What this is
What is a skin inspection record?
What is a skin inspection record?
A skin inspection record documents a structured examination of hands and forearms for early signs of dermatitis in workers whose tasks expose them to skin hazards such as wet work, solvents or irritant substances. It records specific signs, not a general impression, and asks whether they connect to work rather than something else.
Who carries out a skin inspection?
A trained responsible person, occupational health, or in some organisations a supervisor trained for the purpose. The form records who carried it out and whether they were confirmed trained, because an untrained check tends to miss the early signs that make the surveillance worthwhile.
Why does it matter that dermatitis is caught early?
Early dermatitis usually clears with a change of glove, cream or method. Left unaddressed it can become chronic, at which point the worker may no longer be able to do wet work at all. The inspection exists to catch the condition while it is still reversible.
Scope
When is a skin inspection record required?
This record is one step in the Occupational Health Surveillance programme, covering the periodic skin check itself. It is not the assessment that decided a worker needed surveillance, and not the specialist pathway a positive finding is routed into.
Use this template when
- A worker's role involves wet work, solvents, or another recognised skin hazard identified by a risk assessment
- The surveillance interval for that worker's exposure group has come due
- A worker reports symptoms, or a change at work, prompting a targeted rather than routine check
- A prior check found something and needs a follow-up to see whether it has changed
- A referral, glove review or task reassessment triggered by a previous check needs to be closed out
Do not use it for
- Dermatitis Risk Assessment, which assesses wet work, chemical contact and glove use before any check of an individual worker's skin.
- Glove Selection and Suitability Record, which specifies the glove used for a task, and is where a glove review triggered here is actually carried out.
- Health Referral Record, the specialist referral itself once this record raises a concern, not a substitute for making it.
- Biological Exposure Assessment, which addresses a different hazard route and is not satisfied by a skin check.
- Anything outside KnowHealth, which belongs in the workspace that owns that process.
Compliance mapping
Which ISO 45001 cl.8.1 requirements does this satisfy?
ISO 45001 cl.8.1 treats health surveillance as operational control: verifying a control identified for a known hazard is actually working. The record follows that logic, from the exposure it checks against, through physical findings and occupational context, to a routed outcome.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| ISO 45001 cl.8.1.1 | Operational planning and control carried out by a competent, confirmed-trained person | Header |
| ISO 45001 cl.6.1.2.1 | Hazard identification and controls kept current, linked back to the exposure assessment that identified the risk | Header |
| ISO 45001 cl.9.1.1 | Monitoring and measurement of the effectiveness of controls already in place | Observation |
| ISO 45001 cl.5.4 | Consultation and participation of workers, reflected in the worker's own report of symptoms and pattern | Context |
| ISO 45001 cl.7.5.3 | Control of documented information, including confidentiality and restricted access to health records | Confidentiality |
| ISO 45001 cl.10.2 | Nonconformity and corrective action raised from a finding, with an owner and verification step | Outcome |
What it does not cover
- Dermatitis Risk Assessment, the upstream assessment of wet work, chemical contact and glove adequacy that decides who needs this check.
- Glove Selection and Suitability Record, which records the glove specified for a task, and is where a triggered glove review is carried out.
- Health Referral Record, the specialist referral itself, not a description of the skin that prompted it.
- Periodic Health Assessment, the general scheduled health check for a specific exposure group, covering more than skin.
- A first aid or incident record, covering an acute injury rather than a developing, surveillance-detected condition.
Global
Skin Inspection Record requirements by country
Skin surveillance is specified in most operational detail in the United Kingdom, where a trained responsible person carrying out routine checks is a named part of guidance. Elsewhere it sits inside a general health surveillance or hazard-control duty.
COSHH 2002, regulation 11, and HSE guidance on occupational dermatitis
Health surveillance, including skin checks by a trained responsible person, required where workers are exposed to substances that can cause dermatitis.
HSE guidance names the responsible-person model directly, so a check by someone not confirmed trained is a documented gap.
OSHA General Duty Clause; substance-specific standards; 29 CFR 1904 recordkeeping
No dedicated skin-surveillance standard. Recognised dermal hazards fall under the General Duty Clause, and a resulting case may be OSHA-recordable.
The absence of a specific standard does not remove the duty to address a recognised hazard, and unaddressed findings are the evidence reviewed after a recordable case.
ISO 45001:2018, clauses 8.1.2 and 9.1.1
Health surveillance treated as monitoring the effectiveness of controls already identified for a known hazard, within the management system.
Auditors look for the check linked back to the exposure it monitors, and for a positive finding actually changing something.
How to complete it
How to complete a skin inspection record, step by step
The physical signs are the part of this check hardest to get wrong. What determines whether the surveillance is doing its job is the context around the signs, and what happens after a positive finding.
Dryness, redness, cracking, itching and blistering are recorded separately because a worker can have one without the others, and a mild score on several signs at once is a different picture from one marked sign alone. Collapsing them into a single judgement loses the pattern the check is designed to surface.
Symptoms that clear at weekends or on leave point to an occupational cause; symptoms that persist regardless point somewhere else. This question, with whether it started after a change at work, is what turns a skin description into an occupational finding.
Whether creams are used and gloves worn correctly are as much a part of this check as the physical signs. A finding recorded without checking the control leaves nobody able to say whether a positive result means the control failed or was never used.
No abnormality closes the check. Anything else should trigger something specific: a referral, a glove review, a task reassessment, or an action with an owner and a date. An outcome recorded and left there, routing fields defaulted to no, is where surveillance stops functioning as surveillance.
What auditors find
Most common skin inspection record findings
The physical observation is rarely where a skin inspection record falls down. The findings sit in context questions being skipped and outcomes not followed through.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Check carried out by someone not confirmed trained for the purpose. | ISO 45001 cl.8.1.1 | Confirm training status before the check counts as valid; route untrained checks back to a trained responsible person. |
| Context questions defaulted to no or left unanswered, so an occupational cause is never established. | ISO 45001 cl.5.4 | Require the away-from-work and started-after-a-change questions to be actively answered, not defaulted. |
| Positive finding recorded with no glove review or task reassessment triggered. | ISO 45001 cl.8.1.2 | Trigger a glove review or task reassessment automatically whenever the outcome is not no abnormality. |
| Referral judged needed, but no referral record raised or ID entered. | ISO 45001 cl.10.2 | Raise the Health Referral Record when referral is decided, and enter its ID the same day. |
| Manager or non-clinical record shows more than a fitness outcome. | ISO 45001 cl.7.5.3 | Restrict what is shared outside occupational health to a fitness outcome; audit access to the record. |
| Next check due date not set, so the interval depends on someone remembering. | ISO 45001 cl.9.1.1 | Set the next check due date when the current outcome is recorded, not deferred to a later step. |
Case in point
Case in point: mild, three times, then established
A commercial kitchen porter doing continuous wet work was checked quarterly. The first check recorded mild dryness and mild redness, no abnormality otherwise, no action required. The second check, three months later, recorded the same. The third repeated it again. Each check was carried out correctly and each outcome looked individually reasonable.
By the fourth check the dryness had become marked cracking, and the worker reported the skin never fully cleared even on days off. Nobody had asked, at any of the first three checks, whether symptoms improved away from work or gloves were used correctly. They had not been: a policy of gloves for washing but bare hands for drying had gone unnoticed for nine months.
The template
The template, field by field
The form exactly as it installs. Every field, option, score and conditional rule is editable, and the links to other templates come with it.
5 sections
- Reference
- HLT-046
- Archetype
- Record
- Record ID
- SKI-2026-000
- Scoring
- Cases detected
- Direction
- Low is good
- Singleton
- No
- Basis
- ISO 45001 cl.8.1
- Links
- Links Dermatitis assessment, Referral
- Tags
- Skin health, Surveillance
- Sections
- 5
- Fields
- 47
- Follow up fields
- 3
- Repeating sections
- 0
- Links out
- 5
Header
15 fieldsRecord ID*
Auto sequence. Format SKI-2026-000.
The record's own ID. Other templates point at this value.
Status*
Drives who this goes to next.
- Planned2 pts
- In progress2 pts
- Complete3 pts
- Deferred0 pts
- Open0 pts
- Closed3 pts
- Overdue0 pts
Date and Time*
Completed By*
Site*
Site ID*
Format SITE-000.
Links to FDN-001 Site ID
Worker*
Person ID*
Format PER-0000.
Links to FDN-003 Person ID
Check Type*
Checked By*
Previous Check Date
Exposure Assessment ID
Links to HLT-045 Assessment ID
Responsible Person Trained*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Currently Exposed*
Catching It Early Keeps Somebody In Their Job
Early dermatitis clears with a change of glove or cream. Left for a year it becomes chronic, and the person can no longer do wet work at all.
Observation
6 fieldsDryness Or Scaling*
- None3 pts
- Mild1 pt
- Marked0 pts
Redness*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Cracking Or Fissures*
- None3 pts
- Mild1 pt
- Marked0 pts
Itching Reported*
- None3 pts
- Mild1 pt
- Marked0 pts
Blistering*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Changes Since Last Check*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Context
6 fieldsSymptoms Improve Away From Work*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Both Hands Affected*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Forearms Affected*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Started After A Change At Work*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Worker Using Provided Creams*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Gloves Being Used Correctly*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Confidentiality
6 fieldsClinical Detail Held Separately*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Manager Told Fitness Only*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Worker Consent Obtained*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Worker Given Their Own Result*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Records Access Restricted*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Retention Period Applied*
- Yes3 pts
- No0 pts
Outcome
14 fieldsOutcome*
- No abnormality4 pts
- Early symptoms1 pt
- Established condition0 pts
- Referred for diagnosis1 pt
Referral Made*
Referral ID
Links to HLT-013 Referral ID
Glove Review Triggered*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Task Reassessment Triggered*
- Yes3 pts
- Partly1 pt
- No0 pts
Next Check Due*
Action Required*
Raise the action record, then enter its reference here.
- No2 pts
- Yes0 pts
Priority
- High0 pts
- Medium1 pt
- Low3 pts
CAPA ID
Format CAPA-2026-00000.
Links to FDN-014 CAPA ID
Action Owner
Responsible Person*
Signature*
Occupational Health*
Second Signature*
HLT-046 · record IDs look like SKI-2026-000 · Links Dermatitis assessment, Referral
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
The check itself is usually done properly. What slips is the pattern across checks, the routing after a positive finding, and the next check date depending on nobody forgetting.
Holds the skin inspection history against each worker's exposure group, flags a recurring mild finding across checks rather than treating each in isolation, and keeps the next check due date live.
Links a skin inspection back to the dermatitis risk assessment and exposure group it monitors, so a check is read against the hazard it was set up to watch.
Tracks whether the person carrying out a check is confirmed trained, and routes an untrained check back before it counts as valid surveillance.
Watches for a positive finding with no glove review, task reassessment or referral triggered, and raises it rather than letting the outcome sit unrouted.
This template lives in KnowHealth — employee wellbeing. Exposure monitoring, health surveillance, case management and return to work.
Meet KnowHealth→Glossary
Skin Inspection Record definitions and key terms
- Trained responsible person
- A worker, often not clinically qualified, trained to recognise the early signs of occupational dermatitis and carry out a structured skin check.
- Wet work
- Work involving frequent or prolonged contact with liquids, including washing and cleaning, recognised as a primary driver of occupational dermatitis.
- Sensitiser
- A substance causing an allergic skin reaction after repeated exposure, distinct from an irritant, which damages skin through direct contact without an immune response.
- Irritant
- A substance that damages skin through direct contact, causing dryness, cracking or dermatitis without an allergic mechanism.
- Surveillance interval
- The stated frequency a skin check is repeated for a given exposure group, shortened by a targeted check when symptoms or a change at work warrant it.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about skin inspection record
Who can carry out a skin inspection?+
A trained responsible person, occupational health, or a supervisor trained for the purpose. The record captures whether the person doing the check was confirmed trained, because an untrained check tends to miss the early signs the surveillance exists to catch.
Why does the record ask whether symptoms improve away from work?+
It is the most reliable single question for separating an occupational cause from something unrelated. Symptoms that clear at weekends or on leave point strongly to the workplace exposure; symptoms that persist regardless point somewhere else and change what should happen next.
What happens if early signs are found?+
The finding should route to something concrete: a glove review, a task reassessment, or a referral for diagnosis, each with an owner where an action is raised. A finding recorded and left unrouted has not completed the job the check exists to do.
How often should skin inspections be run?+
At the interval set for the exposure group, and sooner where a targeted check is triggered by symptoms, a reported change at work, or a follow-up on a previous finding. Routine, pre-use, periodic and targeted checks answer slightly different questions.
Is this the same as a dermatitis risk assessment?+
No. The risk assessment looks at the task, substances and controls in place and decides who needs surveillance. This record is the surveillance itself, checking an individual worker's skin at intervals and feeding findings back rather than assessing the task.
Who sees the result?+
Clinical detail stays with occupational health. A manager or non-clinical record receives a fitness outcome only, not the specific signs found or the reasoning behind a referral, in line with the confidentiality controls built into the record.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Occupational Health Surveillance
Similar Exposure Group Register
Groups workers who share the same tasks, agents and exposure patterns
Qualitative Exposure Assessment
Rates likely exposure using professional judgement, task knowledge and existing data, before any sampling
Personal Air Sampling Record
Records a sample taken from a worker's breathing zone over a shift
Area Monitoring Record
Records fixed point sampling in a work area rather than on a person
Noise Dosimetry Record
Records a worker's noise exposure over a full shift using a personal dosimeter
Chemical Exposure Assessment
Assesses exposure to a specific chemical across the tasks where it is used
Written and reviewed by
Siddarth Singh
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Knowella
Certified Safety Professional and industrial and systems engineer with more than a decade inside food supply chain, freight and manufacturing operations. This page was written against the current text of the standards it cites, not against secondary summaries of them.
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Board of Certified Safety Professionals
- MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- MS and BS, The Ohio State University, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Six Sigma Black Belt
Sources and last review. Reviewed 16 August 2026 against:
- ISO 45001:2018, clauses 8.1.1, 8.1.2, 9.1.1 and 7.5.3
- COSHH 2002 (SI 2002/2677), regulation 11 (GB)
- HSE guidance on occupational dermatitis and skin checks by a trained responsible person
- OSHA 29 CFR 1904 — Recording and reporting occupational injuries and illnesses
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.