Safety Audit Guide: Planning and Conducting an OSH Audit
This safety audit guide explains how to plan an occupational safety audit, define appropriate criteria, gather objective evidence, report findings and follow actions through to effective resolution.
What Is a Safety Audit?
A safety audit is a systematic examination against defined criteria. Depending on its purpose, an audit may examine a management system, specific process, internal requirement or other established criteria.
Define the Audit Objective and Scope
Clarify why the audit is being conducted, what activities or locations are included and the period or organizational boundaries that apply.
Establish Audit Criteria
Identify the policies, procedures, standards, contractual requirements or other criteria against which evidence will be evaluated. Avoid creating findings against requirements that were never established.
Gather Objective Evidence
Use appropriate interviews, observations, records and document review. Audit evidence should support findings and distinguish verified facts from assumptions.
Write Clear Audit Findings
State the relevant criterion, evidence and identified gap clearly enough for the organization to understand the issue and respond appropriately.
Follow Corrective Actions
Assign and track actions according to the organization’s process. Significant findings may require analysis of causes rather than correction of the immediate example alone.
Audit for Improvement, Not Paperwork
An audit should provide useful evidence about how systems function. Documentation is important, but effective auditing also considers implementation and relevant workplace practice.
