Accredited Auditor Training

As the development of the task teams, management, and employees progressed, we trained qualified five-star safety and health representatives up to the level of internal auditors ou the 40-hour accredited auditor s course. Representatives from other divisions and mines in the group also attended the auditor training. The Five-Star Safety 

System was also being implemented at their sites and mines as company policy. Visitors from all over visited the plant and mine and were amazed at the safety culture they found. The state mine inspector at the time rated the smelter as the safest in the state. 

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Internal safety system audits should take place every 6 months by a trained team of internal accredited auditors. The audit is not merely a safety inspection. A safety audit provides the means for a systematic analysis of each elanent of a loss prevention program to determine the extent and quality of the controls. It is a critical examination of all, or part, of a total safety operating system, and it is a management tool that measures the overall operating effectiveness of a company s safety and health program. 

Attend at least two 8-hour safety training courses/seminars per year. (Examples include Modern Safety Management, Accident Investigation, Critical Task Identification and Analysis, Risk Assessment, Accredited Auditors.)... 

As many people as possible shonld be involved in the safety auditing process. This acts as a training process. Internally trained, accredited auditors could lead the audit teams. A more objective audit is obtained by having different auditors. 

A national Accreditation Body, such as the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), accredits a certification body (e.g. Lloyds, BSI, etc.) who in turn certifies individual companies that make a voluntary application to them. This certification is based on successful audits by trained ISO 9000 auditors. The company maintains its ISO standards by means of internal auditors and by annual or biannual audits and regular follow-up audits from the certification body. 

Once they had attended these classes they were placed on the 40-hour accredited internal auditor s course. Some 25 internal auditors were trained over the 2-year period. To improve communication skills of the safety staff, an internal branch of Toastmasters International was formed. Membership and participation at the internal Toastmasters public speaking club were also encouraged, and achieving a level three was one of their key performance indicators. All were encouraged to improve their communication skills as part of their development so that they could become effective safety trainers. 

In the interim there had been a management change at NOSA, and I left the plant but kept in touch with their progress. NOSA had not contacted them or followed up on my initial system implementation intervention and training since my departure. I was subsequently invited back to conduct the first external audit of the plant during the December vacation in a private capacity, and my wife, also an accredited five-star safety auditor, was invited along, too. 

Training is required under 1926.1430(c). For specific information see Appendix C to Subpart CC of Part 1926. This appendix contains information for employers, accredited testing organizations, auditors and government entities developing criteria for a written examination to test an individual s technical knowledge relating to the operation of cranes. 

ISO 9000 2000 involved in auditor certification or training, certification/registration of management systems, and accreditation or standardization in the area of conformity assessment. 

The latest Austroads guidelines were published in 2009, and establish a uniform baseline for the conduct of Road Safety Audits (Austroads, 2009). However, since Road Safety Audit policy, training and practice in Australia is set by the state and territory jurisdictions, there is a degree of variation in training and accreditation of Road Safety Auditors and in the practice of conducting Road Safety Audits. 

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