Health And Safety Audit Checklist: What To Cover And How To Prepare

A health and safety audit is a systematic review of an organisation’s health and safety management systems, processes, and documentation against legal requirements or recognised standards.

Unlike a site inspection, which focuses on physical conditions and behaviours, an audit examines the effectiveness of the underlying management framework. It assesses whether risk assessments remain current, training records are complete, incidents are investigated properly, and corrective actions are closed out effectively.

A well-conducted audit helps organisations identify gaps, demonstrate compliance, and drive continuous improvement.

This checklist outlines the eight key areas every health and safety audit should cover, along with the evidence auditors should review in each section.

What is a health and safety audit checklist?

A health and safety audit checklist is a structured tool that helps auditors follow a consistent and thorough review process. It outlines the questions to ask, records to examine, and observations to make across each audit area.

Without a checklist, audits can become inconsistent, overlook key areas, and make it difficult to compare results over time.

However, an effective checklist should go beyond simple tick-box exercises. Instead of asking, “Do you have a risk assessment policy?”, it should prompt deeper investigation. For example, an auditor might ask, “Can you show the risk assessments for your three highest-risk activities, and when were they last reviewed?”

By encouraging meaningful review rather than basic confirmation, a well-designed checklist helps organisations identify gaps, verify compliance, and drive continuous improvement.

Health and safety audit checklist: eight areas to cover

1. Documentation and policies

• Is there a written health and safety policy that has been reviewed within the last 12 months?
• Has the policy been communicated to all employees, including those who started recently?
• Are safe working procedures documented and accessible to the workers who need them?
• Are COSHH assessments in place for all hazardous substances used on site?

2. Risk assessments

• Are risk assessments in place for all significant hazards identified in the H&S policy?
• Have risk assessments been reviewed following any change in activity, equipment or personnel?
• Do risk assessments name the responsible person and review date?
• Are workers aware of the risk assessments that apply to their work?

3. Incident records

• Is an accident book or digital incident log maintained and accessible?
• Are all incidents – including near misses – being recorded?
• Have incidents been investigated and root causes identified?
• Is there evidence of corrective actions being completed and signed off?
• Are RIDDOR-reportable incidents being submitted to the HSE within the required time limits?

4. Training records

• Is there a documented training matrix identifying required competencies by role?
• Do training records exist for all employees, including H&S induction, first aid, manual handling and any role-specific requirements?
• Are certification expiry dates being tracked and renewals managed proactively?
• Is there evidence that training has been received and understood (e.g. signed induction records, assessment results)?

5. Equipment inspections and maintenance

• Are inspection schedules in place for all plant, equipment and PPE?
• Is there a documented inspection record for each piece of equipment?
• Are defects being recorded, escalated and resolved within defined timeframes?
• Is statutory inspection evidence current for LOLER (lifting equipment), PSSR (pressure systems) and any other applicable regulations?

6. Emergency procedures

• Is an emergency response plan documented and current?
• Are evacuation procedures posted and communicated to all personnel, including visitors and contractors?
• Are fire risk assessments in place and up to date?
• Have emergency drills been conducted within the past 12 months and outcomes recorded?
• Are first aid provisions adequate for the site’s workforce and risk level?

7. Permits to work

• Is there a permit to work system in place for high-risk activities?
• Are permits being completed and signed correctly before work begins?
• Are completed permits being retained as records?
• Are workers and supervisors trained in the permit to work procedure?

8. Contractor management and COSHH

• Is there a documented process for onboarding and monitoring contractors?
• Are contractor health and safety competency records held on file?
• Are contractors inducted before starting work on site?
• Are COSHH assessments available for all substances used by contractors on the premises?

How to conduct a health and safety audit

An effective H&S audit combines three evidence sources:

1. Document review – review policies, risk assessments, training records, incident logs, permits and inspection records. Look for completeness, currency and evidence of review.
2. Observation – walk the workplace. Are the controls described in the risk assessments actually in place? Is PPE being used correctly? Are work areas clean and access routes clear?
3. Interviews – ask workers and supervisors about how procedures work in practice. Discrepancies between what the documents say and what workers describe are significant findings.

Audit findings should be graded by severity (critical, major, minor, observation), assigned to a responsible owner with a deadline and tracked through to close-out. An audit that produces findings but does not drive corrective action has limited value.

Conducting audits with Work Wallet

Work Wallet’s Audits+ module allows auditors to complete health and safety audits directly from a mobile device using configurable checklists tailored to the organisation’s audit programme.

Auditors can log findings in real time, assign corrective actions to responsible individuals, and track progress through to completion. Because the module sits within the wider Work Wallet platform, it connects audit findings with risk assessments, incident records, training data, and other safety information.

This integrated approach provides greater visibility into recurring issues and outstanding actions. For example, safety managers can quickly identify corrective actions that appear closed on paper but remain unresolved in practice.

As a result, organisations gain a more accurate view of safety performance, improve accountability, and ensure audit findings drive meaningful improvements rather than simply generating reports.

Frequently asked questions about health and safety audit checklists

What is a health and safety audit checklist?

A health and safety audit checklist is a structured guide used during an H&S audit to ensure consistent coverage of all relevant areas – from risk assessments and training records to permits, equipment inspections and emergency procedures.

How do you conduct a health and safety audit?

An H&S audit involves three activities: reviewing documentation, observing workplace conditions and interviewing workers and managers. Findings are graded by severity, assigned to owners and tracked through to close-out.

What should be included in a health and safety audit?

A thorough health and safety audit should review policies and procedures, risk assessments, incident records, training records, equipment inspection records, emergency arrangements, permits to work, and contractor management processes.

However, the depth of the review should reflect the organisation’s specific risk profile. Higher-risk activities and operations typically require more detailed scrutiny, while lower-risk areas may need a proportionate level of assessment.

An audit is only as good as what happens next

The purpose of a health and safety audit is not simply to produce a report—it is to drive improvement.

When audits identify the same issues repeatedly, organisations are documenting problems rather than resolving them. In contrast, effective audit programmes use findings to improve risk assessments, update training, close permit gaps, and shape future audit priorities.

Work Wallet supports this continuous improvement process through corrective action tracking. As a result, teams can assign, monitor, and close out audit findings, ensuring actions get completed rather than filed away.