There are many reasons why you might carry out an internal safety compliance audit- from benchmarking the adoption of internal procedures, to identifying hazards, or assessing your legal compliance.
How do you do this though? Wander around with a clipboard and say what you see? Take each individual SOP onto the shop floor and quiz the team on their understanding?
Luckily, no. There’s a far better way- one that ensures you ask the right questions, get a genuine indication of site performance, and generate meaningful, actionable insights.
In this article, I’ll break down the key audit process steps, following a simple Plan, Do, Check, Act framework.
Plan
Every good safety compliance audit starts with preparation. Planning is where you determine your objectives, scope, and approach- and set yourself up for a thorough, structured, and insightful audit.
Define the Scope
Start by identifying what you’re auditing and why. Are you checking general compliance with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, or reviewing specific areas such as PUWER or LOLER compliance?
You’ll also need to decide whether you’re auditing a single department, a specific process, or the entire site- however this may be dictated by accident trends or stakeholder interests. Also consider time constraints- a broader site or compliance overview may be more practical if time is limited.
Identify Who’s Involved
Think about who will help facilitate the audit- they may need to be notified of the audit taking place well in advance to ensure their diary is free, that operations are not going to be impacted by the audit, or to ensure activities are indeed operational rather than at a standstill due to cleaning or maintenance downtime.
People you may need to liaise with could include:
- Site guides or supervisors to show you around, if you’re unfamiliar with the area.
- Department heads or team leaders to answer detailed questions.
- Key stakeholders such as risk managers, health and safety coordinators, or those responsible for risk assessments and safe systems of work.
Make sure everyone understands their role and that you’ve arranged time with those you’ll need to speak to.
Gather Key Documentation
Before starting your audit in earnest, prepare a list of the documents you’ll need to review. This may include:
- Policies, procedures and work instructions
- Risk assessments and method statements
- Accident reports and KPIs
- Training records
- Maintenance and inspection reports
Organising this early avoids wasted time and ensures your audit is thorough.
Prepare Your Checklist
Once you know what you’re auditing, you can compile your checklist. It may be a standard checklist for a general H&S audit, however you may also need to add questions relating to specific machine safety standards or hazards.
Within the checklist, it’s a good idea to group your questions by theme, such as training, documentation, or risk control measures, and identify who they’ll be directed to. This ensures a logical flow and avoids duplication once you’re on-site. If using Excel, you can also filter your questions by these categories, which will avoid ping-ponging around the question set.
Do
This is where the planning pays off. It’s time to carry out your audit in a structured but flexible way, staying observant and curious.
Engage and Communicate
Begin by sitting down with those involved to explain your objectives and approach. Clarify the scope of the audit, methodology, and expected outcomes. You might also start with some introductory questions to gauge general awareness before delving into detail.
Conduct the Site Tour
When on-site:
- Take photos and notes. Often I take more photos than notes; they’re a simple memory prompt that I can refer back to, and quicker than taking notes. This being said, if you’re embracing the modern age and are taking a tablet PC around with you, you may be able to insert pictures directly into your ‘notepad’, allowing you to do both.
- Observe working practices, behaviours, and environmental conditions. This can come across as scary to shop-floor workers or others who are simply getting on with their work. It’s polite to let them know why you’re there, what you’re doing, and that they aren’t in trouble!
- Stick to protected walkways and don’t use phones, tablets or take notes while eon stairs or crossing roads.
- Don’t be afraid to open cupboards, look behind guards, and inspect equipment- as long as you have permission and competence to do so.
- Always wear the appropriate PPE- you’re setting the example to others.
While checklists are useful, don’t let them restrict your process or natural curiosity. It can be cumbersome to swipe your way through a touchscreen or flick through pages of printed checklists, while also trying to keep up with information you’re being told, or simply making useful observations. It also reduces your perception of the hazards around you, so can actually be dangerous. Make brief notes and later match them to your checklist once back at your desk.
Check
Once the site tour is complete, it’s time to review and compile your findings.
Record and Assess
Transfer your notes into your audit document. Categorise each observation as compliant, non-compliant, or opportunity for improvement. Attach photos where relevant and note supporting evidence.
Rate the Risks
Supercharge your audit by assigning a risk rating to each issue, combining the likelihood and severity to prioritise corrective actions. This helps everyone understand where to focus effort first and gives an overall audit score.
Get Back Out There
It’s likely that in the course of typing up your notes, you’ve found gaps in your understanding, or questions you’ve failed to answer. At this point you should derive a way of highlighting these questions, then get back onto the site to get the answers.
Summarise the Results
Readers and stakeholders want to know the facts, what they need to focus on, as quickly as possible- so summarising your findings into an audit report is essential.
A good audit report should balance both the positives and negatives, so highlight strong practices and compliance areas as well as shortcomings. However, where there’s an imminent or serious risk, report it immediately to management rather than waiting for the final report.
Consider presenting your findings visually, for instance, using a dashboard showing:
- Number of questions asked
- Number of non-compliances
- Percentage compliance per category
This makes results easy to interpret and encourages engagement.
Act
An audit is a pointless endeavour if there is no action or follow up. Chances are if you’re doing an audit internally, you’ll have some influence over how this manifests itself. Here are some tips.
Hold a Close-Out Meeting
After your audit, have a closing meeting with those involved. Thank them for their time and inform them of the key non-compliances you’ve identified. This adds weight to your priority findings and gives them a head start on remedial action.
Create an Action Plan
Turn your findings into a clear, trackable action plan or tracker. Each action should have:
- A clear description
- A responsible person
- A target completion date
Follow Up
Set a review date to check progress. This ensures issues are addressed, not forgotten- and it completes the continuous improvement cycle central to the Plan-Do-Check-Act model.
Make It Easier with Knox Thomas
Running a compliance audit can be time-consuming and complex; especially if you’re juggling it with day-to-day operations- yet it is a valuable means of proactively managing workplace safety.
That’s where Knox Thomas can help. We can perform a tailored safety compliance audit on your behalf. Whether you want a full compliance benchmark, a machinery conformity review, or simply a health and safety MOT for your workplace, we can step in before the HSE does and give you additional peace of mind.
Our consultants can complete the audit in under two days, with a comprehensive report by the end of the week, detailing:
- Key strengths and good practices
- Identified hazards and non-compliances
- Improvement opportunities and recommended actions
You’ll have a clear, prioritised roadmap for compliance and safety improvement- saving you time, stress, and potential enforcement action.
Ready to take control of your compliance? Book your safety audit with Knox Thomas today.
Top tips:
- Build your checklist in Microsoft Excel or similar software so you can categorise questions and track responses easily. This will also ensure cross-compatibility between your devices and those who may be required to review the audit.
- Explain to auditees that this isn’t a finger-pointing exercise, but an opportunity to identify ways to work more safely and also discover good practices being carried out.
- Take your time. It’s easy to immediately start looking for problems or become distracted.
- Cupboards, lockers, cabinets and boxes are great at telling you all about COSHH compliance, housekeeping, PPE controls, welfare, tooling, and many other factors and concerns that you’re likely to be addressing at some point in your audit.
