How to Conduct a Workplace Health and Safety Audit

What exactly is a health and safety audit?

It’s a procedure that makes sure you adhere to all applicable health and safety laws.

While its main objective is to ensure compliance, it also evaluates how effectively you follow procedures and your performance as a whole.

It is described by the HSE as “A collection of independent information on the efficiency, effectiveness and reliability of the total health & safety management system and drawing up plans for corrective action.”

Can you provide a report on an internal safety audit?

You can, indeed. One thing to keep in mind is that you must have a “competent person” leading any office health and safety audit.

Additionally, make sure the auditor is impartial toward the area of the organisation you are inspecting.

For instance, a safety audit in the bakery cannot be carried out by a baker. However, you may request that a member of your health and safety team who works in the corporate office inspect the bakery’s facilities.

As an alternative, you might employ a third party auditor like Acton Safety.

Establishing a framework for safety audits

You should have a system in place to ensure health and safety compliance regardless of the auditor you select.

Making an office safety audit checklist can be useful for highlighting your organisation’s goals and your plan for addressing the dangers that are most common in your sector.

The checklist should initially aim to answer specific safety audit questions like:

– Is our current safety manual accessible to all staff members?
– Does our management team understand its obligations regarding health and safety?
– What is the process we use to report hazards?
– How frequently do we perform safety checks?
– Is the fire risk assessment we have reliable?

These are merely a few fundamentals. In a thorough health and safety audit, there are a tonne more questions you’ll have to respond to, including ones that are industry-specific.

When you have a complete list of your priorities, you can start considering how to carry out the audit.

Performing a health and safety audit

Let’s organise it into actions:

– Organise an opening meeting with all the staff members who will be affected.
– Visit the location and evaluate the dangers for the staff.
– Compile and save any on-site observations.
– Decide your advantages and disadvantages.
– Sort issues according to importance (address major risks first).
– Check to see if a suitable mechanism for performance reviews is in place.
– Send the audit report in.
– Remove dangerous dangers and activities and take action to prevent injury.
– Hold a closing meeting.

Depending on your sector and place of employment, you might want to incorporate different processes. Which measures to add can be suggested by your auditor.

Health and safety audit form

There are checklist templates available if you’re having trouble creating one.

Finding a template that exactly fits your company, though, will be difficult. Several audit and assessment templates are available from the HSE, but don’t rely on them to ensure compliance.

A consultant from Acton Safety can offer complete health and safety assurance for your company.

Expert assistance

Our consultants perform on-site audits, deliver reports with recommendations, draught and modify your health and safety rules, offer round-the-clock assistance, and continuously monitor and review your policies and processes.