Safecon lead Safety Auditing – Determining compliance of organisations !
Occupational health and safety (OHS) auditing is a term used to describe a wide range of assessments that can be undertaken for a variety of different purposes.
An OHS management system is a planned, documented and verifiable method of managing OHS hazards. What makes it a system is the deliberate linking and flow of processes that creates an intentional way of managing OHS matters.
Audits are conducted to determine the effectiveness of management systems and to identify the strengths and opportunities for improvements.
Compliance Auditing
An audit can be specific and undertaken to determine if workplace practices are meeting legislative requirements. Compliance auditing undertaken by inspectors is not a guarantee of a risk free workplace as a detailed examination of every hazard is not possible during an inspectors visit. The responsibility for ongoing effective health and safety management systems rests with workplace management.
The hazards addressed by inspectors during a compliance audit are determined by the workplace environment along with information obtained from statutory regulations and industry inpt.
The outcomes of compliance audits conducted by Safecon consultants give results that indicate if compliance is being achieved or if further actions are required to meet legislative standards.
Hazard Specific Auditing
Hazard specific audits address particular issues such as confined space entry, or working at heights and involve the inspection and testing of current workplace control methods. This type of audit has a narrow focus and looks at the effectiveness of policies and procedures in dealing with specific hazards.
These audits differ from compliance audits in that the standards set by the organisation to address a risk of injury may exceed legislative requirements. Many organisations use suitably qualified external providers to undertake these types of audits especially when hazardous tasks are being undertaken.
The Health & Safety At Work Act, 2005 requires that workplace health and safety officers (conduct a hazard based assessment of the workplace using criteria approved by best practice guidelines and statutory health and safety law.
We can conduct a risk assessment of your activities, procedures and operations or review your existing risk assessments, using a paper-based or web-enabled methodology.
Based on the classification of work activities, identification of hazards and determination of risk associated with each hazard, we can help you to define appropriate and efficient risk control strategies and help you reduce the risks.
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