Health and Safety Audit

Look around your workplace.

Do you think it meets the minimum health and safety standards?

Maybe you want it to be better than minimum standards so you can grow your customer base, reduce your costs, attract, and retain the best talent?

Comprehensive health and safety audits are essential for any organisation committed to maintaining a safe work environment. By conducting regular safety audits, you can identify potential hazards before they cause harm, ensure compliance with relevant regulations, and protect your most valuable asset – your employees.

GIST can provide an assessment of your business with a professional and thorough health and safety audit and workplace inspection. Find out everything you need to know about our health and safety audits and inspection services below.

Our approach to health and safety audits combines industry expertise with practical solutions, helping you navigate complex EHS (Environment, Health and Safety) requirements with confidence. Through our systematic process, we help organisations create safer workplaces while enhancing operational efficiency.

Our H&S audits and inspections are carried out by experienced and fully qualified GIST health and safety consultants who are members of IOSH.

Organisations are required to put in place suitable arrangements to manage health & safety. Our health and safety audit and inspection will help you to ensure effective arrangements are in place.

The audit structure is based on the principles of the Health & Safety Executive guidance HSG(65) which is closely aligned to ISO 45001 standard.

What to Expect From Your Health and Safety Audit: The Process

Auditing is the examination of your management system to see if you have the necessary arrangements in place to manage your key health & safety risks. In addition, it aims to verify that your policies and procedures address the legal standards and industry guidance. Finally, an audit will evaluate how well you follow certain policies and procedures and the overall H&S performance of your business.

The health and safety audits process follows a structured approach designed to thoroughly evaluate your EHS management systems. This methodical process ensures that no potential hazards or compliance issues are overlooked.

1. During your health and safety audit, the consultant will:

• Assess the extent to which your company complies with legislation and industry guidance relevant to your business.
• Review your organisation’s health & safety services, policies, arrangements and management systems against the HSE Management Standards (HSG65).
• Discuss the requirement to manage health & safety risks as required by UK Health & Safety Acts, Regulations and guidance.
• Answer any questions you have regarding your health and safety legal compliance, policies and related processes.
• Evaluate your EHS documentation and records to ensure they meet regulatory requirements.
• Examine staff training records to verify that employees receive appropriate health and safety training.
• Assess emergency preparedness and response procedures to ensure they adequately address potential workplace hazards.
• Review incident reporting mechanisms and investigate how effectively past incidents have been managed.

2. As part of your business health and safety audit, we’ll carry out a workplace safety inspection to review if you have identified all your workplace hazards and to check that any existing control measures are working. During the workplace inspection the auditor will:

• Undertake a comprehensive inspection of the workplace.
• Identify and evaluate the health & safety business risks.
• Examine if your risk assessments are adequate.
• Check your health & safety compliance with UK Legislation.
• Provide you with instant feedback and guidance on how to comply with legislation and best practice.
• Engage with employees where appropriate.

3. Following the Auditing and inspection you will be provided with the findings and recommendations presented in a comprehensive report which includes:

• An executive summary of your health & safety standards and performance .
• Risk rated findings with recommendations and timescales for action.
• An Action Plan covering all findings and recommendations.
• Photographs.
• Management systems health and safety audit checklist.
• Workplace inspection checklist.
• Detailed analysis of compliance gaps identified during the safety audits process.
• Comprehensive EHS improvement recommendations tailored to your specific workplace.
• Prioritised actions based on risk level to help you address the most critical issues first.
• Documentation of good practices observed during the health and safety audits.

A follow up meeting will be arranged with your auditor to review the audit and inspection findings and to ensure you understand the recommendations and the reason for timescales.

Planning Your Health and Safety Audit: Key Steps

Effective health and safety audits require thorough planning to ensure they cover all necessary aspects of your workplace safety management. By following these steps, we ensure that every safety audit delivers meaningful insights and actionable recommendations.

The initial steps in our health and safety audits process involve understanding your business operations, identifying key areas of focus, and establishing the scope of the audit. This preparatory phase is crucial for ensuring that the audit addresses your specific workplace challenges and compliance requirements.

Auditor Site Visit: Flexible Options

We can conduct the Health and Safety Auditing and Inspections at single or multiple locations either by an on-site visit or via a virtual remote visit.

Both options will be undertaken by a qualified health and safety auditor and to help keep the process efficient you will be asked to complete a pre audit questionnaire.

On-site Visit

We will visit your business premises at a suitable agreed date and time for you. We can agree a plan in advance and schedule meetings with managers, H&S co-ordinators or maintenance personnel as required.

During an on-site visit, our auditors can directly observe workplace conditions, interact with staff, and assess physical hazards in real-time. This hands-on approach allows for a thorough evaluation of your workplace safety practices and EHS compliance.

Our experienced auditors follow systematic steps to ensure no aspect of workplace safety is overlooked. They will examine your premises, review documentation, interview key personnel, and observe work processes to identify potential hazards and compliance issues.

Virtual Remote Visit

If preferred, we can undertake your business health and safety audit via an audio or visual platform. This is a more convenient option for many businesses. We have seen a significant increase in organisations requesting for their health and safety audit to be carried out using software such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WebEx, and Skype etc.

During your E-Visit, your GIST consultant will ask you to hold a smartphone or tablet and show our consultant your premises for the purposes of auditing health and safety inspection elements. By working closely with our clients, we have developed systems to provide you with guidance  and support to help the virtual remote visit go as smoothly as possible.

Virtual safety audits follow the same rigorous process as our on-site visits but offer greater flexibility and convenience. This approach has proven particularly valuable for organisations with multiple sites or those operating in remote locations.

What to Expect on the Day: The Safety Audits Process Steps

Using our pre-audit assessment, a simple workplace audit can be completed in one day with the first part of the day spent reviewing your policies, procedures and arrangements. This is then followed by an inspection of your workplace where we will review health & safety risks, look at work equipment maintenance, and talk to managers, employees or contractors.

Understanding what happens during health and safety audits helps organisations prepare effectively and get maximum value from the process. Our structured approach ensures comprehensive coverage of all relevant safety aspects while minimising disruption to your operations.

Our auditor will ask you to:

• Demonstrate that you have arrangements in place to manage your health and safety risks.
• Demonstrate that you are complying with health & safety Acts and safety Regulations.
• Show that building or work equipment maintenance is being undertaken as required.
• Confirm you have all the necessary keys for the inspection of the building and external areas you occupy.
• Review your fire safety systems and ensure equipment is being correctly maintained.
• Check that there no obvious slip and trip hazards.
• Check your electrical safety standards.
• Review water hygiene standards.
• Discuss with management and employees training standards.
• Inspect you welfare facilities.
• Record images or videos to use as part of your report.
• Present documentation that demonstrates your compliance with current workplace regulations.
• Show evidence of regular hazard assessment and risk management practices.
• Demonstrate your process for implementing and monitoring control measures for identified hazards.
• Provide access to EHS policy documents and records of implementation.
• Review your workplace incident investigation process and corrective action procedures.

Following Your Business’ Audit and Safety Inspection: Review and Implementation Steps

We will always ensure that anything seen on the day which is a significant risk to your employees or the business, is fully discussed with you by your auditor before we leave.

We write up your report within a few days following the audit and then it goes through the GIST Quality Assurance process to ensure that it is free from errors, is an accurate reflection of the findings and easy for you to understand.

Actions are ranked dependant on their risk level and then prioritised using the GIST Risk Matrix and which uses reasonable timeframes dependant on the level of risk.

After completing health and safety audits, the next critical step is implementing the recommendations. Our team provides ongoing support throughout this process, helping you translate audit findings into practical safety improvements.

We understand that addressing audit findings can be challenging, which is why we offer guidance on developing action plans, establishing timelines, and allocating resources effectively. This comprehensive approach ensures that safety audits lead to meaningful improvements in your workplace safety performance.

Our expert health and safety auditors will guide you and help you to close down actions highlighted in the report and over time can support and help you to create an effective safety risk management system.

Benefits of Our Health & Safety Audit: The Complete Solution

• Enhanced Safety Management and Well-being of Employee Safety.
• Reduced Legal and Financial Risks.
• Improved Operational Efficiency.
• Reduced business insurance premiums.
• Employee Engagement and Retention.
• Customer and Client Satisfaction.
• Demonstrated commitment to EHS excellence that enhances your organisation’s reputation.
• Identification of potential hazards before they cause harm or disrupt operations.
• Systematic approach to compliance with complex health and safety regulations.
• Opportunities to learn from good practices and implement improvements.
• Reduced workplace incidents leading to decreased downtime and associated costs.

There are many benefits to auditing some of which are shown above, but a key benefit has to be ‘Continuous Improvement’ which is included in both the Health and Safety Executive guidance Managing for Health & Safety and in the ISO Standards.

Regular safety audits establish a cycle of continuous improvement in your workplace safety management. By systematically identifying and addressing hazards and compliance issues, organisations can progressively enhance their safety performance over time.

Why Choose Us For Your Compliance?

• Expertise in UK & International Health & Safety Standards.
• Experienced and professional Health & Safety Consultants.
• Customised Solutions for Diverse Industries.
• Technology solutions for audits and reporting.
• Proven Track Record in Improving Workplace Safety.
• Comprehensive understanding of EHS requirements across various sectors.
• Practical approach to implementing safety regulations in real-world workplace environments.
• Detailed reporting that clearly communicates findings and recommendations.
• Ongoing support through the implementation process following health and safety audits.
• Commitment to helping you develop a positive safety culture, not just regulatory compliance.

Helping you to identify your health & safety risks, will enable your business to develop policies, procedures and management systems that will give you the tools to eliminate, reduce and manage your risks.

Over time this will lead to improved business performance and enhance your reputation with clients, customers and employees.

Partner with GIST for your health and safety audits and gain access to expertise that helps you navigate complex regulations while creating a safer workplace. Our comprehensive approach addresses both compliance requirements and practical safety improvements, delivering value that extends beyond the audit process itself.