How do Audits Deliver Results?

Audits are a part of everyday life.  In health and safety, they can be daunting to the people on the receiving end.  They often see the actions from audits as unrealistic and difficult to achieve.  If they try to put the actions into practice, they can be met with obstacles and hindrances.

So, in these tough economic times, why should businesses have a health and safety audit, and how can they make the audit achieve the desired results?

Why audit?

The Health and Safety Executive, define an audit as
“The structured process of collecting independent information on the efficiency, effectiveness and reliability of the total health and safety management system, and drawing up plans for corrective action.”
We audit for many reasons:

• to identify how well an organisation is managing health and safety
• to identify what needs to be done to improve, allowing the organisation to prioritise actions
• to create a baseline for all future comparisons
• to actively monitor and check performance.

Selecting auditors

Who should audit?  Internal audits can be good, because they are done by people who know the business, providing the people doing the audit are competent.  However, external audits are independent, and are likely to give a more accurate unbiased account of an organisation’s position.

If you are hiring an external auditor, check their qualifications and what experience they have in auditing similar companies.  What do they know about your organisation?  What is their reputation like?  Most important, how competent are they to audit your organisation?  Try not to fall into the trap that cost is important.  You get what you pay for!

Setting up the audit

So how should you audit?  First of all, audits must be tailored to the organisation being audited.  Generic audits do not work.

The auditor and the organisation being audited need to agree a scope of what the audit will cover before the audit takes place.  Tailoring an audit can make sure that the actions lead to key performance indicators that are suitable for the organisation.  It will also ensure a more “personal” touch to the audit.  The auditor should know who they are going to interview, and something about the organisation.

Management commitment to the audit and the resulting actions is vital, and this must be fed down to those involved in the audit from the start.

The audit

The auditor should avoid too many closed questions – open questions allow for more information to be obtained.  An auditor does not need to sit and read every document (they would be there all year!).  Auditors should sample relevant documents rather than viewing all of them.  They should also keep the language during the audit simple, so that everyone understands what is being said.  This can avoid confusion later on, when the organisation is trying to implement the action plan.

The report

So you’ve had the audit, and then the ‘dreaded’ audit report arrives.  The report should always be viewed positively: it will help your business prioritise and focus its resources.  It provides a useful record of performance, while creating a constructive cycle for improvement.  Most importantly, it makes managers aware of any problems for which they are ultimately responsible.  They can help enhance employer / employee relations.

If an audit report is written correctly, there is more chance of it being fully effective.  Audit reports should have the correct tone and language, and should avoid waffle and jargon while maintaining standards and saying what needs to be said.  Reports should be written positively whenever possible, in a format that is usable by the audited company.
Unfortunately audit reports are not always well received.  Too many actions can be deflating, and could mean the audit report gets filed away or binned, leading to a pointless exercise.  

Several years ago, System Concepts completed a detailed health and safety audit of a major client, identifying 75 actions they needed to take on ten sites.  The company then employed one of our consultants full time to help to implement these actions.  He had no previous experience with this company.  This had several benefits, as it:

• provided a clean sheet, and a fresh pair of eyes
• enabled the company to improve their health and safety management, moving from a local approach to a more joined up national structure
• allowed the company to standardise procedures and policies, instead of each site having its own systems
• identified small quick hits to show value from the start.

Action plans will create additional workloads, but, in the example above, we broke down all the actions into bite-size pieces, and shared the load.  Management can be brought-in by starting with easy actions to get the ball rolling.

Audits work

In summary, audits should be positive, tailored to the organisation, simple and jargon free, and comprehensive.  Audit reports should be easy to use, saying exactly what needs saying, and avoid unnecessary information and waffle.
In our example, all 75 actions were implemented within 18 months.  The benefits to the organisation are still being realised.  The company now has a nationwide health and safety system that works, instead of each office doing its own thing.

Good audits will affirm what your organisation is doing right, not just tell you what you are doing wrong.  They will identify ways for your business to increase efficiency and potentially save you money.  They should open an organisation’s eyes to previously unseen issues.

In short, health and safety audits achieve results.

System Concepts can audit your companies.  We can also provide on-site consultants to help you manage health and safety.  For further details, call us on 0207 240 3388, and we can discuss your requirements further.