Safety auditing

Throughout our lives, we are evaluated and graded on our performance e.g we received a grade of A in math in third grade. However, traditionally in safety and health, when the boss asked you how the safety and health program was doing, the only objective data that could be provided were the reactive numerical values related to injuries and illnesses. Do injury and illness data truly reflect the status of the proactive safety and health effort  

Part of a memorandum the senior personnel manager (operations) of the London Underground wrote to the operating management meeting in August 1987 stated  

A safe environment is not one in which there is an absence or a low number of serious injuries, but is the result of active participation by management and staff in identifying hazards and then doing something positive about them. 

In other words, the absence of accidents is a negative measure largely dependent on luck, while the identification then prompt elimination, or control of hazards, is a positive step and is essential to the discharge of our duties under current legislation. 

In the light of the above statement, it is clear that proactive safety control is needed rather than reactive actions. Safety audits measure the management work being done to control losses and, therefore, are vital performance indicators in the safety system. 

The near miss incident reporting and remedy (NEMIRR) system is a proactive, preventative safety initiative, and, as with all safety systems, should be audited on a regular basis. This will determine if the system is functioning correctly and that corrective actions are being implemented. 

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Chlorine Institute. Members of the Chlorine Institute are required to reaffirm their commitment to the Institute s safety pledge, including prevention of chlorine releases. The safety pledge also includes aimual safety audits, aimual emission and ha2ard evaluations of chlorine operations, periodic emergency-response test drills, and coordination with local officials for protection of the community (32) (see Alkali AND CHLORINE PRODUCTS). 

Audit (Process Safety Audit) An inspection of a plant or process unit, drawings, procedures, emergency plans, and/or management systems, etc., usually by an independent, impartial team. 

A basie safety audit eovering design and system of work features to be eovered for the loading/ unloading of non-pressurized hazardous liquids to/from tankers of tank eontainers is given in Table 15.18. 

Table 15.18 Basic safety audit checklist for loading/unloading non-pressurised hazardous liquids tankers or tank containers...

Kim, U., and Falkenbury, J. (1996) Environmental and Safety Auditing Program Strategies for Legal, International and Financial Issues, Science Behaviour Books. 

Step 1.6 Review Documentation. Collate and review all existing documentation and information regarding the process. Regional or plant surveys may have been undertaken, environmental audits may have been conducted, safety audit findings may be available these could yield useful information indicating the areas for concern, and will show gaps where no data are available. 

The safety status of the process should be periodically reviewed against the guiding principles for the original design. Monitoring of add-ons can detect potentially dangerous modifications. Process hazards analysis or process safety audits are useful tools for this review. Documentation of inherently safer principles is critical to ensure that future changes don t nullify the positive features of the initial installation. 

Failure to make corrections that were found in a safety audit conducted two years before the accident... 

Process safety audits and compliance reviews Resolutions and close-out procedures... 

Maintenance (Mechanical Integrity) —Pre-Startup Review —Management of Change —Safety Audits — Accident Investigation... 

Having described the underlying philosophy of the traditional approach to accident prevention, we shall now discuss some of the specific methods that are used to implement it, namely motivational campaigns and disciplinary action and consider the evidence for their success. We shall also discuss another frequently employed strategy, the use of safety audits. 

Despite these potential benefits, there are possible problems associated with the use of generic safety audit systems. Questions that need to be considered in the case of such standardized audits include ... 

Such audits may therefore be useful as a method of increasing safety awareness and management commitment to safety as part of a more general attempt to reduce accidents. They should be treated as first steps and management must be prepared to do more than just carry out a safety audit. The authors of safety audits must be prepared to provide guidance on the next steps in error reduction once the problems have been identified. 

Problems can also arise when the results of safety audits are used in a competitive manner, for example, to compare two plants. Such use is obviously closely linked to the operation of incentive schemes. However, as was pointed out earlier, there is no evidence that giving an award to the "best plant" produces any lasting improvement in safety. The problem here is that the competitive aspect may be a diversion from the aim of safety audits, which... 

The focus of this chapter has been on proactive application of these analytical methods such as safety audits, development of procedures, training needs analysis, and equipment design. However, many of these methods can also be used in a retrospective mode, and this issue deserves further attention in its own right. Chapter 6 describes analytical methods for accident investigations and data collection. 

At the end of tlie Safety Revievv/Safety Audit, recommendations are made for specific actions that are needed with justifications, recommended responsibilities, and completion dates, A follow-up evaluation or re-inspection should be phmncd to verify the acceptability of the corrective action. 

A Safety Review/Safety Audit is a qualitative tecluiique most commonly applied to operating process plants and includes a walk-through on-site iuspccliou of the plant. This review looks for major risk situations and makes rccounnendatious. 

Management must institute procedures to assess levels of compliance with agreed standards for safety. Techniques include environmental and/or biological monitoring, health surveillance, safety audits, safety inspections, and procedures for accident reporting, investigation and analysis. Communication is essential, e.g. by provision of information (on specific chemicals, processes, etc.), safety meetings, notices, safety bulletins etc. 

Chemical Industries Association (1975) Safety Audits - A Guide for the Chemical Industry, London. 

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