To ensure the safety and wellbeing of all individuals involved, it is essential to perform regular Health and Safety Audits and implement a comprehensive safety audit checklist.
For any organisation, prioritising the wellbeing of employees in the workplace is essential to enhancing productivity, maintaining high morale, and ensuring a safe environment. However, as an organisation that relies on contractors and suppliers, you face significantly greater risks due to workers being unfamiliar with the workplace and your expectations.
A Health and Safety Audit is a thorough assessment of your organisation’s health and safety policies, processes, procedures and systems. Its primary goal is to identify gaps and provide actionable steps to mitigate risks and hazards in the workplace. By conducting regular audits, you can continuously improve your health and safety practices and maintain a safe environment for everyone.
This depends on the type of workplace:
High risk industries (manufacturing, construction etc) may require monthly or quarterly audits.
Low risk workplaces (retail, offices etc) may require annual or biannual audits.
In all workplaces, an audit should always take place after major accidents or any regulatory changes.
A health and safety audit ensures compliance with health and safety laws, identifies potential hazards and risks and leads to the implementation of corrective actions. This reduces accidents and injuries whilst improving the overall safety culture in the workplace.
If a workplace fails an audit, it is imperative that corrective actions take place to address the deficiencies. Overlooking non-compliance can lead to legal penalties/fines, increased accidents, poor employee morale and potential shutdowns or restrictions.
A Health and Safety Audit should be conducted by internal Health & Safety Officers, external consultants or Regulatory Inspectors to ensure compliance and workplace safety. Trained management teams can also oversee audits and implement safety measures.
Yes! Every workplace has its own unique risks, so checklists should be customised to suit industry-specific needs, regulatory obligations and operational hazards.
Our Health and Safety Audit Checklist covers several key areas of concern, helping you establish a process that guarantees the highest standards of health and safety in your organisation:
Ensure employees receive proper training on the correct use and maintenance of PPE, helping prevent accidents and injuries.
Regularly check and maintain dangerous machinery to minimise the risks associated with their use.
Ensure equipment used for tasks at heights is regularly checked, employees are trained on its safe use, and weight restrictions are adhered to.
Maintain a safe working environment for tasks involving heavy goods, including properly functioning ramps, platforms, and loading arms.
Establish clear evacuation procedures, ensure working fire extinguishers are readily available, and raise awareness among employees about fire emergency protocols.
Implement safety procedures and provide adequate lighting to protect employees from electrical hazards.
Implement appropriate procedures for handling and storing hazardous substances, providing necessary equipment and training to employees.
Develop and regularly review emergency response plans. Conduct drills and ensure everyone in the workplace are trained to handle various workplace emergencies effectively.
Regular health and safety audits are essential to maintaining compliance with relevant regulations and standards. A Health and Safety Audit Checklist helps you establish a schedule for conducting audits, depending on the risk level of your organisation and industry-specific requirements. By regularly monitoring your workplace, you can identify potential areas of improvement, rectify dangers and avoid legal fines. This proactive approach not only keeps your contractors safe but also safeguards your organisation from potential risks and legal consequences.
Using a contractor management system like Heresafe is instrumental in maintaining a safe working environment.
The Heresafe platform allows organisations to share, request and track all safety-related documents, including audit reports, competencies, risk assessments, training and induction records. This centralised documentation system ensures that all necessary information is readily available during safety audits, making it easier to assess and track compliance. Additionally, Heresafe enables seamless communication, allowing for real-time updates and notifications regarding safety concerns or protocol changes.
Permit To Work Process
Heresafe’s Digital Permit to Work system ensures PPE and Risk Assessment checks related to these high risks works are completed. It offers a Permit Audit and Check feature for easy on-site auditing and documentation. Snap and attach images from any device to securely store necessary information. Heresafe’s permissions and workflows ensure only competent users can issue permits, preventing shortcuts and maintaining compliance. Detailed audit activity log provides visibility and traceability for accountability and regulatory compliance.
Real-Time Dashboards and Risk Mitigation
Heresafe’s real-time dashboards enable organisations to monitor the status of contractors, permits and safety protocols at a glance. Early identification of potential issues, upcoming work schedules and automated alerts play a vital role in mitigating risks and ensuring the overall safety of the workforce. This proactive approach minimises the chances of accidents, helps organisations avoid legal consequences and fosters a safer working environment for everyone involved.
Compliant Onboarding: Safety Training and Induction
Heresafe’s onboarding platform serves as an ideal tool for conducting safety training and inductions for contractors and even in-house teams. Incorporating safety audit checklists into the training modules ensures that contractors receive comprehensive safety training and understand the specific safety protocols associated with their tasks and work locations. This streamlined approach to safety training during onboarding sets a strong foundation for contractors, helping them understand and prioritise safety from day one.
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