This system must be adequate and must cover the following elements:
- The health and safety in the workplace of the organisation and the policies for these.
- The process involved in planning the prevention of accidents and illness.
- Line management responsibilities associated with occupational health and safety, and
- Practices, procedures and resources needed to develop, implement, review and maintain the OHS policies implemented.
One of the easiest ways through which employers can ensure that all these elements are in place is by conducting an OHS audit or making use of the services and solutions that SafetyWallet offers through its subscription, which includes an OHS compliance audit. OHS audits serve the purpose of conducting an in-depth evaluation of a safety system or process. Both auditing and performance reviews form part of the final steps in the health and safety management control cycle. 
How frequently must a health and safety audit be done?
The employer or organisation can determine how often audits can be done. It can also be determined by the specific regulatory requirements and other ruling factors. When significant changes occur in the policies or management of the organisation, or any technology or technique changes that may affect the occupational health and safety systems, or changes are made to the system itself, such circumstances must be considered when determining audit frequency. Organisations can also have a combination of internal and external OHS audit systems in place to ensure OHS compliance. Internal audits provide the perfect opportunity for the organisation to conduct frequent audits to ensure the system remains compliant and that implemented measures remain effective. Many organisations rely on a monthly, quarterly or even annual external audit, or as a statute specifies. When subscribing to SafetyWallet, members are required to have an annual OHS compliance audit to ensure OHS compliance. The subscriber can then obtain their OHS compliance certificate after the successful completion of the audit. The reason for such a yearly audit is that new hazards may occur due to conditions changing in the workplace. These may need to be addressed immediately with control measures indicated in the audit, followed by the review on the effectiveness of the newly implemented control measures.
What are the responsibilities of the OHS auditor?
When subscribing to SafetyWallet, the subscriber has the assistance of a SafetyWallet auditor who is tasked with conducting the OHS compliance audit. This highly qualified and professional person or team will have a variety of responsibilities, with the following being at the forefront:
- Compliance with all applicable audit requirements and SafetyWallet audit protocols.
- The planning as well as the carrying out of assigned responsibilities in a manner described as effective and efficient.
- Documenting of all observations or findings.
- Reporting and presenting the audit findings to the SafetyWallet subscriber and their audit team.
- Verifying the effectiveness of corrective actions taken as a result of earlier audits conducted if requested by the client.
- Retaining and safeguarding documents that form part of the audit and treating privileged information with discretion, and
- Full cooperation with and support of the lead auditor.
Why must the OHS audit performance be reviewed?
By having an OHS audit conducted by SafetyWallet, the subscriber can ensure that policies are carried out and that they have the desired effect. Auditing also serves the purpose of complementing a monitoring programme. Auditing and inspecting may often be confused with one another. However, there are vast differences between them. Auditing assesses an organisation’s ability to meet standards on a wider and in-depth front, instead of offering a ‘snapshot’ of a certain site or premises’ compliance. With an effective OHS compliance audit, it is possible to identify deviations from the agreed standards, analyse the events that may lead to such deviations and highlight good practice. Audits evaluate the ‘software elements’ in health and safety including:
- Systems of work
- Management practices
- Instructions
- Training, and
- Supervision
in addition to traditional ‘hardware’ such as machine guards, the use of PPE and several others.
Recommendations by the SafetyWallet auditor
Once the audit has been conducted, the SafetyWallet auditor will present their findings and observations. However, the auditor also plays another crucial role in the audit where improvements to the OHS system is concerned, by making recommendations. When organisations have an OHS system that contains well-specified requirements, it is adequate and effective for non-conformities to be indicated, pinpointed and highlighted. But these may not always be well laid out and it therefore becomes crucial for recommendations to be made on improvements. Based on this, there are two recommendations that can be made:
- For the requirements to be improved and implemented effectively
- For the auditee to determine both the extent and means to improve their OHS system as per the recommendations made by the SafetyWallet auditor.
