School Site Safety Inspection Checklist

Walk every structure: check for cracked plastic, exposed bolts, splintered wood, and damaged fall surfacing. Confirm CPSC-required use-zone clearances (typically 6 feet around stationary equipment, more for swings) are clear of obstructions. Tag any broken component out of service before the next recess.

The facilities supervisor walks the full perimeter looking for breaches, lifted fence fabric, or gates that no longer self-close and latch. Note any sightline gaps where someone could enter unseen from a back alley or parking lot.

Every classroom must have a clear path to the door and the door must swing freely. Watch for furniture creep — bookshelves and rolling carts that drift into the egress aisle over the year are the most common finding on this step.

Confirm tall bookshelves, file cabinets, and AV carts are anchored to the wall or strapped per the district's earthquake/tip-over policy. Common gotcha: anchors removed during summer painting and never reinstalled.

ANSI Z358.1 requires weekly activation; the science lead should be doing this, but the inspection verifies. Run for at least three minutes, confirm tepid water, no rust, no sediment. Log the test in the Flushlog tag on the unit. A failed eyewash takes the lab out of service until repaired.

Chemicals stored by hazard class (not alphabetically), flammables in the yellow cabinet, acids and bases separated. Confirm the SDS binder is on-site and current within the last three years for every chemical present — OSHA HazCom inspectors check this first.

NFPA 96 requires semiannual service of the wet-chemical suppression system over the cooking line. Read the service tag on the system — if it's older than six months, the cafeteria manager schedules the licensed contractor before the next meal service. Health inspectors will close the kitchen otherwise.

For CTE shops with table saws, drill presses, mills, or 3D printers with hot ends: verify guards are present and intact, e-stop buttons are accessible, and the LOTO board has a lock and tag for each machine. The CTE teacher walks this with the supervisor.

NFPA 10 requires monthly visual checks (initialed by staff) and an annual licensed inspection. Confirm every extinguisher has both, the gauge needle is in the green, and the pin and seal are intact. Common finding: a unit has been used in a small incident and never recharged.

Open each AED cabinet, check the rescue-ready indicator, and read the expiration on pads and battery. Adult and pediatric pads have different expiration cycles. The school nurse owns the replenishment, but the inspection catches it before the next sports practice or assembly.

Confirm every exterior door auto-locks behind staff, that badge readers respond, and that no door has been propped or shimmed. The most common breach pattern is a side or rear door propped by staff for convenience — re-train and replace the closer if needed.

Front-office workstation: scanner reads an ID, the system pulls a sex-offender registry check, and a badge prints with photo. Test with a real ID. If the workstation is down, visitor sign-in falls back to a paper log — note the gap and escalate to IT.

State law typically requires one lockdown drill per semester plus monthly fire drills. The office manager keeps the log; the inspector reads the most recent dates and confirms the next drill is scheduled. Falling behind on drills is the most-cited finding in state safety audits.

Attach photos of every finding worth fixing — labeled with location and date. The photo trail is what district risk management asks for after an injury, and it is what the next quarter's inspection compares against.

Principal signs off, facilities supervisor co-signs, and the report routes to district risk management and the safety committee. Severity drives the next step: None or Minor closes out at the site; Major triggers district escalation and a re-inspection.