Introduction
During Q2 of 2025 Knox Thomas were contacted by the client following a referral from an existing client. The client had recently been acquired by a larger firm and required an understanding of health and safety compliance throughout their newly acquired sites. The objective was to confirm the general approach to management of safety, as well as observations of key risks present on site. A single site was chosen by the client for us to audit across two days; the idea being that it would provide an indication of general compliance standards across the wider group of sites.
As Principal Workplace Safety Consultant, Jon lead the audit, with Tom providing additional support throughout.
The Audit
Tom and Jon attended the client site in June 2025. Following an induction from the site manager, they were given a tour of the entire site in order to fully understand the nature and scope of operations carried out.
After this tour, Jon set out a custom strategy for the audit, in order to maximise efficiency on site and attain the salient and relevant information required to audit the site against criteria based on duties set out in the 1974 Act and Management of Health And Safety At Work Regulations 1999.
Following this Jon sat down with the site manager and their deputy to informally discuss their understanding of site health and safety management protocols and arrangements. Records such as risk assessment titles, training matrices, SOP libraries, as well as insurance documents and Health and Safety Policies were also requested and observed.
It’s important to note here that the idea of the audit is never to make auditees feel inferior, unsafe, placed under pressure or reprimanded. The aim is always to gain understanding of processes and behaviour in order to identify immediate shortfalls and areas for improvement.
After this interview, Jon carried out an in-depth review of the site; buildings, outbuildings, external areas, storage areas and offices were all inspected.
These findings were immediately documented with further inspection of the site carried out to verify findings.
To finish the on-site audit, both Jon and Tom carried out a joint site tour, discussing their personal observations- two sets of eyes are always better than one; with Toms’ Machinery-Safety mindset and Jons’ workplace Safety mindset, single environments and activities were perceived in varying ways, providing a holistic perception of observed risks.
These final observations were recorded by Jon after the final tour.
Before departing site, Jon held a closing meeting with senior site management to acknowledge their cooperation and provide immediate feedback on critical issues discovered, as well as high-level risks identified.
Within 24 hours of this visit, Jon had produced an executive audit report, and delivered it to the client.
The Findings
The audit found multiple failings, some of which required immediate action to rectify. These included:
- Damaged asbestos containing materials (ACMs) and potential ACMs,
- Employees leaving cremation burners doors open unattended for extended periods,
- A lack of signage and warning of hot surfaces, open burners, and other hazards,
- Poor housekeeping, storage of fuels (carboard boxes) in extremely close proximity to sources of heat and ignition (embers and burners),
- Poor COSHH controls; overwhelmed hazardous storage areas, damaged storage buildings, mixing of hazardous and non-hazardous substances, use of hazardous substance storage containers for non-hazardous materials,
- Little to no control of cross-contamination between operational and office areas,
- Damaged equipment, storage racking, and buildings,
- Unlocked high-voltage cabinets, accessed by untrained personnel.
The site manager was immediately notified of observations regarding asbestos and employees accessing high-voltage cabinets.
Other findings included incomplete training records, out of date inspections and testing, and lack of general management understanding of health and safety.
The Advice
Each of the 150 observations was accompanied by a suggestion for remedial action, following both the hierarchy of control and principles of prevention- ranging from removal of hazards, isolation measures, engineered controls, procedure, training, discipline, and PPE review and provision.
Following delivery of the report, Knox Thomas were requested by the client to provide assistance in delivering remedial action at site level, as well as carry out similar audits at their other UK sites.
Benefits of This Approach
This hyper-focussed approach to auditing delivers many benefits:
- Rapid identification of imminent risks and dangers.
- Holistic overview of site compliance covering key subjects and topics without getting bogged down in granular detail.
- Fast turnaround between first arrival and delivery of report.
- No-fuss approach maximises efficiency, no time is wasted.
- Observations are made from the moment the auditor exits their vehicle on arrival.
- Immediate reporting of imminent safety risks- no 6 week wait for a bombshell.
- Clear, to-the-point report avoids the fluff and gets straight into the salient detail which busy managers and directors need, in order to understand their compliance status, and what to do about it.
Safety Auditing with Knox Thomas
With a no-nonsense approach and rapid identification of key risks, plus pragmatic advice and genuine remedial assistance, it’s easy to see why the client was pleased with this service, and asked for repeat audits at 6 other locations in the UK.
To book your hyper-focussed one-day health and safety audit, get in contact today.
You could have your report on your desk within a week!
