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  Audit Management  >  Health and Safety Management System Audit Checklist

Health and Safety Management System Audit Checklist

Health and Safety Management System Audit Checklist

Understand the importance of implementing a documented process of workforce health and safety

Health and Safety Management System Audit Checklist
Health and Safety Management System Audit Checklist video

Health and Safety Management System Audit Checklist

Review the safe work systems that have been established to conclude whether they meet both compliance and legislative requirements.
The safety and well-being of employees are the biggest issues employers are facing today. One of the ways employers and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) monitor the safety of the workforce is through “Audits”. Workplace health and safety (WHS) audits assess a workplace and identify any prevalent hazards in the organization that may put employees at risk.

Periodic workforce health and safety audits are conducted as an effective way of identifying workplace hazards. An ongoing process that needs to be undertaken periodically, these workplace health and safety audits are used to rate a company’s health and safety program, identify its strengths and weaknesses, and highlight areas that need improvements.

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What are the requirements of the office Health and Safety Management System Audit Checklist?

An office Health and Safety Management System Audit Checklist is a tool that helps the auditors to perform internal office audits to ensure the health and safety of the working environment. An office Health and Safety Management System Audit Checklist is critical in ensuring that an organization’s health and safety system is compliant with the standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). It is a systematic, formal, and documented review of workspace practices, procedures, and systems, including training, general housekeeping, and chemical and electrical safety. This internal audit checklist helps evaluate the official health system’s efficiency, reliability, and effectiveness. The Health and Safety Management System Audit Checklist ensures that the organization complies with OSHA regulations and standards to prevent workplace injuries, fatalities, or incidents.

There are three principal types of audits that businesses can undertake:

compliance audit

A Compliance Audit ensures the workplace does not have any recognized hazards and complies thoroughly with WHS standards.

program audit

A Program Audit helps verify if the necessary programs are in place to direct safety rules and regulations and reduce the number of safety incidents.

management system audits

Management Systems Audit is performed to evaluate management’s commitment to and the effectiveness of safety programs and their integration into safety culture.

  • compliance audit

    A Compliance Audit ensures the workplace does not have any recognized hazards and complies thoroughly with WHS standards.

  • program audit

    A Program Audit helps verify if the necessary programs are in place to direct safety rules and regulations and reduce the number of safety incidents.

  • management system audits

    Management Systems Audit is performed to evaluate management’s commitment to and the effectiveness of safety programs and their integration into safety culture.

Layered Process Audits 101

Layered Process Audits 101

How do office health and safety audit forms benefit the user?

To ensure the workplace is compliant with workplace health and safety (WHS) management systems and OSHA regulations, the following stakeholders can use the office health and safety audit form.

  • Health and Safety Assurance Personnel
  • Business Owners
  • Office Managers

The form includes a detailed description of all the health and safety measures that an organization takes to safeguard the health and safety of its employees. There are many benefits of WHS audits for workplace safety. Some of them are:

  • Highlight potential issues by identifying potential WHS problems and a chance to make changes before an incident occurs.
  • Promote employee awareness about the importance of safety in the workplace.
  • Improving company reputation by employing good health and safety policies and procedures that positively impact clients and suppliers.
  • Ensuring ongoing compliance to avoid severe penalties for lack of concern for the health and safety of its workers.
how office health and safety audit forms benefit user


Why does OSHA emphasize health and safety audits?

While safety and health programs lay the foundation to protect the health and safety of employees at the workplace, audits help bring more effectiveness to the program. Employers reap various benefits from effective safety and health programs, including

  • Reduced absenteeism

  • Lower workers’ compensation premiums and payments for medical treatment and disability

  • Favorable treatment from OSHA

  • Fewer and less serious hazards and thereby face reduced exposure to OSHA citations and penalties.

  • Eligible for limited scope inspections (in construction) and substantial penalty reductions for violations found in recognition of their good faith efforts.

role of OSHA 29 CFR 1910 in audits

What is the role of OSHA 29 CFR 1910 in audits?

The 29 CFR 1910, which has 20 subparts, are General Industry Standards established by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). While performing an internal audit, it is imperative to check procedures related to safety protocols mandated by the 29 CFR 1910 audit report. To ensure that the audit is thorough, answer all the OSHA CFR 29 part 1910 questions that are relevant to the facility provided in safety audit forms.

Are health and safety audits applicable to all industries?

Periodic health and safety audits should be performed by industries that fall under the purview of OSHA to ensure compliance with OSHA standards and to maintain a safe workplace. Industries including manufacturing, construction, mining, oil and gas pose significant risks to employees. While a health and safety program is mandated, a periodic review will ensure employees can trust their employers and strengthen the organization’s safety culture.

Are health and safety audits applicable to all industries
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How to Conduct a Safety Audit?

The process to conduct a Safety Audit is as follows:

  • At first, identify areas that should be audited. This helps set benchmarks and standards before the commencement of any audit.

  • Depending on the area of audit, different processes can be incorporated. However, every audit starts with a kick-off meeting that addresses the audit purpose and approach. This is followed by in-field observations and interviews, and evidence gathering.

  • A comprehensive report of the findings must be submitted to propel the management to address the areas that need improvement or focus. The report is submitted in a tabular format with diagrams, graphs, and photos that can be easily understood.

  • Set the frequency of audits. This is dependent on the size of the organization and the nature of the business. For example, construction sites may need more such audits. The frequency is also dependent on the area of work.

  • The auditor documents the findings and results to help address gaps in compliance, risks, and other discrepancies.

  • The audit is considered complete only after addressing the issues or concerns listed in the audit report. The findings can be of three categories – non-compliance, observation, and opportunity for improvement. Having an audit action plan will help address these findings in a timely and organized manner.

How can users benefit from ComplianceQuest’s next-generation Audit Management solution?

A manual system slows down the process of safety audit as the time taken is too long to close the loop on safety issues, which in turn adds to the safety and quality-related costs. ComplianceQuest Audit Management Software helps businesses build a scalable, flexible, and configurable audit management workflow. With the next-generation audit management solution, organizations can

  • Effectively plan internal and external audit that enables promptness in audit performance.

  • Identify EHS hazards and gaps in safety and health programs in real-time and take CAPA for continuous improvement.

  • Help organizations with audit planning and remain compliant with various regulations, including OSHA 29 CFR 1910, by implementing an EHS policy and objectives.

  • Improve data visibility for safety leaders

Audit Management Benefits

  • Drive insights that can be used to predict future performance with analytics for better and faster safety and sustainability decisions.

  • Integrate overall business processes within the enterprise

  • Maintain the continual improvement of an EHS management system maintenance.

  • Protect employee health and performance while enabling environmental transparency, sustainability, and performance.

  • Effectively plan internal and external audit that enables promptness in audit performance.

  • Drive insights that can be used to predict future performance with analytics for better and faster safety and sustainability decisions

  • Identify EHS hazards and gaps in safety and health programs in real-time and take CAPA for continuous improvement.

  • Integrate overall business processes within the enterprise

  • Help organizations with audit planning and remain compliant with various regulations, including OSHA 29 CFR 1910, by implementing an EHS policy and objectives.

  • Maintain the continual improvement of an EHS management system maintenance

  • Improve data visibility for safety leaders

  • Protect employee health and performance while enabling environmental transparency, sustainability, and performance.

How can an organisation benefit from using ComplianceQuest EHS Audit Management Software?

ComplianceQuest’s environment health safety (EHS) audit software offers an overview of the various compliance programs and identifies gaps that can minimize the organization’s overall risk. The highly integrated software also protects the health and safety of workers and simplifies regulatory compliance by managing internal audits, monitoring and scheduling report generation, and data aggregation for internal and external EHS audits. With the help of CQ’s EHS audit system, businesses can easily recognize existing or potential risks or hazards in any effective safety and health program.

CQ’s EHS audit software provides a comprehensive approach to the audit schedule various features. Some of them are:

automated email alerts

Automated email alerts and notifications for anytime anywhere access

perform remote audits

Perform remote audits using a mobile phone or a tablet, plan, schedule, perform and publish safety audit reports across the organization at ease.

audit plan

Create an audit plan by customizing various parameters such as audits forms, safety inspection checklist, and templates to meet the organization’s workplace safety requirements.

publish review audit reports

Publish and review audit reports with approval workflows

Outstanding execution and solution coverage

We implemented this software where I work and have been overall happy with the outcome. After taking a day or two workings to learn the software, you’ll never want to go back to your old ways! There’s also a huge library of training videos provided with the subscription, and an easy to use ticket portal. Moving to CQ HSE was worth the effort and will pay for itself within the year, but what really matters is that we have a fully functional HSE software that can grow and evolve with the business. The mobile features and real-time data capture provides great accessibility to the HSE program for all levels of staff.

Andre Perrault,
Manager, Health Safety & Environment

Altex Energy logo
Altex Energy logo

Complete health and safety management system audit checklist

There are three principal types of audits that businesses can undertake:

  • Compliance audit ensures that the workplace is free from recognized hazards and complies with all WHS standards.
  • Program audit helps verify that the necessary programs are in place to dictate safety rules and regulations and reduce the number of safety incidents.
  • Management systems audits help evaluate the effectiveness of management’s commitment to safety programs and their integration into safety culture.

To strengthen the safety culture and improve employee performance through accessible reporting and effective management, ComplianceQuest has prepared a comprehensive audit checklist template. Having an Health and Safety Management System Audit Checklist will assist organizations in their health & safety journey. The Health and Safety Management System Audit Checklist can be used as a situational analysis tool for organizations implementing health & safety practices for the first time or as a performance indicator by organizations already following them. This virtual Health and Safety Management System Audit Checklist aims to provide:

  • Reassurance where health and safety best practices are being complied with
  • Assurance that employee health and safety are being managed.

To download, click here.

Manage your entire audit lifecycle with ComplianceQuest’s audit management software for flexible, scalable and configurable workflow

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • To gather relevant and timely data on areas of risk, companies must conduct timely health and safety audits. These audits help improve health and safety in the enterprise and reduce the costs of avoidable illness and injury. WHS audits can be conducted by internal employees or an external resource. The auditor will be given complete access to the workspace to conduct a thorough audit.

  • OSHA regulations are becoming increasingly complex and expansive, which needs a holistic system to keep track of all regulatory and compliance needs. ComplianceQuest offers an H&S management solution that enables seamless management of an organization’s complete H&S program through a range of intuitively integrated tools and applications.

    • Consolidate data from various company locations into a single system of record. This helps streamline data collection, improve data retrieval time, and simplify reporting for internal and external stakeholders.

    • Automate audit planning, scheduling, and alerts to identify, record, and mitigate hazards efficiently

    • Use EHS audit software to can generate quality audit reports instantly

    • Manage audit data and processes from quality to EHS and compliance while reducing time and effort

    • Achieve a holistic view of organizational performance and compliance through standardized report templates, reporting dashboards, and scorecards.

    • Decrease audit costs by standardizing the assessment of regulatory compliance across the organization

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