Creating a strong safety culture in a business has many components. It requires the commitment and participation of the executive management team and all supervisory and non-supervisory employees throughout the organization. A critical part of accomplishing this requires conducting internal and/or third-party safety and health audits on a routine basis and whenever business needs otherwise dictate, e.g., after an injury or a near-miss incident. There are many benefits to having regular health and safety audits at your business, including increasing efficiency, avoiding legal risks, ensuring compliance with federal and state regulations, helping to keep insurance premiums low, and keeping workers out of danger. Doing so is also a clear sign to employees that the business is prepared to dedicate resources and time to ensure their safety and health is not just a lip service type issue. OSHA generally recommends that all employers conduct regular safety audits at least once a year and, in some situations, may impose fines on companies that fail to have them as a regulatory compliance matter.
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