Why is Safety Management System Audit important?
Safety management systems are critical components of many organizations. Safety of any work environment is critical for the employees and the employers. No one wants to be hurt for sure and the company does not want to get into trouble with regulatory agencies.
Safety behaviours throughout any organization are critical. Whether you are dealing with safety in healthcare, the chemical industry, mechanics, shipping, offshore, etc. policies, risks, documentation, and training are all critical components of the safety management systems.
Audit of these systems are also critical because they help to assure compliance. Many years ago before there were regulating agencies that performed audits and held organizations liable for mishaps, many employees were victims of unfair and unsafe labour practices.
With the advent of regulations and the legal need for safety management systems and practices, self-audits and external audits by personnel other than regulatory agencies have come into being.
This is a good thing because it helps to keep safety practices at optimum levels and it helps prevent the quite sizeable fines that can be associated with infringements on regulatory requirements.
Just imagine a company that is known for being super safe and accident free for an extended period of time. This type of occurrence and reputation is not given, it is earned.
When good people are looking for good jobs, they want to be safe. They don’t want to work for a company that is known for unsafe practices and workplace endangerment. Those good workers will not stay where they are not safe.
So this is another good reason for auditing your safety management practices. By making sure your safety practices are always up to par your company will attract and keep better employees. This will help your company to be more solid and enable you to grow, if this is something that is of interest to you.
One final exceptional reason for performing safety audits is to help keep all your practices, policies, documentation, training, etc. up to par.
The government takes safety of employees very seriously.
To know more about Safety Management Systems audits Visit www.kbassociates.org