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Written by Liz McDermott |
Having a strong safety culture is essential to the success of any organization. It’s also something that’s much easier to have than to find. Conducting a thorough safety audit of your business is an excellent way to uncover potential risk factors and find ways to mitigate them. A successful safety audit will not only make your employees safer, but it will also have an impact on their day-to-day work habits.
Here are 8 ways you can conduct a successful safety audit of your business.
1. Walk through your business and identify any safety risks
If you’re not sure where to start, start with a walk-through of your business. Make a list of anything that might be a risk factor, no matter how small. The idea here is not only to identify risks but also to think about ways to address them. For example, if you have an open bag of a particular type of dust on your warehouse floor, you may want to store that dust in a closed container to reduce the potential for a fire. If there are any areas where you’re concerned about employee safety, note that in your list. You can use this list as a guide for the rest of your safety audit.
2. Check for maintenance issues
When you walk through your business, take note of anything that could be related to maintenance issues. If you have rust on the walls or an old piece of equipment that is in need of repair, it may be putting your employees at risk. To help spot potential maintenance issues, list what you see in each area of your business. For example, if you see rust on the walls in your warehouse, note that on your list. Then, note what needs to be done to correct it. When you finish your walk-through, you should have a list of potential maintenance issues in each area of your business.
3. Review service contracts and insurance information
In many cases, the insurance provided by your business’s insurance policy covers the safety equipment you have in place. But it’s important to review your insurance policies and contracts to make sure that’s true in your case. In addition, take note of any equipment you have that requires a service contract. For example, you may have a contract for regularly cleaning your respirator cartridges. When you review your service contracts and insurance information, list any equipment or contracts that may be due for renewal. These are excellent items to include in your new safety audit checklist.
4. Update your safety checklist based on the audit findings
At this point, you probably have a long list of potential issues to address during your safety audit. But before you start addressing those issues, you need to create a new and improved safety checklist. That checklist should include all of the items you think your employees should be working on in a safe manner. It should also include any items you want them to use but that they currently don’t use.
5. Ask your employees for feedback
When it comes to creating a safety checklist, you want to make sure you’re not just creating a checklist that addresses your concerns. You also want to make sure it addresses your employees’ concerns. To do that, talk to your employees about the safety issues they’re currently dealing with. You may want to do this in an informal setting by sending an anonymous safety survey to employees. Or you may want to do it during an open-door meeting with your manager.
6. Review your safety training program and policies
Finally, review your safety training program and company policies. Make a list of any items that need to be updated or added to your safety training program. If there are any policies you think need to be updated, note those as well—partner with HR to update company standards.
Conclusion: A Safety Audit Makes Your Company Safer
Now that you’ve conducted a successful safety audit of your business, you can use the results to make your company even safer.
When it comes to safety, it’s important to remember that no one is perfect. But as long as you’re committed to improving, you always improve. Having a strong safety culture is essential to the success of any organization. It’s also something that’s much easier to have than to find. Conducting a thorough safety audit of your business is an excellent way to uncover potential risk factors and find ways to mitigate them. A successful safety audit will not only make your employees safer, but it will also have an impact on their day-to-day work habits.
Need more help?
Check out Vubiz’s Conducting Safety Audits course. For more information, please contact us to inquire about our Health & Safety training.