Health and safety audits are essential to any business, but they can be tricky if you’re not sure what you’re doing. Here’s a quick guide on carrying out a health and safety audit in your workplace.

What is a health and safety audit template?

Before we start, an H&S audit template is used by auditors to help assess an organisation’s compliance with health and safety regulations. The template typically includes a checklist of items that need to be evaluated and space for the auditor to make notes on their findings.

Step 1- Gather Documentation

The first step in a health and safety audit is gathering all the relevant documentation. This includes the company’s health and safety policy, risk assessments, and safety procedures. You’ll also need to collect data on things like accidents and incidents, as well as any information on near-misses. This data will help you to identify any potential hazards and risks in the workplace.
Once you have all the necessary documentation, the next step is to start your audit.

Step 2 – Fact-Finding and Research

Fact-finding and research are essential components of any health and safety audit. This is the stage where you will gather all the information you need to assess your workplace’s health and safety risks.
There are a few different ways you can go about doing this. You can interview employees, observe work processes, and review company documents. You can also use data from accidents and incidents to identify potential hazards.
Once you have gathered all the necessary information, you can start identifying the risks in your workplace. This will help you develop a plan to address these risks and improve the health and safety of your workplace.

Step 3 – Review the Results of the Audit

After you have completed your health and safety audit, a few safety audit questions need to be answered. Also, it is essential to review the results to identify any improvement areas. Here are some tips on how to check the results of your audit:

• Compare the audit results to the company’s health and safety policy. Are there any areas that need improvement?
• Identify any trends in the results of the audit. Are there any recurring problems?
• Discuss the results of the audit with the management team. What are their thoughts on the findings?
• Make a plan of action to address any areas of improvement identified in the audit. This plan should be reviewed and updated regularly.

Step 4 – Recommendations

Now that you have collected your data, it is time to make recommendations. This is where you will take all the information you have gathered and use it to create a plan of action.

There are a few things to keep in mind when making your recommendations:

1. Be realistic – do not try to solve all the problems at once, or you will become overwhelmed. Prioritise the issues and work on them one at a time.
2. Be specific – general suggestions will not be helpful. Make sure your recommendations are transparent and actionable.
3. Involve others – do not try to do everything yourself. Delegate tasks to others and get their input on your recommendations.
4. Create a timeline – do not leave your recommendations as vague ideas. Make sure to put a timeline in place so that you can track your progress.
5. Have a backup plan – things will not always go according to plan, so make sure you have a backup plan in place if something goes wrong.
6. Review by type in each location – review the standard documents required in each location by type. When doing this, the location-specific element, e.g. Asbestos, and how this could require extra documentation, monitoring or protection. 

Once you have made your recommendations, it is time to implement them. This is where the real work begins, and staying focused and on track is essential. Remember to involve others in the implementation process, and do not be afraid to ask for help if you need it.

Step 5 – Corrective Actions

After you have completed your health and safety audit and identified any areas of concern, it is time to take corrective action. This may involve changing your policies and procedures, providing additional team member training, or taking other steps to mitigate your identified risks.

The corrective actions you take will depend on the specific findings of your audit. But whatever steps you take, you should make sure that they are documented and that you have a plan to monitor the effectiveness of the corrective actions. This will help you ensure that your health and safety policies and procedures are always up-to-date and effective.

Step 6 – Publish the Results

After you have collected all of the data from your health and safety audit, it is time to compile the results into a report. This report will be used to identify areas where your company needs to improve its health and safety practices. It is essential to be as detailed as possible in your report, as this will help ensure that your company makes the necessary changes to improve its health and safety procedures.

Once you have compiled your audit results, you will need to publish them. The best way to do this is to create a document that can be distributed to all employees. This document should include a summary of the results and a list of specific recommendations for improvement. By publishing your audit results, you will be able to ensure that your company is taking the necessary steps to improve its health and safety procedures.

Health and safety audit is essential to conduct health and safety audits regularly to ensure that risks are adequately managed.