The Importance of an Internal Health and Safety Audit Checklist

An audit checklist helps your inspection team stay on top of every aspect of the workplace by outlining responsibilities, controlling activities and recording results of inspection. A health and safety audit checklist also serves to highlight any oversights in regards to inspection.

Safety audit checklists that meet industry standards cover people, equipment and environment in addition to providing an opportunity for interviewing employees who know about the work process.

Safety Policies and Procedures
When conducting an audit on your health and safety standards at work, it’s essential that both documents and physical inspections be reviewed. Document review includes looking over any policies related to your business; physical exams include taking a walkthrough around your workplace or interviewing staff to assess whether those policies are being upheld in practice.

Use of a checklist can make this process more efficient, as it ensures all relevant aspects of the business are examined thoroughly and that critical findings are recorded correctly. Furthermore, using this method makes it simpler to monitor corrective action plans and remind staff about upcoming audits.

Participating department leaders, management and shop floor workers in an internal audit is highly recommended as their involvement will have an immediate effect on its success and can offer invaluable insights. Involvement also increases likelihood that people take seriously its results.

Safety Training
EHS audits enable businesses to ensure that their workplace is safe and healthy for employees while decreasing the likelihood of failing a formal inspection by an HSE officer.

Content included in a safety audit checklist must be tailored specifically to each industry; however, there are certain essential steps that all health and safety audits should cover.

Example of Checklist Items for Staff. Checklist should assess if all personnel have been provided with adequate training in handling dangerous equipment or materials and assess if work areas are free from obstructions and fire precaution measures are in place.

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Safety Equipment
Safety equipment is a vital element of any workplace and must be regularly checked to ensure it’s in working condition. Recording all inspections as well as information about how each piece of equipment is utilized and reduced risk will assist your business during formal health and safety audits and policy updates.

Information included in your internal health and safety audit checklist will depend upon your industry, but EHS software enables you to create a customized checklist that covers all relevant criteria for your business and offers mobile on-the-go access, making auditing simpler while helping ensure compliance with regulations and standards. Keep an eye out for features like image attachment, feedback management, automated reports to simplify audit processes while meeting compliance with regulations and standards.

Safety Signs and Markings
Safety signs are easily recognized graphic labels that send a clear and direct message to employees about potential hazards, specific actions or instructions to take, specific equipment requirements or restrictions, prohibited actions and the presence of first aid facilities – just to name a few.

Safety signs come in various colors to signal specific messages; blue safety signs typically signal mandatory measures while yellow ones warn workers about hazardous conditions, such as the presence of flammable liquids or hazardous gases.

Digital health and safety audit templates can help companies reduce the need for third-party safety contractors by giving in-house teams the tools needed for conducting inspections themselves. Plus, these apps allow for cloud storage with custom permission settings so only authorized personnel are able to view or alter audit results.

Safety Hazards
An effective health and safety audit helps prevent workplace injuries or illnesses by providing assurance that essential safety procedures are being properly implemented in the workplace. A proper checklist for conducting health and safety audits will allow employers to be sure essential safety procedures are being executed correctly in their place of work.

An employer conducting a health and safety audit should take into account potential hazards posed by chemicals, hazardous materials and fire. They should review procedures in place for storing and disposing of these substances.

Audits should involve conducting a physical inspection of the premises to verify that equipment is safe and in working condition, employee housekeeping issues or potential risks like spilled liquid or debris that could threaten employee health, and have sufficient emergency supplies should a significant incident arise.