The Proper Way to Conduct a Safety Audit

While we have seen a reduction in workplace fatalities and safety incidents over the years, they are still alarmingly common.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 5,486 workers were killed on the job in 2022. This represents a 5.7% increase from the previous year, meaning that this figure is not only tragic, but an indicator of a worrisome trend.

It’s not only fatal incidents that are on the rise. The same year saw an increase in occupational injuries (4.5%) along with a spike in reported illnesses (26.1%).

Employers need to do their part to curb these trends. These numbers could be lower, and it’s our duty to make each year safer than the last, rather than the other way around.

The majority of these incidents could have been mitigated or entirely prevented by taking the right safety measures. That includes regular safety audits, as well as using checklists and implementing systems to ensure the success of those audits.

What Is a Safety Audit?

A safety audit is a structured, methodical of how workplace activities affect safety and health. Conducting these audits help organizations evaluate the success of their safety and health programs, environmental programs, and process safety management.

The primary goal of a safety audit is to evaluate compliance with safety regulations and the overall performance of the safety program.

Safety Audits Vs. Safety Inspections

While audits and inspections are often discussed in the same breath, the two concepts are distinct. Safety audits and safety inspections are both valuable tools, but they are different processes with different aims.

Scope

Safety inspections quite limited in their scope. They are targeted and localized assessment. They tend to focus on one particular hazard, a single work task, or one area of the workplace.

Safety audits are take a broader, big picture look at a company’s safety program and its performance. It’s an attempt to take stock of safety at an organizational level, rather than pinpoint specific safety issues in the workplace.

Frequency

Safety inspections should be carried out frequently. Various aspects of a given job, the equipment used to carry out, and the work environment should be subject to regular inspections to swiftly identify and correct hazards.

Due to their broad scope, safety audits are carried out far less frequently. Typically, the audits will take place once a year. However, larger companies, companies struggling with compliance issues, and those operating in high-risk industries may opt for biannual or quarterly safety audits.

Auditors and Inspectors

Safety inspections are typically carried out by an internal team. Typically, the responsibility falls to the company’s safety department or its dedicated safety committee.

While audits can be conducted internally, some companies will prefer to hire external auditors to assess their safety performance. Third party auditors can be brought in to eliminate bias, ensure that the auditors are skilled and experienced, or at the demand of shareholders.

(See 6 Steps to Prepare for Unexpected OSHA Visits for related reading)

The Benefits of Conducting Safety Audits

The main benefit of conducting regular safety audits is to ensure the continuous improvement of the organization’s health and safety procedures.

Safety audits can also:

Identify Overlooked Risks in the Workplace

Conducting a thorough inspection of the worksite can reveal hazards that have not been adequately controlled, new risks that have been introduced since the safety policies were last updated, and potentially hazardous wear and tear that should be dealt with.

Provide an Updated Assessment of Risk Levels

The severity of known hazards can change over the course of time. Ageing machinery and old infrastructure can become riskier and require more maintenance as the years pass. Environmental hazards that were previously considered minor can become serious concerns as high heat, wildfire smoke, and heavy storms increase in severity and frequency. New equipment and changes to the worksite’s layout can also increase the level of risk.

A complete safety audit will assess all of these factors and more.

Identify Strengths and Weaknesses in Safety Processes and Procedures

Taking the pulse of your safety program will help you identify areas that should be targeted for improvement. It will also highlight your safety strengths, which can provide insights into what works and whether those successful strategies can be applied to other aspects of the safety program.

Make Recommendations for Improvements

A safety audit isn’t simply a run-down of safety issues on the worksite and the limitations of existing controls. It also provides specific recommendations for correcting hazardous conditions (e.g. better ventilation to dissipate fumes), improving existing safety policies (e.g. more robust heat stress protocols), and fostering a stronger safety culture among the workforce (e.g. instituting a safety mentorship program).

Ensure That Adequate Resources Are Devoted to Safety

If the safety program is constrained by its limited budget, it’s worth considering whether greater investments are needed. Improving your safety performance might require, for instance, better PPE, upgraded safety software, more employee training, or additional safety personnel.

Assess Whether the Company and Its safety Program Are Compliant with Safety Regulations

A thorough review of the safety management system and the worksite will also compare the policies and the on-the-ground conditions with applicable safety regulations. The goal is to ensure that the workplace is fully compliant, remedy any compliance issues that arise, and anticipate upcoming regulatory changes.

How to Conduct a Proper Safety Audit

There are six steps that are essential to the success and effectiveness of workplace safety audits.

Step 1: Prepare for the Audit

• Prior to conducting the safety audit, inform all managers and supervisors so that all of the necessary documents, records, and procedures are readily available when the audit begins
• Review past audits and their recommendations for corrective action, as well as the legal requirements and training requirements for the specific programs or areas to be audited
• Determine the scope of the audit
• Set a timeline for conducting the audit
• Create an audit checklist to ensure that every aspect of the safety program and the worksite are evaluated

Step 2: Initial Research and Fact-finding

• For team-based auditing, give assignments to each member of the team and clearly define the area they will be auditing to ensure that they gather all the applicable information
• Audits should be broken down into the following areas:
  1. Employee knowledge
  2. Written program review (to compare the company’s program to federal requirements for hazard identification, hazard control, record keeping, and employee training)
  3. Program administration (to check the implementation and management of specific program requirements)
  4. Record and document review (to check for missing or incomplete documents or records)
  5. Equipment and material (to determine their applicability in controlling hazards for the specific program)
  6. General area walkthrough

Step 3: Review the Findings

• Combine all of the data obtained to formulate a concise report. Emphasis should be placed on these four basic questions:
  1. Does the program cover all regulatory and best industry practice requirements?
  2. Are the program requirements being met?
  3. Is there documented proof of compliance?
  4. Is employee training effective?
• Address each program requirement taking note of all deficiencies

Step 4: Make Recommendations Based on the Data Obtained

• For each deficiency noted, develop recommended actions
• Prioritize the risk controls using the hierarchy of hazard control

(Learn more about The Hierarchy of Hazard Controls.)

Step 5: Take Corrective Action

• Involve the managers and supervisors who will be responsible for executing the corrections
• Assign a completion and review date to all corrective actions to be implemented
• Set priorities based on level of hazard
• Review the records of completed corrective actions through the normal management chain and ensure that these records are filed for use during the next workplace safety audit

Step 6: Publish the Results

• Make the basic findings and recommendations of the safety audit available to all managers and supervisors
• It is also important to acknowledge those departments who are properly executing their responsibilities

Why Use a Safety Audit Checklist

A checklist might seem like an overly simple tool for tackling something as large and comprehensive as a safety audit. But it’s precisely the complexity of the audit that makes a checklist essential. A well-prepared checklist streamlines the audit process, breaks it down into manageable steps, and ensures that nothing gets overlooked.

Here are some of the benefits of using a checklist when conducting your safety audit.

Provides a Roadmap for the Auditors

Working through a checklist gives each auditor a clear idea of which tasks they have to carry out. If the checklist is properly organized, it will also guide them through each step in a logical order. This makes the process far more efficient, with less time wasted.

Ensures a More Thorough Audit

There are many elements to consider, inspect, and assess when doing a safety audit. A checklist gives you the assurance that you’ve covered them all.

Acts as a Template for Your Audit

Existing checklists can be used as templates when designing your safety audit.

Going through checklists from previous years or consulting audit checklists from other organizations can be a good starting point when planning your audit. It can also show you whether any components are missing from your audit that should be added before the process begins.

Streamlines Documentation and Recordkeeping

Using a checklist means you’re essentially documenting the audit as it’s being carried out, rather than simply preparing a report after the fact.

Consulting completed checklists can also save time and reduce errors when putting together the audit report.

Encourages Consistency

Working off the same checklist means the auditors will not only follow the same procedure, but record their findings in a similar fashion as well.

This consistency and uniformity makes compiling disparate reports less of a headache, removes unnecessary confusion, and allows you to compare results more easily.

The Bottom Line

Workplace safety audits assess whether safety management systems are operating as they should. More often than not, workplace injuries and accidents are the outcomes of minor issues that could have been identified by conducting workplace safety audits. Audits protect both employees and the organizations by reducing injuries, lowering operating costs, and increasing productivity.