Discussion on
Audits

Activities/Obligations

Having a regular workplace audit ensures that the appropriate systems are in place and functioning correctly.

You can think of an audit as a health check for your organisation.

Generally an audit will have a particular focus such as:

• health and safety;
• environment;
• equipment;
• chemicals;
• finances; etc.

If an external auditor is being used there may be information that needs to be conveyed to the auditor to help them be aware of any unique characteristics of your organisation or workforce (e.g. language, cultural considerations, etc).

Following an audit there may be actions that need to be taken to achieve the relevant standards.

Using The Software

With OSHatWork you can:

• record multiple audit tools (such as Safety Map) and the questions/checks in each - so that you can use the relevant one for each audit;
• develop an audit schedule - and set reminders to ensure that each audit is booked and the necessary preparations are made;
• categorise each audit (e.g. as a "health and safety" audit) so that you can list and report on all those of a similar type for instance;
• record the following for an audit and then produce a report which includes these details (perhaps to hand to the auditor in advance of the audit):
  • the plan, scope of work and objectives;
  • the work area(s), work task(s) and job(s) included in the audit;
  • any regulatory aspects you are aware of, and any health and safety, or risk, considerations;
  • any language, cultural/social or confidentiality/sensitivity issues;
• print an audit tool that lists the checks to be responded to and provides space for the results, comments, conclusions and recommendations;
• record during the audit (or after it if you prefer to initially handwrite audit data on a printed audit tool):
  • the result of each of the checks in the audit tool used (such as Safety Map);
  • an overall description of the outcome;
  • a rating for the degree of conformance;
  • specific conclusions and recommendations; and
  • any necessary corrective actions;
• produce a detailed report of an individual audit - which could be provided to all interested parties or tabled at a meeting held to discuss the outcomes of the audit;
• generate a list (in an on-screen viewer or in a printed report) of all audits matching specified criteria (e.g. for a specified auditor; in a particular date range; in a particular work area; for a particular work task; etc);
• receive reminders for the completion of actions arising from each audit.

More

A complete list of all the OSHatWork Guides is available here.