Safety audit refers to the management of safety within an organisation and identifying the potential problems before they have any problematic impacts either on workers health or environment. Independent safety audits are carried out by either an employee of the organisation or by an outsider, on behalf of a national supervisory authority. These authorities aim at examining the safety standards that an organisation maintains in terms of its services, products etc. Safety Audits are performed with the objective to examine the degree of compliance an organisation has to the safety regulations that it is expected to comply with. These audits are often voluntary and can be performed by the company at its own wish.
Key Issues Addressed During External Safety Audit:
There are certain areas of concern in a work environment and therefore the main issues that need addressing during the audit are:
Compliance: The authorities need to verify that all international, national and local safety regulations are complied with and would be complied in the future before the issuance of any certificate.
Areas and Degree of Risk: The external safety audit can be an effective way to identify and make any necessary changes in the areas that look prone to risk.
Competence: The authority should ensure that the personnel appointed for safety auditing should be competent enough and well trained to carry the job out effectively.
Safety Management: This ensures that the organisation has a sound safety structure to ensure compliance with safety guidelines and the achievement of safety goals set by the organisation.
Advantages of External Safety Audit:
Decrease Liability: The safety audit ensures that unwanted liabilities and potential loss is averted by the organisation.
Commitment to Compliance: External Safety Audit and a good result in it, help exhibit the companies’ commitment towards safety and compliance with guidelines of safety.
Educational: The employees get to learn about environment protection and safety regulations that the company follows.
Goodwill: The compliance with safety regulations reflects an image of sensible and sympathetic management on part of the organisation. This helps to build public goodwill.
External Safety Auditing Over Internal Safety Auditing:
Easy Comparison: In the case of external safety auditing, easy comparisons can be made as the auditor that audits the organisation has audited different organisations and can compare the results for better evaluation.
Experience: The external Auditors, unlike internal auditors, have been subject to various kinds of organisations across various industries. This helps them pinpoint the problems quicker and more effectively.
Wider View: Having audited several organisations across several industries, the external auditor has a varied form of approaches as opposed to an internal auditor who is often one dimensional in thinking.
Unbiased: The Safety Auditor being an outsider is free from bias and control. They provide reports free from bias and are not influenced by the management.
Expert Recommendations: Having faced various problems across organisations, the recommendations that this auditor gives are usually very effective.
Safety of the employees and the surrounding areas play a very important role in the modern world. The goodwill depends on whether or not the organisation is taking enough steps to ensure overall safety. Any accident can make a well-built organisation crumble in a matter of moments. All these factors have led organisations to take up Safety Audits seriously. Furthermore, the safety audit ensures the properties of the organisation suffer no harm by ensuring compliance with all the safety regulations. This further helps in minimising accidental costs that the organisation may have to suffer.
External Safety Auditing is free from bias personal prejudices, the reports provided are usually very accurate and the remedies suggested are equally effective.
Comments