IOSH
A beginner’s guide to health and safety auditing
Practical introduction and how auditing can strengthen workplace safety systems
Occupational safety and health (OSH) auditing helps organisations check whether their safety systems are working effectively, compliant and protecting workers as intended.
What is health and safety auditing?
Health and safety auditing is a systematic way of checking that occupational safety and health processes are working properly. By looking at the safety procedures, actions, equipment, training and legal compliance, the audit results should show what is and what is not working, so accidents and health problems do not occur.
A health and safety audit aims to find if:
- safety policies and procedures are being followed
- the right safety controls are in place
- your occupational safety and health management system is protecting workers
- there are gaps leaving people unprotected.
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The key purposes of auditing
Audits aren’t just for OSH. Financial audits, IT audits, payroll audits and others all exist for the same reasons. Audits help organisations:
- find weaknesses before they cause accidents
- check compliance with legal requirements and company standards
- improve safety systems based on evidence
- provide assurance to senior management that OSH is being managed properly
- track progress in OSH performance over time.
What does an audit involve?
An audit could be either internal (completed by in-house staff) or external (performed by auditors from outside the organisation).
Activities included in an audit
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Audit scope and planning
Define the purpose of the audit, including how detailed it will be and whether it covers the whole facility or specific areas.
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Documentation review
Examine safety policies, risk assessments, training records, and compliance documentation.
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Workplace inspection
Inspect the work environment to identify hazards and observe how tasks are carried out in practice.
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Worker interviews
Speak with employees to understand day‑to‑day safety practices and awareness.
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Compliance verification
Check current practices against legal requirements and internal company standards.
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Gap identification
Highlight areas where safety controls are missing, ineffective, or not consistently applied.
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Audit report and recommendations
Summarise findings and provide practical recommendations to reduce risk and improve compliance.
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Action plan development
Create a dated action plan to address all findings and track improvements.
Understanding audit findings
Auditors look at all aspects of an organisation’s OSH management and report on the positive and negative findings.
Opportunities for improvement
Suggestions that could make things better but aren't failures. For example:
- Consider adding more visual safety reminders in the workshop
- Think about providing refresher training more frequently.
Positive Feedback
Highlighting good practices they've seen. Examples might include:
- Strong and visible leadership from managers
- Effective incident reporting system
- Well-designed OSH training programmes.
Non-conformances: problems that must be fixed
Things that don’t conform to the legal requirements or required work processes. These are actual problems that need fixing. These could be minor non-conformances or major non-conformances.
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Minor non-conformance
Small gaps that haven’t caused significant issues yet. Check whether your audit has found any of the following.
- Training records with missing signatures
- Procedures that are slightly out of date
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Major non-conformance
Serious problems that could lead to fines, enforcement notices, accidents or work-related ill health. Check whether your audit has found any of the following.
- No system in place to control contractors
- Workers not wearing personal protective equipment
- Critical safety equipment not being maintained
- Unsafe scaffolding equipment in use
- Electrical equipment not PAT (portable apppliance testing) tested
Keep records of all actions and changes
Record what was done and when, so you can measure the effect of changes. For example, if a new machine is purchased because the audit showed excessive noise, record the installation date and follow up with noise measurements to confirm levels have decreased.
All changes will need a policy and procedure review to confirm they are still relevant. See our guidance on creating effective health and safety policies for more details.
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Checklist
Follow these steps to plan, carry out and act on a health and safety audit.
- Define scope and objectives of audit
- Gather relevant documents (policies, risk assessments, training records)
- Schedule inspections and interviews
- During the audit, review documentation for compliance
- Inspect workplace for hazards
- Interview staff about safety practices
- Compare findings against legal and company standards
- Categorise findings: positive, improvements and non-conformances
- Develop an action plan with deadlines
- Implement remedial and corrective actions
- Record all changes and measure impact
- Update policies and procedures as needed
- Share results with senior leaders and workers
Summary
- OSH auditing is a structured process to check if safety systems are effective and compliant.
- Audits help identify weaknesses, ensure legal compliance, and improve workplace safety.
- Internal audits are done by in-house staff, external audits by independent auditors.
- Audit activities include planning, document review, inspections, interviews, and compliance checks.
- Record all changes and review policies after updates.
- Communicate audit results to leaders and workers for transparency.
Audits are intended to provide useful information and insight about how things are working within your organisation.
They can show you what isn’t working, where time is being wasted, and where there are risks to health, safety and wellbeing that need to be addressed. Audit results should be discussed by senior leaders as part of effective governance and communicated to workers.
This guide provides an introduction to health and safety auditing concepts. For detailed technical guidance and advanced auditing techniques, IOSH members get access comprehensive resources to support their professional development.
Frequently asked questions
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How often should we carry out a health and safety audit?
Most organisations audit annually, but higher‑risk workplaces may need more frequent checks to ensure controls remain effective.
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Who is responsible for acting on audit findings?
Senior leaders oversee progress, but managers and supervisors usually implement actions within their areas.
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What evidence do I need to show that improvements worked?
Keep records such as updated procedures, training logs, inspection reports or measurements that demonstrate changes have reduced risk.
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How can we prepare our team for an audit?
Make sure staff understand procedures, keep documents up to date and encourage open conversations about day‑to‑day safety practices.
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What should I do if the audit identifies a major non‑conformance?
Address it as soon as possible by controlling the risk, planning corrective action and informing relevant leaders so it’s properly managed.
