Posted By stephen d clarke
Hi,
IMHO an audit is simply a formalised, documented system designed to determine the effectiveness of an organisation's health and safety systems. It can be carried out by personnel internal or external to the organisation and will typically look at documentation, records, interview staff and observe premises/work/equipment. It usually results in a report detailing where corrective action is needed. The term audit is sometimes used when people really mean inspection, but an audit is usually much more detailed and covers policy, organisation, planning/implementation, active/reactive monitoring and performance review whereas an inspection is just one aspect of active monitoring. The HSE guidance Successful H&S Management HSG65 will give you chapter and verse. Also their document HSG129 H&S in Engineering Workshops would be useful if you are designing your own audit checklist for a workshop. RoSPA do one in the form of two thick books covering all aspects of H&S called the quality safety audit QSA which I’ve found to be one the best.
Steve