Last month, we focused on how companies are broadening their definition of safety and advancing HSE capabilities to promote cultures of safety and zero-incident workplaces.As part of this discussion, we examined Chemical Safety Software’s (CSS) risk assessment module , including its ability to facilitate workplace audits.
This month, we will delve into auditing capabilities across HSE systems, exploring their utility and the four auditing features every safety manager should use.
Workplace audits help support your company’s health, safety, environmental, and compliance initiatives. Safety managers know that leveraging HSE auditing capabilities is a powerful way to identify potential risks in workplace policies and procedures.
When selecting an HSE system, it is important to evaluate its auditing capabilities. We have compiled a list of four auditing features to prioritise during your search.
1: Customizable Audit Lists
First, look for a system that is easily customisable. The ability to customise your HSE auditing system can improve reliability and efficiency, enabling you to prioritise your site’s specific high-risk areas and adjust the frequency of audits accordingly.
CSS’s customisable audit software
2: Regulatory Compliance Tracking
Auditing is a highly beneficial tool for monitoring compliance. Be sure to select auditing software integrated within a broader HSE software platform that helps your organisation manage its compliance obligations.
One way CSS’s system does this is by comparing sample data from audits with relevant compliance records and internal requirements to identify discrepancies.
3: Mobile Application Capabilities
As discussed in previous articles, mobile apps are quickly becoming central to the way safety managers use HSE systems, including for conducting audits. Verdantix research found that auditing is one of the five primary uses of HSE mobile applications. [1]
Mobile applications enable safety managers and other team members to scan barcodes or input container data on their mobile devices and sync that data into a comprehensive audit.
Look for an HSE auditing system that provides a mobile application fully integrated with your chemical inventory. It is also important to check that your HSE software’s corresponding mobile application operates when the device is offline, as CSS’s does, to help prevent delays and errors caused by connection issues.
4: Efficient Access to Data Analysis
Audits are most effective when the resulting data is accessible and used to identify and address safety, environmental, health, and compliance risks.
CSS’s audit system prioritises turning audit data into usable information for corrective actions. After employees complete an audit, the CSS system quickly generates Audit Summaries and Facility Key Performance Indicators, providing safety managers with tools to assess areas needing improvement.
Be sure to keep these four audit features in mind when selecting and using your HSE system. Check back next month, when we will shift our focus to companies’ evolving HSE budgets and their prioritisation of sustainability.
[1] Verdantix, Market Overview: The Evolving Universe of EHS Mobile Apps, March 2020.
