SafetyMAP:Auditing Health & Safety ... - WorkSafe Victoria

audit standard that suits their managementsystem, operations and risk exposures, and checktheir progress at intervals by auditing against anaccepted standard, whether or not they areseeking certification.SafetyMAP offers a staged audit approach. Thismeans that organizations that are at an earlierstage of system development also have theopportunity for benchmarking and certificationat the SafetyMAP Initial Level.Audits generate information for managementactionThe ultimate purpose of audits is to providemanagement with fact-based information that canbe used to review health and safety managementsystem effectiveness and plan change to ensurecontinual system improvements. The informationgenerated through an audit will provide evidence ofconformance or nonconformance with auditcriteria. It is not designed to provide detailedsolutions to any identified problems.The audit reportAn audit report should contain information aboutthe evidence that contributed to the auditor’sjudgement of conformance or nonconformance.The audit report should include opportunities forimprovement where identified. It is a managementresponsibility to decide what changes are requiredas a result of an audit and to initiate actions toimprove performance.The audit programIt is important that the audit program positivelycontributes to continual system improvement.Audits need to be repeated at intervals which:• will allow timely follow-up of areas whereremedial action has been taken; and• sufficiently cover critical areas.The health and safety planning process needs toconsider the frequency of audits and which areaswill receive the greatest attention.Objective evidenceLike any investigation, an auditor needs to gathersufficient evidence to make decisions about thestatus of the health and safety managementsystem.The gathering of evidence should include:• an examination of any documents that describethe system or process;• records that confirm that the system is followedas described in the written documents;• interviews with personnel which explorewhether activities match the documentedrequirements, and whether there are anyopportunities for improvement; and• actual observations of the workplace.In other words, an audit should go beyond the‘paper trail’ to establish the level ofimplementation within the workplace and whetherthe system contributes to improvement in healthand safety performance. Evaluation of thisevidence should enable the auditor(s) to determinewhether there is ‘conformance’ or‘nonconformance’ with the audit criteria.A GUIDE TO INTERNAL AUDITING 9