Health and Safety Audits

Fresh eyes looking at workplaces often spot the hazards that those working in that environment just don’t see. It really can be a question of not seeing the wood for the trees. That’s where Sentient’s health and safety audits come in.

Sentient’s health and safety audits can provide you with those extra pair of eyes but without the following up of enforcement action. Our most beneficial health and safety audits are done when our clients want us to check them out “warts and all” and agree on unannounced spot checks by us.

Most businesses take their health and safety audit responsibilities very seriously and you are probably one of them. Like many employers though, you might find it is not always easy to keep up to speed with all the new health and safety regulations or indeed keep track of how you as a business stack up against them. Since health and safety inspectors can call at any time it’s important that you are up to date with the latest rules and regulations.

You may think you have good health and safety systems in place and manage them yourself, maybe with a permanent health & safety officer or a member of staff allocated to look after health and safety. You may even do your own health and safety audits or some of you will employ consultants in varying capacities, HOWEVER

• in practice are you doing enough to satisfy health and safety regulations?
• Have you covered all aspects?
• Are you doing health and safety audits frequently enough?
• Do the actions at the sharp end implement your stated requirements?
• Would you stand up to a detailed investigation by a health and safety inspector?
• Can you answer YES to all these questions?

Businesses have responsibilities for health and safety systems set down in law. These include having a written health and safety policy to include detailed responsibilities for staff throughout the organisation and completing health and safety audit assessments for risks to employees, visitors and others who may be affected by your activities. You must also be able to demonstrate planning, organising, controlling, monitoring and reviewing preventative and protective health and safety measures and that you have consulted with employees. It helps if you can show that you have access to competent health and safety advice.

As a Director or Senior Manager how do you satisfy yourself that your business or organisation is fully compliant? Have you asked yourself when was the last time you did a health and safety audit? To assist you in answering these queries Sentient offer help by carrying out an independent health and safety audit.

• A report giving you a rating as to how well you currently perform with regard to safety management
• Identification of areas where you are doing well and areas where improvement is needed
• An action plan setting down steps to be taken to make improvements

The health and safety audit is an appraisal of how you manage health and safety in your business or organisation, the steps taken to control risks identified by you and how, as an organisation, you monitor implementation of your policies. The health and safety audit is not an inspection of your premises or a detailed examination of all your risk assessments and procedures, it is though salient comment on what we see on the day of the audit visit.

Our health and safety audits can be carried out as a one off task or as part of a wider ongoing service provision tailored to suit your needs and budget. Contact us today to see how we can help you.