How to build a safety inspection app,
done properly.
A good safety inspection app does not need to be complicated. It needs an equipment list, a checklist that matches how you actually inspect, a required photo when something fails, and a record you can hand over without digging through paper. This page covers what that checklist should contain, what OSHA actually requires for fire extinguishers and forklifts, and where it fits inside the wider category of field service apps that crews carry to do their jobs.
The short version
Two schedules that are not optional.
If your inspection app covers fire extinguishers or forklifts, two OSHA rules set the schedule for you. Everything else on the checklist, from ladders to PPE to a general walkthrough, is yours to define, which is exactly where a generic form tool stops being enough.
Your call
Ladders, PPE, general walkthroughs
No fixed OSHA interval, set by your own policy or insurer.
What OSHA requires
Read the actual rule, not a summary of it.
A lot of inspection-app marketing paraphrases OSHA loosely. Whether you call it a fire inspection app or a fire extinguisher inspection app, here is what the two most commonly asked-about rules actually say, in the terms of the standard itself.
Fire extinguishers: monthly, visually
Under 29 CFR 1910.157(e)(2), portable fire extinguishers must be visually inspected monthly. That is separate from the annual maintenance check a qualified person performs. A fire extinguisher inspection app earns its keep here: it can prompt the monthly check automatically and refuse to let a month slip by unlogged, which a paper tag hanging on the extinguisher cannot do on its own.
Forklifts: before every shift
Under 29 CFR 1910.178(q)(7), powered industrial trucks must be examined before being placed in service, and may not be used if the examination finds a condition that affects the vehicle's safety. That examination has to happen at least daily, and trucks used around the clock have to be examined after every shift, not once a day. A forklift inspection app that requires the check before the vehicle can be marked available is closer to how this rule actually reads than a weekly paper form.
| Equipment | Requirement | Frequency | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portable fire extinguishers | Visual inspection | Monthly | 29 CFR 1910.157(e)(2) |
| Forklifts / powered industrial trucks | Pre-use examination; must be pulled from service if unsafe | Before each shift | 29 CFR 1910.178(q)(7) |
Beyond these two
Most safety checklists are not regulated.
Fire extinguishers and forklifts get cited because the schedule is spelled out in federal law. Most of what a safety team actually walks past every day, ladders, PPE, guardrails, a loading dock, a job site, is not on a fixed federal clock at all, it is set by your own risk tolerance, your insurer, or a site-specific policy. That is closer to a general-purpose field inspection app than a fire-and-forklift-specific one, and if your equipment list skews toward cranes, loaders, or trucks, it starts looking more like a heavy equipment inspection app than a safety checklist at all. The right shape depends on what you are actually inspecting, not on which template you found first.
What's actually on your site?
Select what you inspect and see which items OSHA schedules for you, and which ones are yours to decide.
OSHA sets the schedule
- Fire extinguishersMonthly, visual inspection · 29 CFR 1910.157(e)(2)
- Forklifts / powered industrial trucksBefore each shift · 29 CFR 1910.178(q)(7)
You set the schedule
- LaddersNo fixed OSHA interval, set by your policy or insurer
Try it
A starting checklist, check as you go.
This is a reasonable starting point for a fire extinguisher and forklift inspection app. Check items off to see how far a single walkthrough goes, then adjust it to match your own equipment and site.
Every inspection, regardless of equipment
Set by youFire extinguishers
Monthly (OSHA 1910.157(e)(2))Forklifts
Before each shift (OSHA 1910.178(q)(7))The options
Paper, a form tool, or your own app.
Most teams try paper first, move to a generic form tool when paper gets lost, and only look at purpose-built software or a custom app once the checklist stops fitting someone else's fields.
| Paper clipboard | Generic form app | Purpose-built EHS software | Custom-built app | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Works with no signal, in a basement or a yard | Yes | Depends on the tool | Depends on the tool | Yes |
| Photo attached to the specific failed item | No | Sometimes | Yes | Yes |
| Matches your own equipment list and checklist wording | Yes | Limited to their fields | Limited to their templates | Yes |
| Exportable, timestamped audit trail | No | Usually | Yes | Yes |
| Sends a reminder before an inspection is due | No | Sometimes | Yes | Yes |
| Escalates automatically when an item fails | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Built for your process, not a vertical you have to fit into | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Purpose-built EHS software usually covers more compliance paperwork out of the box, at the cost of forcing your checklist into its templates. A custom app trades that breadth for an exact match to how your team actually inspects.
Evidence
A failed item without a photo is a guess.
The single highest-value field on any inspection checklist is a required photo attached to a failed item. It turns "the extinguisher failed" into evidence someone else can act on without a site visit, and it is what separates a real safety reports inspection app from a form that just collects opinions. Getting the camera itself right, permissions, compression, upload retries on a spotty signal, is its own topic; see capturing photo evidence in your app for how that actually gets built.
Why teams build their own
When the template stops fitting.
Newly is not a compliance platform and it is not trying to be ServiceTitan or a dedicated EHS suite. It is an AI app builder: you describe the inspection app you need, in plain English, and it builds a real native iOS and Android app around it, with a database for your inspection records already wired in. Teams reach for it once their checklist, their equipment list, or their reporting stops fitting inside someone else's off-the-shelf fields, which is a common place to land once fire extinguishers, forklifts, and everything else on a site end up on one form.
Newly starts at $25 a month, and that includes building the app itself, the backend that stores every inspection record, and publishing it to the App Store and Google Play.
FAQ
Safety inspection apps, answered.
A safety inspection app is a mobile app your team uses to run recurring checks on equipment or a site, capture the result with a photo, and keep a timestamped record for whoever has to prove the check happened, such as an OSHA inspector, an insurer, or your own safety manager. It replaces a paper clipboard or a shared spreadsheet with something that works offline, stores photo evidence, and produces an exportable log.
Build the inspection app that fits your checklist.
Describe the equipment you inspect and the checklist you already use. Newly builds the app, the database behind it, and gets it ready for the App Store and Google Play.