2.3 - Annual Safety Audits

What is a Safety Audit?

A Safety Audit is an independent, systematic examination of safety systems within each area of The University. All aspects of safety are checked against predetermined criteria and each category given a marked assessment. From this, an overall assessment of effectiveness is calculated, which provides managers with a benchmark of their safety performance. However, because such an audit is by necessity of limited scope, it is not highly detailed, nor is it meant to be unnecessarily critical. The purpose of the report is therefore to highlight and encourage good practice, whilst at the same time pointing out obvious shortcomings which require attention. In this way the overall "safety culture" of an area can be assessed within the wider context.

Safety Audits give a measure of the "health" of every area within the University at a specific point in time. The audit is carried out by the Health Safety and Environment Adviser accompanied by a nominated representative from the School /department. They will visit each area, having previously alerted the Area Safety Manager and examined recent Safety Inspection Reports. Part of the assessment will be looking to ascertain what level of follow-up action has taken place as a result of the routine inspections.

The Audit process at BSU

Safety Audits will be conducted annually and include every part of the University within a short space of time. Heads of School/department are expected to co-operate with the Safety Audit team and supply a member of staff to liaise with and guide the audit team through the area and where necessary, supply documentation.

Each Area Safety Manager will receive a report of the audit findings with an overall performance rating and accompanied by noteworthy areas of good practice as well as suggestions for improvement. In this way managers receive an assessment based on definite parameters, from which the safety performance of the area can be plotted and compared not only against other areas and the "college norm", but also against their own area's score from one year to the next. These statistics will be available through the Health and Safety Committee.

Additional information.

The term "Safety Audit" should not be confused with other terms used to describe other forms of safety activity such as "Safety Inspections", "Safety Sampling", etc. each of which are techniques intended to reveal weaknesses and areas of potential loss, property damage or personal injury. A Safety Audit can be compared to a financial audit in that, they are conducted to establish the true position of an area. A Safety Audit's prime objective is to monitor from time to time, the safety performance of each area within the organisation by examining each area using independent assessors. The composition of the BSU Audit Team will normally be the Health Safety and Environment Adviser, a Union safety representative and a "local" guide.

A full Safety Audit would be extremely complex and time consuming and require considerable planning. The BSU Safety Audit team is restricted in its scope, but should by virtue of its independent nature, be useful and their findings viewed in a positive way. Area Managers will therefore be expected to be sympathetic to requests for information and the release of their staff when requested to contribute to the audit process.

Revised August 2007