Leading Successful EHS Audits: An Executive's Guide to Preparation and Execution

EHS (environmental, health, and safety) audits are one of the most critical parts of ensuring you offer a safe and healthy workplace. Audits provide the chance to address and identify potential problems before they have the chance to turn into more serious issues. Conducting comprehensive audits lets you find any violations and rectify them quickly.

While EHS audits are crucial, they can also be a bit intimidating. Whether you’re doing your first audit or have dozens of completed audits in the past, it’s important to be sure the audit is done in a way that is profitable, effective, and beneficial for your company.

The first step to an excellent EHS audit is being aware of the importance and value of the process. This isn’t something to take lightly. What is discovered during the audit can be used to strengthen the safety and environmental impacts of your organization.

What Are EHS Audits?

An EHS audit looks at the workplace's environmental, health, and safety processes, as well as any regulations relating to them. The audit can be used to find compliance issues and hazards that might negatively affect the environment or employees.

During the audit process, policies and procedures are viewed to ensure compliance with standards, regulations, and laws. Audits also determine areas to improve and what actions should be taken to do so.

EHS audits are important tools for maintaining compliance and managing risks. They help organizations identify gaps in health and safety processes so corrective action can occur. It gives businesses the chance to show how committed they are to safety and compliance.

Steps Involved in Completing an EHS Audit

Lots of preparation and planning go into conducting an EHS audit. The first step is to determine the audit’s scope. This involves choosing the areas that are covered and which regulations of laws should be reviewed.

Once this is done, an audit plan should be created. This includes the objectives of the audit, what methods will be used, and how long it will take.

Gathering the relevant information and documents is the next step. This may include items like safety records, procedures and policies, and other documents related to compliance with EHS standards.

Preparing for the Audit

After all the documents are available, the auditor should go over them to find areas of improvement or potential issues. This is an important stage as it gives the auditor information about any gaps in procedures or potential violations that might be happening.

This is also the time to interview management and employees to gain an understanding of the health and safety practices in place. This gives insight into the safety culture of the workplace and how others see it.

At this point, regulations and laws should be reviewed to determine whether the organization is in compliance. This is another critical step to ensure the audit process is accurate and comprehensive.

During the Audit

During the audit, the auditor will do field visits to ask questions of management and employees and observe the workplace. This is essential to the process as it gives additional insight into the organization’s safety culture.

Following the visits, findings will be compiled and the auditor can recommend any actions they believe should be taken. Sometimes follow-up visits will also take place to ensure these actions are in place.

The final step involves creating a report of recommendations and findings. This is a document that should be shared with both members of leadership and other employees at the company.

Tips for Successful Audits

EHS audits can be challenging to conduct. However, good planning can make it a lot less frustrating. Below are a set of tips you can use to ensure your EHS audit is a success:

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• Define the audit’s scope. You should know which areas are to be covered and which regulations and laws apply to these areas.

• Gather needed information and documents. Having safety records, procedures and policies, and other EHS compliance documents is required.

• Hold interviews and review documents. This is a good first step to ensuring you located areas of improvement and potential issues.

• Review regulations and laws. This goes into ensuring the EHS audit is accurate and comprehensive based on current rules.

• Recommend actions. Be prepared to share corrective actions that could be useful.

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Conclusion 

Safety audits may be time-consuming in any industry, but there’s a good reason for that. Only going through the steps is not enough to see systematic improvements. All processes have to be reviewed and changed to grant any value to the audit. Preparing for the audit, carrying it out, and following up on what you find are all essential parts of the auditing process.

Having regular EHS audits is important for any workplace to ensure it is safe and healthy for everyone. An audit can clue you into areas of improvement or potential issues so you can take action before anything gets worse. Leaders should ensure that all audits are accurate and comprehensive to demonstrate a commitment to compliance and safety.