Thanks to an ever-increasing focus on workplace health and safety, things have changed for the better in so many ways when it comes to acceptable conditions and safety at work. It is no longer permissible for businesses to expect their employees to work in hazardous conditions that could be made safe with time and effort. Although it involves some additional administration and cost for the business, it is actually to the benefit of all involved in the long run. A well-conducted, professional health and safety audit can perform many positive functions, not least of which are:
- Highlighting a business’s strengths and weaknesses
- Ensuring the best possible working environment for employees
- Identifying risks and hazards before any potential injuries or health issues
- Protecting the business from legal ramifications in worst-case scenarios
- Helping businesses understand their roles and responsibilities with respect to the welfare of anyone who enters their property
Requirements change and evolve but the bottom line is this: any work environment has to be as safe and pleasant to work in as it can possibly be and a regular workplace health and safety audit is the best way to make sure this is the case.
What is a health and safety audit?
A health and safety audit is a process whereby a team of keen-eyed, experienced professionals from an outside company, such as Workplace Safety Consultants, visits your place of business and thoroughly inspects it, looking for health and safety issues. All the correct documentation will be checked and the whole process will be executed methodically, just as it would be in any governmental inspection or after any accident or disputed incident.
They will collate their findings and present you with a list of recommendations that once implemented, will make your business fully compliant with all required regulations and protect it from placing individuals at unnecessary risk on the premises.
Some tangible benefits of regular health and safety audits
- Any incidents are easier to analyse and understand. This allows preventative strategies to be formulated and implemented to mitigate future incidents.
- Generates an established set of credentials and immutable best practices within the business
- Regular auditing actually saves money in the long run
- Ensures all activities are fully compliant with required governmental and industry regulations
- Promotes improved morale among employees, who feel valued and respected
- Instils confidence in customers and business partners
- Allows a review of any previous changes and whether they were effective in improving health and safety practices
What are the risks involved in neglecting health and safety audits?
There are serious ramifications involved if a business is not fully compliant with all required health and safety standards and requirements. Any incident occurring, under those circumstances, may be seen as having been a preventable one and the consequences can be very serious indeed. Certainly in the shape of punitive fines, with the possibility of custodial sentences in extreme cases of negligence and failure to ensure safe working conditions.
Regular health and safety auditing takes all of the guesswork and confusion out of the process. It ensures, if the recommendations are acted upon, any business is protected from hazards and risks to its employees and visitors it may otherwise be held responsible for.
How Workplace Safety Consultants can help your business
Here at Workplace Safety Consultants, our incredible team of experts can provide the most accurate, up-to-date health and safety advice, and discuss any logistical and other best practices. We can offer full health and safety audits that will analyse every aspect of your location and business practices and make recommendations as per your requirements. Some of the industries and areas we can help with include, but are not limited to:
- Agriculture
- Construction
- Health and community services
- Hospitality
- Light and heavy industry
- Manufacturing
- Mining and quarrying
- Oil and gas
- Processing
- Rail
- Smelting
- Transport
The focus of a health and safety audit
Our safety audits and inspection services are comprehensive and leave no stone unturned in assessing your exact situation and making recommendations for changes or improvements. They include:
- Safety audits
- Dangerous goods and hazardous substances
- Incident investigation
- Injury management
- Safety system audits
- AS4801
- Worksafe WA plan
- NAT (National Audit Tool)
- Specific workplace audits
- Development, maintenance, and ongoing compliance of systems meeting the requirements for Accreditation to the AS-45001 Australian Safety Standard, ISO 9001 Quality Management, and ISO-14001 Environmental Management.
Contact us
Our team of highly-experienced professionals are dedicated to helping you improve your health and safety standards wherever possible. We have a number of offices strategically placed across Australia and can provide you with the best HSE consultants when required.
Please contact us today if you wish to discuss your particular situation and exact requirements. We are always happy to discuss health and safety audits, or any other aspect of our services and with our team by your side, you will experience the benefits of our policy of ‘Safety made easy!’