Why are Safety Management Systems Audits important?

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Safety management systems audit 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 behaviors 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 labor 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 sizable fines that can be associated with infringements on regulatory requirements.


Besides the obvious monetary benefits of keeping on top of an organization’s safety management system, there are also benefits related to personnel, company growth, trust, etc.
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 ask 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. Without appropriately reviewing the policies and expectations that you have in place on a routine basis, a company can be assured that all of their criteria are up to par.

For example the appropriate management of chemicals, tools, machinery, blood products, etc. may change. It is entirely possible that some of these updates and changes could be missed and/or overlooked. This could put your safety management plans at a level under par. Any time safety is at risk so is your company.

It is truly not worth the risk to your staff or your livelihood to not have a fully audited and above par safety management plan. The government takes safety of employees very seriously. There is an organization called the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and this is what they are designed to do. They help to keep America’s businesses safe for employees and hold employers accountable when that is not the case.

Don’t let your company become a recipient of fines. These can be quite extensive and lead to your demise. It’s much simpler to just get those external audits performed and be ready when your country's safety consultant organization comes knocking on the door.