Preparing for Audits: A Guide to Ensuring Health and Safety Compliance

A health and safety audit is critical for ensuring that your organisation’s safety systems, policies, and procedures are up to standard. It’s a thorough review of your workplace’s ability to promote a safe, compliant, and efficient environment for employees, contractors, and visitors. With auditors scrutinising your processes, preparing for health and safety audits is key to maintaining compliance and improving safety performance. Here’s how to ensure your organisation is ready.

1) Understand Your Regulatory Requirements

Before any audit, it’s vital to understand the health and safety regulations relevant to your industry. Auditors will assess whether your organisation adheres to the following:

• Current health and safety laws
• Approved Codes of Practice (ACOPs)
• Industry-specific safety standards

Stay updated with any regulatory changes. The HSE (Health and Safety Executive) is your go-to resource for compliance updates in the UK. With Work Wallet’s digital platform, you can centralise and monitor all compliance tasks, ensuring nothing is overlooked.

2) Conduct Internal Health and Safety Audits

Preparing for a health and safety audit starts with regular internal audits. By conducting these in-house, you can identify compliance gaps, document areas for improvement, and rectify issues before an external audit occurs.

Work Wallet simplifies this process with tools to:

• Schedule and conduct audits digitally
• Capture findings with real-time reporting
• Track actions through a transparent, auditable workflow

Internal audits prepare you for external scrutiny and create a culture of proactive safety improvement.

3) Establish and Communicate Clear Policies

Auditors will evaluate whether your health and safety policies are:

• Comprehensive: Covering all processes, from hazard reporting to PPE use
• Up-to-date: Reflecting the latest standards and practices
• Effectively communicated: Ensuring all employees understand their responsibilities

With Work Wallet’s app, you can digitise and share critical safety policies in one place, ensuring every team member has access to the latest procedures at any time.

4) Train Employees and Boost Awareness

Employee understanding of health and safety protocols is crucial during an audit. Auditors will check whether staff are:

• Trained in hazard awareness and emergency procedures
• Competent in using equipment and machinery
• Familiar with reporting processes for incidents or hazards

Work Wallet supports ongoing training and awareness through digital tools that enable you to:

• Track training records and certifications
• Deliver safety briefings and toolbox talks digitally
• Monitor staff completion of key health and safety tasks

Consistent training ensures your team is always audit-ready and well-prepared for real-world safety challenges.

5) Maintain Accurate Documentation

A key audit requirement is having clear, organised, and accessible documentation, including:

• Incident and accident reports
• Inspection records
• Training logs
• Risk assessments

Work Wallet’s cloud-based software ensures that all documentation is securely stored, easily updated, and instantly retrievable. Say goodbye to paper trails and hello to streamlined, audit-ready records.

6) Emergency Preparedness and Risk Management

Auditors will assess your organisation’s ability to respond effectively to emergencies like fires, spills, or medical incidents. You must demonstrate:

• Up-to-date emergency plans
• Regular evacuation drills
• Visible and compliant safety signage

Using Work Wallet, you can digitise emergency procedures, track drill completion, and ensure your risk assessments remain up-to-date. Our tools help you identify hazards, assess risks, and implement preventative measures efficiently.

7) Equipment, Machinery, and PPE Compliance

For workplaces with machinery or specialised equipment, auditors will evaluate:

• Whether equipment is regularly maintained, inspected, and certified
• The availability and correct use of PPE
• Controls in place to ensure safe operation

Work Wallet helps you seamlessly manage maintenance schedules, asset inspections, and PPE compliance from one centralised app.

8) Create a Culture of Continuous Improvement

Health and safety audits aren’t just about compliance—they’re an opportunity to improve. Foster a proactive safety culture by:

• Encouraging feedback from employees
• Reviewing audit findings to make targeted improvements
• Regularly discussing safety performance and progress

Work Wallet lets you track actions, record improvements, and measure progress over time, helping your business stay ahead of compliance and safety standards.

9) Be Audit-Ready with Digital Tools

Preparing for audit day is simpler with Work Wallet’s all-in-one platform. You can:

• Digitally organise all required documentation and records
• Assign responsibilities for specific audit tasks
• Access everything instantly via our cloud-based app

Using Work Wallet will ensure a smooth audit process and help you gain complete confidence in your organisation’s compliance.

Preparing for Health and Safety Audits Made Simple

Findings often highlight opportunities for improvement after the audit. With Work Wallet, you can address these quickly, implement changes, and continuously enhance your safety performance. By leveraging our digital health and safety tools, you can simplify audits and build a safer, more compliant workplace—globally or locally. Discover how Work Wallet can streamline your health and safety audits. Book a demo today and experience the benefits of a more innovative, digital-first approach to workplace safety.

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