Everything you need to know about HSE audits

Health and safety audits are often linked to compliance, but they also help organisations understand how health and safety protects people at work and how to maximise performance.

Preparing in advance helps organisations conduct a health and safety audit efficiently and supports relevant and reliable findings.

This article provides a clear and practical overview of health and safety audits, outlining what they involve, why they matter and how organisations can approach them effectively.

A health and safety audit is a way of measuring organisational performance against an agreed standard. Audits traditionally focus on systems, process and procedures and use more detailed feedback and recommendations to advise on improvements. To put it into context an inspection often uses a checklist and provides ‘yes/no’ or ‘pass/fail’ responses. However, here at British Safety Council, we try to add additional value to the standard audit process by including operational observations and our 5 star standards to drive results and best practice into the organisation.

Our audits measure leadership commitment, levels of worker and other stakeholder involvement, the effectiveness of risk management at organisational and operational levels and identify areas for continual improvement.

The purpose of a health and safety audit is to understand how well systems are working in practice and where improvements can be made. A good audit highlights both strengths and weaknesses and provides insights with prioritised actions.

From an employee perspective, audits can also offer reassurance. By reviewing arrangements regularly, they demonstrate that health and safety is taken seriously and managed in a consistent way.

Health and safety audits are not a legal requirement in the UK. However, employers do have a legal duty to manage health and safety risks effectively.

Audits are commonly used as a way to review whether arrangements are working as intended and where gaps may exist.

For many organisations, regular HSE audits support compliance, help manage risk and enable them to meet, and in some cases go beyond, regulatory and legal requirements.

There are many different types of audits from certified, third party, internal, gap and legal compliance audits. A simple way to break audits down is whether the auditor is external or internal to the organisation being audited.

External audits are completed by independent auditors, often referred to as external auditors. These audits are objective, and results are often used to benchmark against recognised standards or demonstrate good practice.

Internal audits are carried out by trained employees within the organisation. Audits are often used to assess performance, monitor internal standards, identify any issues early and provide reassurance to external auditors the organisation is monitoring performance.

Some organisations opt for audits against current best practice or recognised standards such as British Safety Councils 5 star audits or ISO 45001.

British Safety Council offers a range of health and safety auditing services, suitable for organisations of all sizes and levels of safety maturity. For example, our five-star occupational health and safety audit evaluates  an organisation’s health and safety management system (OHSMS) against the highest standards of best practice, testing both commitment and application.

We also recognise that other organisations may require additional support on their journey to 5 star and we offer a range of services from gap audits to consultancy to support and strengthen their management of health and safety risks.

A health and safety audit looks, in detail, at how health and safety arrangements work across an organisation. It examines systems, leadership and processes, and how these are implemented. To do this, auditors gather evidence to support their findings and recommendations.

This typically includes assessing:

• Statement of Intent
• Health and safety policy
• Risk registers
• Company standards
• Health and safety procedures
• Risk assessments
• Safe systems of work
• Training records
• Incident reports and data
• Incident investigation procedures, reports and corrective actions
• Performance metrics
• Observations of work being performed
• Interviews with employees

The focus is whether arrangements are effective at managing and reducing risk to a safe level, rather than checking whether documents are in place.

Ask what information your auditors need before, or to be made available, during the audit. Make sure you understand what you want out of your audit – they why you are doing it? This can help ensure a successful outcome. Don’t be afraid to make specific requests to the auditor in terms of focus areas. The auditors’ job is to ensure a fair and valid audit against the standard, but they can also take time to review any areas requested by the auditee.

We are always happy to help if customers are unsure.

Letting managers and staff know what to expect in advance can also help. For external audits, ask to see the audit plan in advance, and make sure evidence is easy to access. Sharing what the audit will involve with colleagues and relevant stakeholders encourages participation.

For internal audits, it’s useful to review your audit documentation and work to an agreed health and safety audit, schedule, plan and pro-forma to stay consistent.

Good preparation helps organisations get the most out of their audits.

A health and safety audit could take place on site, remotely, or sometimes a mixture of both. The process normally includes:

• Review of documentation
• Interviews with key stakeholders
• Observation of work activities (where suitable)

The outcomes are documented in a report that summarises key finding in an executive summary and highlights strengths, areas requiring improvement, and recommended actions. Insights are typically prioritised with next steps clearly outlined, so organisations can progress in a structured way.

One common mistake to avoid is treating a health and safety audit as a tick box exercise. Audits should be used to understand whether arrangements are effective and where action is needed. Auditors are your critical friend on a journey to mature your health, safety and wellbeing practices.

Another is not acting on the findings provided. To get the most out of your audit, it’s important to follow up on actionable insights and understand who will own what. Creating an action plan with regular reviews is essential.

A health and safety audit is not a one-off activity. Its real value is in how an organisation uses the audit findings to improve systems and performance.

Findings highlight what’s working well and what arrangements may need to be strengthened. By reviewing, prioritising and following up, organisations can address issues early and make informed decisions.

Auditing is also a more proactive approach to managing health and safety. It puts organisations in a better position to identify patterns and apply learnings and improvements over time.

With clear ownership, realistic timescales and regular reviews, audit findings can lead to stronger arrangements. If used consistently, this approach can help create safer, healthier workplaces for people and organisations to thrive. For more on this topic, read British Safety Council’s article on health and safety auditing: friend or foe?

If you are considering a HSE audit and would like further guidance, British Safety Council can help. Find out more about our services and get in touch with us today.