An industrial facility inspection that finds a defect and records it nowhere is a liability event waiting to happen. The defect existed. Someone walked past it. The inspection happened. Nothing changed. When the failure occurs six weeks later — the gas line fitting that was weeping at the flange, the crusher screen that had a fatigue crack at the mounting bracket, the MFO sump that was showing sediment accumulation — the question isn't whether the defect could have been found. It's whether the process that was supposed to find it actually worked. Without a log, there's no answer.
Location-Based Inspection Architecture
Location RL, Location DLph2, Location DLph3, Location Int/L, Location DC, Location VS/Crusher, Location MFO, Location Gas, Location GSW, Location SB, and Location S/R are the fixed inspection zones for this facility. An inspection record that's associated with a specific location rather than a general site means defects are assigned to a physical area that maintenance crews can navigate directly. "Gas — flange fitting on line 3, north side of manifold, showing trace leakage" is an actionable finding. "Gas area defect" is not.
The multi-location structure in this template reflects an industrial facility with distinct operational zones — reclaim loading, dump loop phases, internal links, distribution centres, primary and secondary crushing, MFO storage, gas infrastructure, groundwater systems, and stacker-reclaimer areas. Each zone has different inspection protocols, different defect categories, and different consequences for unreported deterioration.
Defect Documentation
Defect and Others Defect are the finding classification fields. Defect likely maps to a controlled vocabulary of standard defect types for this facility — crack, corrosion, leak, misalignment, wear, blockage. Others Defect captures findings that don't fit the standard taxonomy. Having both fields means common defect types are classified consistently for trending analysis — how often is corrosion being found at Location DC versus Location MFO tells you something about environmental or process conditions that's invisible in free-text notes.
Picture is the non-negotiable documentation requirement for industrial facility defects. A photograph of the defect, taken at the location with the Date & Time timestamp embedded by the mobile device, is the evidence that: confirms the defect was actually observed (not reported from memory), shows the severity at the time of reporting (which affects remediation urgency), and provides the baseline for follow-up inspection to confirm whether a defect has been repaired, is stable, or is progressing.
System categorizes the defect by infrastructure system — mechanical, electrical, civil, process, safety systems. A corrosion finding on a structural support beam at the crusher is a civil defect with a different response timeline than the same type of corrosion on a process piping connection in the gas area. The system classification drives the correct maintenance response team.
Inspector Accountability
Name and Date & Time create the accountable record. An inspection that happened but isn't associated with a named inspector and a specific timestamp can be challenged as incomplete or fabricated. The named inspector with a timestamped record at a specific location, with a documented finding and a photograph, is a legally defensible inspection record.
Notes closes the record with the contextual narrative — the inspector's assessment of urgency, the conditions at the time of inspection, observations that don't fit the structured fields but are relevant to the maintenance decision. This is where the inspector notes that the defect was found during a shift handover and the outgoing crew was already aware of it, or that access restrictions prevented a thorough inspection of a specific sub-area that needs a follow-up.