Most safety managers know that developing and implementing a comprehensive safety management system (SMS) and program are just the beginning. Once your safety systems have been established, it's critical to ensure that they perform as expected. To do so, a thorough evaluation, including some form of auditing, is required.

An effective SMS audit process requires careful consideration and planning to be effective. There are decisions that will be required by your organization, especially senior management, such as:

• What are the purpose and goal?
  
• How often will you audit?
  
• What specifically will you audit?
  
• Who will perform the audits?
  
• What type of audit process is best for your organization?
  
• How will findings be addressed and tracked?

Each of these questions needs to be carefully considered to ensure that your audit process is effective, efficient, and accomplishes the determined objectives.

The benefits of a well-designed audit program are wide-ranging. The most important benefit is that your organization will have a process in place to determine if your SMS and safety program are working as expected.

The audit process can also help you to identify where program and system gaps exist so that those gaps can be corrected in a methodical manner-and you can reduce potential risks of regulatory noncompliance and resulting liabilities.

Consider, too, that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) believes in the importance of auditing and assessing and provides a simple electronic assessment tool to help companies begin the process. Additionally, if your organization has made a third-party certification commitment, such as ISO 18001, auditing is required to maintain the certification.

Take the time now to decide on whether to audit and how to set up the best process for your organization! Join us when our presenter, a seasoned safety professional who has helped many companies develop and implement successful safety management system audit processes, will teach a proven approach to mastering how to establish or evaluate the success of an existing SMS audit process to ensure overall success.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate the various SMS audit processes, including purpose, scope, and function.
  
• Understand regulatory and third-party requirements and expectations, such as ISO 18001.
  
• Recognize the differences between an audit and an inspection.
  
• Determine the SMS audit process that's most useful for your organization.
  
• Explain the benefits of the SMS audit to senior management.
  
• Evaluate whether the SMS audit should be performed by in-house staff or an outside party.
  
• Identify who should be on the SMS audit team.
  
• Assess the value of performing a pilot SMS audit process before rolling out to the entire organization.
  
• Consider whether a comprehensive SMS audit is required or whether surgical auditing of specific target areas, such as lockout/tagout, personal protective equipment (PPE), or hazard communication, make the most sense for your organization.
  
• Identify the key components and protocols that should be included in a comprehensive SMS audit.
  
• Create and implement a customized SMS audit program, including documentation, tracking, scoring, reporting, and record retention.
  
• Decide on how frequent an SMS audit should be performed.
  
• Establish a follow-up and corrective action process to address findings.
  
• Consider the legal and regulatory aspects of an SMS audit process.
  
• Identify and evaluate outside resources to assist you with developing and implementing your SMS audit program.

Register to learn how to ensure that your audit process achieves all objectives and takes your SMS and safety program to the next level!

About Your Presenter

Pamela Walaski is the regional manager of EHS services for Compliance Management International, a health and safety consulting firm with offices throughout Pennsylvania. Before this position, Walaski owned and operated her own consulting business for 10 years. She holds both the CSP and CHMM designations.

Wlaski is a professional member of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and is the current area director for Region VIII. She is also a member of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Safety Science Advisory Board. She is also a regular speaker at conferences across the United States. Her most recent presentations have been at the ASSE Professional Development Conference in Dallas in June 2015.

Walaski is a regular contributor to numerous safety-related publications, including Professional Safety, The Synergist, EHS Today, and Safety+Health magazine, and is on the editorial team working on the 3rd edition of The Safety Professionals Handbook, published by the ASSE. Her book, Risk and Crisis Communications: Methods and Messages, was published by John Wiley & Sons in September 2011.