Auditing ourselves

Auditing ourselves

First, let's consider the definition of audit.
Audit: A systematic or methodical review; to examine with intent to verify. It is also called opportunity for improvement.
When the word audit is mentioned, people generally think of a negative experience, a tax audit or of a confrontation.
However, it is possible for audits to be positive.
Audits can apply to your job. From a safety standpoint there is only one way to do a job - the safe way.
Safety needs to be the FIRST consideration in everything we do.
It is possible that we may not always be doing it right, so our continuing effort to review or think about our jobs is called auditing.
Audits can apply to your job. From a safety standpoint there is only one way to do a job - the safe way.
Safety needs to be the FIRST consideration in everything we do.
It is possible that we may not always be doing it right, so our continuing effort to review or think about our jobs is called auditing.
Audits can apply to your job. From a safety standpoint there is only one way to do a job - the safe way.
Safety needs to be the FIRST consideration in everything we do.
It is possible that we may not always be doing it right, so our continuing effort to review or think about our jobs is called auditing.

Contrary to an IRS audit which evaluates what we did not record, our job audit should evaluate what we did record.
If we take the time to at least mentally think out the steps that we go through to perform a task, we can audit it to ensure we are safe.
Remember, we can only be safe when we follow procedures.

Auditing ourselves
Look at these things prior to completing a task:

- PPE, do we have the correct eye protection? The correct gloves? Protective footwear?

- Do we need any special PPE such as a chemical apron or a harness?

- Is our PPE in good condition?

- Do we have the correct tools and are they in good shape?

- Do we know how to operate the tools or equipment?

These are a just a few of the questions we should ask. However, there are still some important ones pertaining to your task.
Ensure you do a quick audit, prior to accomplishing a task. A more thorough audit should be done if we're doing something for the first time or for the first time in a long time.