Don’t cut corners on compliance in the workplace: insights from a health and safety auditor

Aletta Collins, Senior Quality Manager at Life Health Solutions, shares what business leaders need to know about ensuring adequate measures are in place to protect their people in the workplace.

What does compliance mean in a legal sense??

Compliance means that a company adheres to the applicable rules and laws. This includes country-specific laws and requirements from the regulatory authorities as well as internal company directives. Usually there are legal and statutory requirements, codes of practice, standards (international or South African), and a company’s own policies, procedure requirements, and quality assurance.

Which kinds of South African businesses need these audits done, and how often??

It is recommended that all companies and state departments review their compliance at least annually to ensure that adequate systems and processes have been put in place. This is necessary to avoid prosecution that may lead to fines or jail time.

What do auditors do on a regular day?

The professionals who do quality, health and safety audits will have a qualification and adequate experience in the field to ensure all areas of health and safety can be properly assessed. Auditors will design audit tools; identify trends; review risks and opportunities; Conduct an audit according to the scope and give constructive feedback on identified nonconformities.

How does the scoring work for a compliance audit?

There is no pass or fail; individual requirements are assessed and feedback is given. The purpose of an audit is to identify areas where implementation of process is required, or where deficiencies are. This enables the company to then implement action plans for continual improvement. The company can set their own targets and objectives for a specific assessment. A percentage score and measurement of the number of identified nonconformities help the client to understand their level of compliance.

How long does an audit take, and what does it usually entail??

Auditors will review documents and evidence, interview management and employees, and do site walkthroughs. They may request information related to companies contracted to the client, and test requirements where required. The duration of an audit will depend on the size of the organisation, the amount of sites involved, and the complexities of systems and processes. The duration of an audit and the date for completion is agreed with the client.

What are some common pitfalls for businesses??

In some companies there is a reliance on employees complying with the arrangements made within the company, but the outcomes related to policy and procedure are not tested (we refer to the PDCA cycle: plan, do, check, act). Planning is done in the form of policies and procedures being written and distributed, but implementation and monitoring may be lacking due to human resource issues, training budgets, employee buy-in etc. Auditing relates to the monitoring and improvement parts of the cycle.

What happens if businesses don’t do health and safety and quality audits??

If a business doesn’t do monitoring through audits, they may not have a view of the gaps and issues that exist within their organisation related to quality, and/or health and safety. This may leave them exposed to incidents and accidents that can occur, prosecution, fines and even jail time for responsible managers and the CEO.

What do you think every business leader should know about compliance?

A well-designed and well-executed compliance assurance programme (which includes auditing) is an essential tool for improving and verifying business performance and limiting compliance risks. Ultimately, however, a programme’s effectiveness comes down to whether it is merely a “paper exercise” or whether it is being integrated into the organisation’s culture and used in practice daily.

And what should employees know, in turn?

It is important that employees understand the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, specifically related to the General Duties of Employees as per section 14 of the Act:?

• To take care of their own health and safety as well as other people that may be affected by their actions or omissions.
• To cooperate with their employer to enable the employer to comply with the requirements of the Act, which may include participation in audits and assessments.
• To carry out lawful instruction or order given to the employee by the employer in the interest of health and safety.
• To inform the employer/health and safety representative as soon as possible of a situation that may be unsafe or unhealthy.
• If an employee is involved in any incident/accident, to report it to the employer before the end of the shift.

Life Health Solutions can build audit tools for companies’ internal requirements, as well as to test their compliance in their industry. To learn more about how we can support and engage your employees (and, therefore, boost your business), email [email protected], call (+27) 86 123 4123 to speak to one of our business development managers, or visit our website.