Free WHS Inspection (Resource Recovery) Template

Purpose of the Free WHS Inspection (Resource Recovery) Template

Resource recovery and recycling facilities present a unique and complex range of work health and safety risks. This Free WHS Inspection (Resource Recovery) Template provides a structured starting point for systematically identifying and managing hazards in your workplace.

Regular inspections are a fundamental component of any effective safety management system, helping your organisation proactively address issues before they lead to incidents. Using this template helps to formalise the process, ensuring that key areas—from tipping floors and sorting lines to balers and storage areas—are regularly assessed.

The goal is to create a documented record of your safety diligence, demonstrate commitment to WHS obligations, and foster a safer working environment for everyone on site. Integrating these checks is a practical step towards building robust WHS management systems that protect your workers and your business.

The template guides you to look for common hazards such as unguarded machinery, traffic management failures, fire risks, and poor housekeeping.

How to use the Free WHS Inspection (Resource Recovery) Template

This template is designed for ease of use. First, download the document in your preferred format (DOCX or PDF).

The DOCX version is fully editable, allowing for extensive customisation. The primary task is to adapt the checklist to the specific circumstances of your facility.

Walk through your site and add, remove, or modify checklist items to reflect the actual plant, equipment, materials, and work processes you manage. This might include adding checkpoints for specific types of conveyors, shredders, or mobile plant used in your operations.

Important: It is vital to customise this template for your specific site layout, machinery, and procedures. We have provided a comprehensive starting point aligned with Australian WHS principles, but you must adapt it to reflect the unique hazards and control measures of your workplace.

If you require assistance with this process, consider engaging specialist WHS consulting services.

When to use it

The frequency of inspections should be determined by risk. High-risk areas, such as vehicle interaction zones, tipping floors, and areas with moving plant, should be inspected more frequently—perhaps daily or weekly.

Lower-risk areas, like administrative offices, might only require monthly inspections. This template should also be used after an incident or near miss, when new machinery or processes are introduced, or when changes are made to the workplace layout.

Regular, scheduled inspections ensure that safety controls remain effective and that new hazards are identified promptly.

For specific pieces of machinery, a daily check is often required before use. While this general template is useful for area inspections, you might complement it with a more specific document like our free pre-start checklist for an electric hoist for workshop lifting equipment.

Who should use it

Workplace inspections should be conducted by competent personnel who are familiar with the work area and its associated hazards. This typically includes site supervisors, team leaders, managers, and elected Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs).

Involving workers who operate in the area being inspected is also highly beneficial, as they have direct, hands-on knowledge of the risks. Whoever performs the inspection must be trained to recognise hazards and understand the control measures that should be in place.

The completed reports should be reviewed by management to ensure corrective actions are assigned and completed.

While regular inspections are a key operational task, they are distinct from higher-level reviews. A person conducting an inspection is looking for non-conformances in the physical environment, which differs from the process of formal WHS compliance auditing that assesses the entire safety system itself.

Effective site traffic management is also critical and can be supported by specific tools, such as our free pre-start checklist for a boom gate, to ensure vehicle entry points are safe. You can find more targeted safety documents when you explore our free WHS resources library.