Reactive inspection scheduling: fitting urgent jobs into the plan
Reactive inspection scheduling for inspection bodies: how to triage urgent examinations, reserve capacity and re-plan routes without missing due dates.
Key takeaways
- Reactive work comes from the regulations themselves, so it is predictable in volume even when each job is a surprise.
- A written triage rule decides response time, and the planner applies it the same way every time.
- Reserved capacity protects routine due dates far better than squeezing urgent jobs into full days.
- After each urgent booking, re-plan the affected routes and check which routine items moved closer to their due dates.
Reactive inspection scheduling is fitting unplanned examinations, such as LOLER exceptional-circumstances examinations, checks after installation or repair, and follow-ups to dangerous defects, into a plan already full of statutory due dates. It works best with a triage rule, capacity reserved in advance, and re-planning of the affected routes so routine items still meet their due dates.
What is reactive inspection scheduling?
Reactive inspection scheduling covers every examination that was not on the plan a week ago. For an inspection body, that means a client calling after a crane strikes a structure, a hoist relocated to a new site, a pressure vessel repaired, or new equipment installed and waiting for first use. The job is urgent for the client, and the engineer who takes it was booked for routine work with its own due dates.
Planners handle this well when they treat reactive work as a planned category with its own capacity and rules. The due-date side of routine work is covered in statutory inspection scheduling.
Where does reactive inspection work come from?
Much of it is written into the regulations, which is why its volume is steady enough to plan for. In Great Britain the main sources are:
- LOLER regulation 9(3): thorough examination each time exceptional circumstances liable to jeopardise safety have occurred. HSE gives damage or failure, long periods out of use and major changes such as replacement or repair of critical parts as examples.
- LOLER regulation 9(2): examination after installation and before first use, and after assembly at a new site or location, where safety depends on installation conditions.
- PSSR: examinations the written scheme requires, including where it provides for examination before first use, and follow-up after an imminent danger report.
- Remedial re-checks: revisits once a client has repaired a defect found at a routine examination.
- Client-driven requests: insurer requirements, new contracts and equipment coming back into service.
Always check the current text on legislation.gov.uk and the relevant HSE guidance. Regime detail is in LOLER scheduling and PSSR scheduling.
How should urgent inspection requests be triaged?
Triage turns a phone call into a response time. Keep the rule short and written, so the answer does not depend on which planner picks up. A three-tier rule works for most bodies: equipment stopped and critical to the client's operation, equipment stopped with a workaround, and planned return to service. Response times per tier are a commercial decision agreed in client contracts.
- 1Log the requestItem, site, reason, client contact
- 2Triage the urgencyApply the written tier rule
- 3Find competent engineersQualified, nearby, with capacity
- 4Re-plan affected routesMove routine jobs inside their windows
- 5Confirm and notifyClient, engineer, displaced clients
The fourth step is the one planners skip under pressure. Every urgent booking displaces something, and the displaced jobs need a new date before their due dates, which is why reactive work belongs inside inspection route planning rather than on a separate list.
What deadlines apply once a reactive examination finds a defect?
Urgent examinations often find serious defects, and the reporting duties then create their own follow-up work. The timeline below summarises the GB rules for LOLER and PSSR; check the current texts.
- During the visitLOLER: notify the employer forthwithAny defect that in the competent person's opinion is or could become a danger to persons (regulation 10).
- As soon as practicableLOLER: written reportWhere a defect involves an existing or imminent risk of serious personal injury, a copy also goes to the relevant enforcing authority as soon as practicable.
- ForthwithPSSR: imminent danger reportA written report to the user or owner specifying the repairs or changes needed; the system must not be operated until they are done (regulation 10).
- Within 14 daysPSSR: copy to the enforcing authorityThe competent person sends a written report with the same particulars.
- After repairRe-examination visitA new reactive job, ideally booked with the original engineer while the defect is fresh.
Should you reserve capacity for reactive inspection scheduling?
Yes. The choice is between squeezing urgent jobs into days already full of routine work and holding planned space that is released to routine work when it is not used. The comparison shows why most planners who try reserved capacity keep it.
| Squeeze in as calls arrive | Reserved capacity with re-planning | |
|---|---|---|
| Routine jobs moved per urgent call | Several, chosen in a hurry | Few, chosen by due date |
| Response time to the client | Depends on who answers | Set by the tier rule |
| Routine items pushed past due date | Common in busy weeks | Rare |
| Engineer overtime and long days | Frequent | Planned and limited |
| Unused capacity | ✕ | Released to routine work 24 to 48 hours ahead |
| Evidence for the client and assessor | Scattered emails | One record of each decision |
Size the reserve from your own history: count reactive jobs per area per week over the last year and hold that much space, adjusted for season. Guidance on sizing total capacity is in capacity planning.
What changes when reactive capacity is planned?
The meter shows an illustrative area team of six engineers over one busy month, before and after holding a reactive slot in each engineer's week. The numbers are illustrative; measure your own using the same labels.
The same measures appear in scheduling KPIs for inspection bodies. The second one is the early warning to watch weekly.
What goes wrong in reactive inspection scheduling?
MythReactive work is random, so it cannot be planned.
RealityIndividual jobs are unpredictable, but weekly volume by area is steady enough to reserve capacity against.
MythThe nearest engineer should always take the urgent job.
RealityThe nearest engineer may be the only one covering a cluster of near-due items. Choose the engineer whose displaced work is easiest to rebook.
MythOnce the urgent job is booked, the problem is solved.
RealityThe displaced routine jobs are the real risk. Rebook them the same day and tell those clients.
MythPlanners should decide each case on instinct.
RealityInstinct is inconsistent under pressure. A written tier rule and a re-plan step give the same answer every time, and planners still approve each change.
For the wider approach to late changes, see handling last-minute schedule changes. Checkfirst's ScheduleAI re-plans the affected routes when an urgent job is added, checks competence and due dates for every displaced item, and lets AI agents handle the client date requests and reminders while planners approve every change.
ScheduleAI is the audit scheduling software certification bodies use to plan ISO programmes from stage 1 to recertification.
ScheduleAI inserts urgent examinations into live routes, re-plans the displaced routine jobs inside their due dates and checks engineer competence, while AI agents handle client date requests and planners approve every change.
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What is reactive inspection scheduling?
Fitting unplanned examinations, such as exceptional-circumstances, post-installation and post-repair checks, into a plan of routine statutory work without pushing routine items past their due dates.
What counts as exceptional circumstances under LOLER?
Events liable to jeopardise the safety of lifting equipment. HSE gives damage or failure, long periods out of use and major changes such as modifications or repair of critical parts as examples.
How much capacity should be reserved for reactive work?
Base it on your own history of reactive jobs per area per week, adjusted for season, and release unused slots to routine work 24 to 48 hours ahead.
How quickly must a PSSR imminent danger report reach the enforcing authority?
Within 14 days of completing the examination under PSSR regulation 10, with a written report to the user or owner made forthwith.
Who should take an urgent inspection?
A competent engineer whose displaced routine work is easiest to rebook inside its due dates, which is not always the nearest one. See inspection route planning.
Can AI help with reactive inspection scheduling?
Yes. Software can re-plan routes and propose which jobs to move, and AI agents can handle client date requests, with planners approving each change.