Ahh! An Audit!!
Audit – a word that many people do not like hearing when it is linked to their business. However, there is no need to fear an audit and here are some reasons why.
An effective audit allows you (or your client) to understand how your business operates and if it is reaching its targets. It can also help provide you with evidence or solutions to help improve your company's operations, saving you time and money.
How do you know when it is the right time to audit your health and safety systems? Do you know what needs to be audited? Who should undertake the audit? How will it be done? – interview process, site checklist? Why does it need to be undertaken in the first place?
These are all relevant questions to consider if you use auditing to determine whether your systems work.
What or how much of your system is being audited?
Do you want to ensure that the training provided to staff is being used in the field?
Has an incident occurred that needs to be investigated?
Who is going to do the audit?
Have your staff been trained to know what to look for when reviewing the processes in the field?
Do they know how to report, the need to be unbiased, and the importance of the information they feed back to management?
When and how will it be undertaken?
Will it be after an incident?
At the being of each new project?
At the end of the project, debrief on how well the process worked and what could be done better in the future.
Is it a legal requirement as part of a contract with a Principal? If so, do you know exactly what they are looking for? You must ensure that you provide them with what they need, not what you think they want.
An audit does not have to be something a business fear. Instead, an audit should be considered a helpful business tool to help grow and develop your company. Safety Partners are available to develop audits that fit your business or your client's requirements. In addition, we can assist with training key staff to ensure these are done well and provide relevant data for analysis and review.