LeanSuite app

Last reviewed

Environmental inspection checklist

An environmental inspection is a monthly walk of an area or site for the things that turn into incidents or permit breaches: spills and leaks, waste, emissions and discharges, and the permits and records behind them. Its 13 questions need one walk and no sampling equipment. For a deeper review against your legal requirements, add the environmental compliance audit.

The EHS or environmental lead walks it monthly, with photos and the site's permit conditions at hand. What a failure looks like: an oil sheen running to a storm drain from a leaking drum, a bin of solvent rags with no lid, a dust collector puffing visible dust, or a discharge log with gaps on days the permit says a sample was taken. Each finding becomes an action with an owner, so the next walk can check it was fixed.

What it is for, as built: Monthly check of spills, waste, emissions and permits in an area or site.

Use this template in LeanSuite

The full question list

The 13 questions in the inspection

Every question is answered Yes, No or N/A. Each No is flagged and asks for a photo and a comment, so the finding arrives with its evidence.

Spills and leaks

  1. 1There are no spills, stains or leaks on the ground
  2. 2Drains are protected and clear
  3. 3Oil and fuel storage has secondary containment

Waste

  1. 4Waste is separated and labelled
  2. 5Bins are not overflowing
  3. 6Hazardous waste is stored correctly

Emissions and discharges

  1. 7There is no visible smoke, dust or unusual odour
  2. 8Discharges go only to the points they are permitted for
  3. 9Noise is not causing complaints

Permits, records and readiness

  1. 10Environmental permits are current
  2. 11Waste records are up to date
  3. 12A stocked spill kit is available
  4. 13Emergency contacts are posted

Worked example, illustrative

A filled-in example

One section as it might be filled in on the floor, with every other section of the inspection answered Yes. The place and finding are made up to show how the inspection reads and scores.

Result: fail, 84.6% against a pass mark of 90

  • 13 questions, all of them count.
  • 2 answered No, so 11 of 13 are Yes: 11 ÷ 13 = 84.6%.
  • 84.6% is under 90, so the inspection fails.

What happened next: EHS lead covered the drain and absorbed the sheen within the hour. Maintenance moved the drums onto a bunded pallet by Friday.

Scored here as one point per question with N/A left out. In the app each answer carries the points set on the template, so change them after you clone it if your plant weighs some checks more.

Environmental Inspection

Inspection, monthly

Area
Warehouse yard

Spills and leaks

  1. There are no spills, stains or leaks on the groundYes
  2. Drains are protected and clearNo
  3. Oil and fuel storage has secondary containmentNo

    Comment: Oil sheen on the concrete by the drum store, running toward the yard storm drain. No drain cover down, drums on bare ground.

    Photo attached to each No

Drawn from this template's own questions, not a screenshot of the app. Illustrative answers.

When to use it

  • Once a month.
  • The person responsible for the area or equipment answers each question on the spot.
  • Each record starts with: Area.

How it is scored

The template is built with points per answer and a pass mark of 90. In this library every audit is set to pass at 80 and every inspection at 90. Each submitted inspection shows its score and pass or fail, and every No is flagged with its photo and comment.

Change the points or the pass mark after you clone it. How rules and scoring work.

Read and print

More in environment and energy

All environment and energy templates

FAQ

Environmental inspection checklist: common questions

  1. Monthly per area as built. Walk it again after a spill or near miss, after heavy rain when containment and drains get tested for real, when a new chemical or waste stream arrives on site, after a permit change, and after a neighbour complains about noise, dust or smell. A yard with outdoor drum storage deserves a quick look after every storm.

  2. The EHS or environmental lead, with the site's permit conditions and the waste stream list in hand, and a camera. They need to know where every drain goes and which discharge points are permitted. Findings go to the site manager for actions, and anything that could be a permit breach goes to the EHS manager the same day.

  3. A fail means something is leaving the site, or is one rain shower away from it: oil heading for a storm drain, an open bin of solvent rags, a dust collector puffing. Stop the release first, cover the drain, deploy the spill kit, then raise an action with an owner and a date. In this template every No is flagged and asks for a photo and a comment, and an inspection that scores under its pass mark of 90 is a fail.

  4. Keep the area, date, a photo of every finding, the drain or storage point involved, the waste records checked and the action that closed each No. Regulators and auditors ask for this history, and the month to month trend shows whether the same drum store or dust collector keeps coming back. In LeanSuite each submitted inspection is stored with its score, its pass or fail, and the photo and comment on every No.

  5. 13 questions in 4 sections: spills and leaks, waste, emissions and discharges, and permits, records and readiness. Every question is answered Yes, No or N/A.

Use this template in LeanSuite

It is ready in the Template Marketplace inside Lean Creator as “Environmental Inspection”. Clone it into your plant, change any question, then schedule it to a person, role or asset with reminders. Auditors complete it on a phone or tablet, with photo evidence where required.

Not on LeanSuite yet? On a 90-day pilot our team sets up your account and digitizes the forms and checklists you use today, this one included.

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