Safety Inspection vs. Safety Audit: Key Takeaways
Both safety inspections and safety audits aim to ensure a safer workplace
Safety inspections focus on physical conditions and daily hazards while safety audits assess company-wide programs, policies and compliance
Switching from paper checklists to mobile forms can help streamline safety tracking, improve access to records and reduce administrative burden
Work injuries cost American employers $176.5 billion each year, including lost wages, medical and administrative expenses, uninsured employer costs, and other losses.
This staggering figure highlights the need to prioritize workplace safety, a move the American Society of Safety Professionals links directly to improved return on investment.
One of the most effective ways to reduce risk and boost ROI? Commit to consistent safety inspections and thorough audits.
In this article, we will:
- Compare a safety inspection vs. safety audit
- Provide a glimpse into how each checklist typically looks
- Explain how to streamline each process by ditching paperwork checklists and going digital
Table of Contents
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Safety Inspection vs. Safety Audit: Key Differences
So: What exactly is the difference between a safety inspection and a safety audit, and what similarities do they share? Let’s take a look:
Similarities
- Goals: Both safety inspections and safety audits are performed to ensure a working environment is safe.
- Use of checklists: Both use detailed checklists based on industry best practices and Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements.
- OSHA requirements: OSHA accepts safety inspections and safety audits as mandatory elements of an effective safety plan.
Differences
- Scope: Think of inspections as ground-level checks of your equipment, workspaces, and day-to-day hazards. Audits, on the other hand, zoom out to assess the bigger picture: your company’s overall safety strategy.
- Parties in charge: A safety inspection is performed by a person who is familiar with the company’s working environment or by a regulatory agency. A safety audit is conducted by independent parties, outside the department or outside the company.
Safety inspections and safety audits aim to provide safety at the workplace but differ in scope, frequency, and the experts in charge of each one
Understanding Safety Inspections
A safety inspection is a detailed, documented procedure to identify potential risks in the working environment. It also examines employee behavior at work to identify unsafe practices, such as:
- Use of inappropriate or defective equipment
- Failure to maintain a clean and clutter-free working environment
- Use of ladders instead of scaffolds
- Not wearing protective equipment
- Failure to secure electrical wires or other hazards
With a focus on equipment, locations, and people, safety inspections are typically performed by internal safety experts, internal or independent environmental health and safety (EHS) professionals and third-party organizations such as OSHA.
The ultimate goal of safety inspections is to eliminate hazards and unsafe conditions and prevent workplace accidents or injuries.
How Often Should You Conduct Safety Inspections?
According to OSHA’s safety inspection guidelines, the recommended frequency of safety inspections varies based on the industry.
For example, construction businesses must have safety inspections on a weekly basis. Sound overwhelming? Check out our construction site safety inspection checklist guide.
General guidelines for other industries are monthly for specific areas and quarterly for full site inspections.
What Does A Safety Inspection Look Like?
Depending on the industry, environment, project and other factors, your safety inspection checklist can cover various items, such as:
- Production equipment such as cutters, presses and robotics
- Pressurized equipment such as boilers, valves, and hydraulics
- Powered equipment such as electrical motors, compressors, and engines
- Personnel support equipment such as platforms, scaffolds, and ladders
- Fire protection equipment such as sprinkler systems, extinguishers, and hoses
- Personal protective equipment such as safety glasses, gloves, and hard hats
- Hazardous products such as explosives, corrosives, and flammable products
- Psychological hazards such as fatigue, poor communication, and conflicts
- Hygiene and first aid such as first aid supplies, safety showers, and drinking fountains
- Walkways and roadways such as ramps and aisles
A detailed inspection checklist helps prevent accidents in the future, whether due to employee error, equipment malfunction or other common risks.
Safety Audits Explained
A safety audit evaluates how efficient your company’s safety systems, training programs, and reporting processes are.
Focusing on processes, operations, and programs, safety audits ensure your business:
- Meets industry best practices and regulatory requirements.
- Documents evidence that you are compliant with safety regulations.
- Has company training that aligns with on-the-job behavior.
If your company does not have a dedicated EHS expert in-house to conduct safety audits, you can hire a third-party consultant to conduct the audit for you.
Safety professionals possess knowledge of both applicable safety regulations and company programs, which enables them to make an accurate assessment.
Based on the findings from a safety audit, they’ll suggest how to remedy risks so your supervisors and managers can take corrective actions.
Safety audits are typically performed more seldom than safety inspections, usually once or twice per year.
However, depending on the industry, work environment, and other factors, some companies may conduct audits more frequently.
OSHA does not regularly access audit reports but may request access in some circumstances. For example, if a fatal accident occurs at the workplace, OSHA may request company safety audits for use in an investigation.
Keeping all of your safety audit checklists and corrective action reports accessible in one place will help ensure you’re able to:
- Follow up on the outcome of every audit and the respective measures you took.
- Provide immediate access to your safety documentation upon request from third-party organizations conducting safety investigations on your site.
What Does a Safety Audit Look Like?
A safety audit is not just about ticking boxes but about understanding how much teams know about safety, if machines are up to code, and more. It will typically focus on questions like:
- Can employees access equipment and machinery manuals?
- Does the equipment meet safety standards?
- Are employees familiar with the fire escape plan?
- Is ventilation adequate in the workplace?
- Are vehicles and machinery regularly maintained?
- Are employees trained on machines and equipment?
- Are hazardous materials disposed of properly?
- Are chemicals divided and stored by compatibility?
- Are electronic devices managed properly?
- Are workers trained to recognize hazards and how to control them?
- Do employees know the procedures to report injuries and incidents?
A comprehensive audit checklist will help you locate vulnerable programs and operations so you can act to improve safety within your company.
Well-built inspection and audit checklists help uncover hazards, evaluate safety programs and improve safety across your organization
Create Digital Safety Checklists With doForms
Keeping the results of safety inspections and safety audits organized, stored, and accessible month after month, year after year, is no small feat.
It can be time-consuming and on top of it all, paperwork can easily get misplaced or damaged.
Is there an easy way to solve that? Yes, with mobile forms!
doForms is a mobile forms software solution for business forms and data collection.
Choose from our library of templates or create your own custom forms for safety inspections, safety audits, maintenance reports, work orders, and more!
Whether you’re sitting in an office, walking through a construction site or in the middle of your daily commute, you can create, edit, send and store our mobile forms anywhere, from any device.
doForms offers efficient, reliable data collection and transfer. Send safety reports to third-party contractors, view a history of maintenance work on your equipment, track off-site locations, and more. All data is available in real-time and safely stored for later use.
From affordable pricing plans and out-of-the-box integrations, our scalable mobile forms solution offers increased productivity (don’t miss our ROI calculator!), better organization, and cost savings.
DoForms’ extensive features include:
- iOs and Android compatibility
- Standard and custom templates
- Unlimited mobile forms
- Unlimited data storage
- Real-time job dispatch
- Device-based GPS tracking
- Calendar-based job scheduling
- Secure workflow and reporting
- Barcode label printing
Tired of juggling paper reports?
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Safety Inspection vs. Safety Audit: FAQs
What is the difference between a safety inspection and a safety audit?
While a safety inspection checks equipment, practices, and work areas to spot immediate hazards, a safety audit focuses on your entire safety program, including policies, training and compliance systems.
Who conducts safety inspections and audits?
Inspections are usually performed by internal staff like supervisors or safety officers. Audits are often performed by internal EHS teams or external third-party specialists to ensure objectivity and regulatory compliance.
How often should a business perform safety inspections and audits?
You should conduct inspections daily, weekly, or monthly depending on the risk level of your business. Audits are typically scheduled annually or biannually, though high-risk industries may conduct audits more frequently.
Why are safety audits important if we already do regular inspections?
Inspections catch immediate risks. Audits evaluate whether your entire safety system is working, showing policy gaps, training issues, or compliance failures that inspections might miss.
How can safety audits help with legal compliance?
Audits provide documented evidence that your business follows OSHA and other safety regulations. This can protect you during inspections, legal disputes, or workers’ comp claims.
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