Health & Safety Audits & Inspections
Health & safety audits and workplace inspections
Regular health and safety audits and inspections help businesses identify hazards, unsafe practices and weaknesses in existing safety arrangements before they result in injury, ill health or enforcement action.
Wooltown Safety Services provides independent workplace and site inspections tailored to the nature and level of risk within your business. Inspections can review areas such as working practices, site conditions, housekeeping, access and egress, plant and equipment, PPE, documentation, welfare arrangements and compliance with existing risk assessments and safe systems of work.
Following the inspection, findings can be clearly recorded together with practical recommendations and actions required to improve health and safety standards.
What does a health and safety audit include?
A health and safety audit reviews how effectively an organisation is managing its legal duties, risks and day-to-day safety arrangements. It may include policies and procedures, risk assessments, training and competence, inspections, accident records, contractor management, plant and equipment controls, occupational health arrangements and evidence that required actions are being followed through.
How often should health and safety inspections be carried out?
The frequency of workplace inspections should reflect the level of risk, the type of work being carried out and how quickly conditions can change. Higher-risk activities, such as construction, plant operation or work at height, may require frequent site inspections, while lower-risk workplaces may be reviewed less often. Inspection frequencies should be proportionate and supported by a clear process for recording findings and closing out actions.
Independent safety support
Employers have a legal duty to manage health and safety risks and provide appropriate information, instruction, training and supervision. Effective monitoring and review form an important part of a properly managed health and safety system.
The frequency and scope of inspections should reflect the risks involved. Construction sites and other higher-risk or rapidly changing workplaces will generally require more frequent monitoring than lower-risk environments.
Wooltown Safety Services can provide scheduled or one-off inspections, independent audits and compliance reviews to help identify deficiencies, verify that controls are being implemented and provide clear guidance on corrective action.
Where legislation requires a specific statutory inspection, thorough examination or examination by a competent person — for example certain work equipment or lifting equipment — this should be treated separately from a general health and safety inspection and carried out by an appropriately competent person where required.
Contact Wooltown Safety Services to discuss your audit or workplace inspection requirements.
