• Audits may be voluntary or required.
• Audits can be mandatory if they are part of the settlement of an enforcement action between a government agency or if they are required by a regulation.

An audit is a systematic, objective tool to assess regulatory compliance in the workplace. An audit usually involves a survey of the workplace to:

1. Identify what regulations apply to a company or facility.
2. Determine whether environmental and workplace safety requirements, and corporate policies and procedures regarding compliance are being followed.
3. Assess management systems currently in place to ensure compliance. An audit may also look at and evaluate the methods used to achieve compliance.

Audits may be voluntary, or they may be required. In a voluntary audit, the facility management decides on its own that it would be advantageous to conduct an audit, whether to evaluate compliance status, or to identify any suspected problems.

Audits can be mandatory, however, if they are part of the settlement of an enforcement action between a governmental agency and the company. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regularly include an audit requirement in their settlement agreements with companies that have violated environmental or safety regulations.

Audits may also be mandatory if they are required by a regulation. For example, under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, EPA has the authority to require auditing by regulation. Some OSHA regulations, such as those governing lockout/tagout and process safety management, also have self-audit requirements.