Health and Safety Audit

Health and Safety Audits help improve process, efficiency, consistency, documentation, and importantly health and safety.

Health and safety  audits are important

A health and safety  audit has become an important element in the assurance environment of many organisations, and a valuable tool for managing risk more effectively. This applies to both the corporate and public sectors and small to medium businesses too. It is a valuable instrument for managing risk effectively and appropriately and  is an important function of any information security and compliance program.

It is important because it helps you to verify that your business processes reflect your documented policies and procedures. An external audit helps you locate areas where your business can save time and money by examining the day-to-day tasks of workers, and pointing out areas where improvement is possible.

Audits also identify areas of waste in a business, as well as fraudulent spending or improper transactions by employees.

Health and safety audit will help with:

  1. Providing independent assurance that an organisation’s risk management, governance, and internal control processes are operating effectively. External auditors, along with executive and non-executive management and external auditors, are a critical part of the top-level governance of any organisation.
  2. External auditing provides insight into an organisation’s culture, policies, procedures, and it assists board and management oversight by verifying internal controls such as operating efficiency, risk mitigation controls, and compliance with any relevant laws or regulations.
  3. A health and safety  audit can serve as a component of your risk review process which is a legal requirement.
  4. It assists board and management oversight by verifying internal controls such as operating efficiency, risk mitigation controls, and compliance with any relevant laws or regulations.
  5. Many companies have already discovered the potential that internal auditing can unlock in their business improvements, and have included internal auditing roles and functions in their businesses.
  6. This process may seem like a luxury to many small to medium-sized businesses.  The truth is that they can’t afford not to implement external auditing in your business.

What does the auditor do?

The audit is usually undertaken by a single auditor or with larger organisations and multiple sites a small team of auditors be involved who • plan the audit, produce a methodology to discuss and agree with your chief executive and arrange and lead the opening and closing meetings • request information, interview people, observe areas and work activities, and make informed judgments based on the evidence provided • produce a full, detailed report and summary overview outlining how and where expected legal standards have been achieved and best practice can be shared or where improvements still need to be made • agree on the action plan and timescales with the chief executive and sign off the actions once completed

As the Chief Executive or business owner what do I need to do?

You should approve the audit methodology in consultation with the auditor be available for interview, provide any necessary documents and attend the opening and closing meetings • you should let staff know that the audit will occur and that they may be interviewed • you should also identify key staff who should be involved • after the audit you should provide feedback on and accept the final report, share the findings with staff, and develop an action plan with your health and safety or operations manager • you should agree to this with the lead auditor and address the recommendations until all actions are signed off by the lead auditor  keep a record of the audit report and action plan until the next audit occurs, or until all the actions have been completed and signed off, or for at least three years - whichever is the longest.

The audit will help your business how?

The audit aims to: • give valuable information to each department or service by highlighting strengths and examples of good practice or innovative solutions. • identify the areas of greatest risk in each department, to enable local and central resources to be focused on these areas. • be flexible and objective (but not bureaucratic) in its approach. • The audit provides a simple bar chart overview that shows the school/ service’s performance against the audit question set, supported by a detailed explanatory report that can be fine-tuned to satisfy your needs. • help you by prioritising the topics on which you need more guidance, and listening to any issues you have to see how we can continuously improve the service we offer you.

How long will the audit take?

That depends on the size of the organisation. This question is best determined during the planning meeting.

What happens after the audit?

The health and safety auditor will ask the chief executive (supported by the health and safety or operations manager) to prepare a response to the report and discuss it with them before making a final decision. The health and safety or operations manager then helps the chief executive to develop an action plan and share the report findings with staff.

Summary:

    • Improve process efficiency, consistency, and documentation

    • Enhance productivity

    • Boost revenues and financial performance

    • Earn higher customer satisfaction ratings

    • Optimise supplier and partner relationships