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Information About Health And Safety Audits

Do you wonder what a health and safety audit is? If you are, then there are probably a few questions you have about it, other than what it is. If you do want to know about health and safety audits, then continue to read the rest of this article, as it will explain what they are, as well as provide you with a lot of other useful information. The best kind of health and safety audits are carried out by qualified health and safety consultants such as DDS International (their promotional video is below).

1. What Is A Health And Safety Audit

A health and safety audit is exactly what it sounds like, it is an audit of the health and safety of an establishment. Many types of establishments go under a health and safety audit, and some of these businesses include restaurants, retail stores, construction sites and so forth. Just about any type of business can have this type of audit conducted, but the number of times a company will have such an audit conducted depends on a few factors, such as the type of business it is and whether or not there is a law that requires them to do an audit a specific number of times per year.

2. Who Conducts It

As for who conducts the audit, that depends on a few factors too. Some businesses conduct their own audits, which may be performed by a certain group of people within the company, such as health and safety experts, or a government agency or city officials may conduct a health and safety audit. Some companies have their own rules when it comes to audits, and if they do, then they usually decide when and who will conduct it, while an agency may have a certain person/persons conduct an audit at a certain time/day/month and so forth.

3. What Happens During An Audit

As for what happens during an audit, generally speaking a person will be in charge of auditing a company or site’s premises to determine if there are any health and safety risks or to determine if a company is following rules and regulations in regards to health and safety. This means that when an audit takes place, a thorough walk-thru will take place and an inspection of relevant equipment and installations will also take place. What happens during an audit depends on who is conducting it, but usually at the end of an audit, a report will be written up, and this report will include information to the audit’s findings.

4. Benefits Of Having An Audit

Companies may not be required to have a health and safety audit conducted, but they should consider having one done because there are quite a few benefits, with one of them being that a company will be able to identify if there are any health and safety risks on their premises. This will allow them to make important changes that could end up improving the working environment, as the company will be able to create a healthier and safer working environment for everyone. Also, if there are certain criteria that a company needs to meet in regards to health and safety, and they are audited by an agency, then they will be able to find out if they meet the requirements after the audit has been performed, and if they don’t meet the requirements, then they can fix the things that need to be fixed in order to bring everything up to standards.

5. Other Things To Know

There are a few other things to know, such as health and safety audits are often necessary, regardless of whether or not they are required. Also, if a company hires a professional company to conduct an audit, then it may cost them a few dollars, but it is often worth it. A health and safety audit can give a company peace of mind, even if the audit does not result in what they had hope for, as they will know what exactly what needs to be fixed and addressed.

As you can see, there are quite a few things you should know when it comes to a health and safety audit. If you run a company, then you should consider having an audit done, regardless of how small or big it is. You will find that an audit can provide you with a lot of benefits.