Industrial Health and Safety Audit

CIL provides workplace safety audit services in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh,  India. CIL is an ISO 17020 accredited inspection agency.

How to Conduct a Workplace Health and Safety Audit in 6 Steps 

Whether you’re doing your first health and safety audit or simplify your existing process, these six steps (and free template) will help you on your way.  

When it comes to analyzing a business’ workplace health and safety (WHS) performance, audits are fundamental. But they’re not always seen this way. 

If the word ‘audit’ conjures up a montage of clipboards, inspections, and interrogations, you’ve either had terrible experiences or you’re expecting the worst. 

Safety audits shouldn’t be a policing process. They’re key for finding out where your safety performance currently sits, and where it needs to be – as per the agreed parameters. So, think of them as a positive learning opportunity to improve the safety of your team. 

Who can conduct a health and safety audit? 

WHS auditors can be internal employees or someone external. Some businesses prefer to conduct their audits in-house, as they know the areas they want to focus on. Others prefer to hire someone externally to utilize a fresh set of eyes and perspective. 

Some businesses choose both and conduct an internal audit as a precursor to the external audit. Others use the audit to tease out any deficiencies in specific processes or areas of the business. 

For the sake of this article, let’s say you’re a small business owner conducting an internal audit on your own company. 

Your task is to compare what’s happening in your business with what’s written in your safety management system. This will highlight any gaps you need to close in your business. If you don’t have a safety management system, get in touch and we can create one for you. 

Why is a Health and Safety Audit Important? 

As well as identifying gaps, health and safety audits are important for challenging the benchmarks you’ve set out in your safety management system. 

They’re really helpful for coming up with actionable steps you can take to improve your business’ safety, and can be used to: 

Document that your safety management system complies with legislation 

Test if your safety management system is achieving its objectives 

See if your safety management system is maintaining the performance criteria and the auditing system is effective 

Assess whether your organization has completed any previous modification compliance audits, when necessary 

Constantly improve your organization 

Benefits of Health and Safety Audit 

The major advantage of carrying out a health and safety audit is the identification of risks and provision of information that are necessary for their management.  

Also, this audit allows you to protect staff and clients from any potential harm. This results in the sustenance of the organization’s integrity since a serious accident could result in prosecutions, damage of reputation or financial losses.  

This further enhances productivity and reduces unnecessary costs.