Continuous Improvement Through A Custom Safety Audit
How to Create Win/Win Client and Safety Consultant Relationships – What a Consultant Should Know Part 1: Safety Consultant Value
March 9, 2021
Customized Safety Audit: How To Improve Your Safety Performance
This article is about how a customized HSE or safety audit can improve your organization's HSE or safety performance. Here is the scenario. You’ve developed and implemented a shiny new HSE or safety management system (some call it a safety program or manual) at your company, in part to satisfy an external audit standard. Or maybe you've audited your system (maybe a few times or more!) to verify that it functions as designed. This went better than expected (or not!), and now you wonder about the next steps.
NOTE: The terms "HSE" and "safety" are used interchangeably to be consistent with industry and our clients.
What to do now? Do you sit on your laurels now that you’ve “made it”? As you probably already know, of course not! That would go against one of the foundational principles of a safety management system - continual improvement. But how does one continually improve a safety management system through auditing beyond using the audit standard(s) that influenced the development of the management system?
Don’t get me wrong, sticking with one audit standard can be greatly beneficial in the beginning. But at a certain point, using the same audit tool over and over offers increasingly diminishing value. You can bring in new auditors to provide fresh perspectives, but at a certain point, you have done all you can with the audit standard. Click here for another article that questions the value of doing the same audit over and over.
Just because your system ticks the current audit boxes does not mean that there aren’t other opportunities to improve the system. And yes, there are many ways to improve a system outside of auditing.
Options To Consider
If you are a contractor, your clients might be asking you how you plan to improve your management system. A custom safety audit could be a great option. And as a client, you may be wondering how to audit your system or your contractors' systems. I will address this in more detail in a future contractor management blog but again a custom safety audit would be an appropriate solution. The following lists multiple options one can consider to enhance your HSE management system through auditing:
- Use other established HSE audit standards than the one your system was designed to satisfy. Examples include ISO 14001, ISO 45001, and COR. COR is a standard used in Western Canada. Or, if you have a COR you could try a different COR Certifying Partner
- Look outside HSE and consider other audit standards that might offer some value, such as quality, i.e., ISO 9001, API Q1, API Q2, etc.
- Ask a client or peer if they would be open to discussing their company audit protocol and see if they have any ideas that might help you improve your system
- Hire an external auditor to complete a compliance audit using the legislation that applies to your organization (i.e., 1) Canada Labour Code, Part II, 2) Alberta OHS Act, Regulation and Code, 3) Transportation of Dangerous Goods, etc.)
- Build customized HSE audit protocols. This can be a mix of audit questions from other standards and legislation. Or, you can create your own that relates specifically to your operations and management system
For more information on Risk Defense's audit services click here.
Why Using a Custom Safety Audit Offers Exceptional Value
Of these options, building a custom safety audit protocol is likely your best bang for your buck. This way, you can tailor the audit to fit the specific needs of your system (and organization). And not the other way around where you can get boxed in by the structure of an audit standard that may not always apply to your business. Another way to look at it is to bring in other beneficial elements that apply to your business. For example, if you are a service company, you can add HSE questions that relate specifically to your service. If you are a logistics company, you can add HSE questions that relate to your business. Or if you are in the public sector, you can add questions specific to your needs (which might not apply to the private sector).
When building a custom safety audit protocol, it is also a good idea to talk to front-line workers in a confidential setting to get their feedback on what is missing in the current audit approach. They are probably tired of being asked the same questions each time there is an audit! It is also equally important to ask management, but this should be done during a separate meeting. Essentially, involve others to help identify what is missing from the current audit and what should be added to a customized audit, so it offers exceptional value to the organization.
Conclusion
Custom safety audits can help you see your system through a new lens and identify new opportunities to improve. If you are not thinking outside the box when it comes to auditing (or any other HSE function), then you will likely get stuck in the box with everyone else. Whenever a hot industry trend emerges, you may follow suit. But these hot trends may or may not apply to your operations and therefore not be useful to your company. They are less likely to offer you value if they do not speak to your business and your unique company HSE deficiencies. Joining the herd and looking at your company through the same lens as everyone else can move you away from discovering company/culture-specific solutions.
Look, it’s easy to do what everyone else is doing. It’s easy to keep doing what has worked in the past and not rock the boat. But if you aren’t looking beyond what is available today and trying to innovate to get better, you will likely be left behind because someone else will. When it comes to technology, many consumers want the latest innovation to improve their quality of life. When it comes to safety, we need to look at and create new ways of doing business to save lives. It takes a little effort, but we owe this to our people.
For more information on how a custom audit protocol can benefit your company (or to discuss other ideas on how to take your HSE Management System to the next level), please contact Risk Defense Inc by filling out the contact form below.
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