• A safety and health evaluation looks at the systems created to carry out the safety and health program.

Once the safety and health program elements are in place, it is easy to think that the work is done. However, a critical next step is to continually evaluate the program and make improvements.

This process is more than an inspection or an audit. Inspections are necessary to look at the facility, the process, and the individual jobs in order to identify and then to eliminate or control any hazards that may exist. Audits focus on program activities and seek to determine whether specific objectives have been met.

For example, if the company is assessing employee participation by looking at the activities of the safety committee, they will want to know if that committee met at the intervals specified, and if most of the members attended each meeting. These are audit questions.

But beyond this simple accounting are larger questions. For example, has employee participation at safety committee meetings helped improve the worksite’s safety and health program? How is the work of the safety committee helping meet the goal? These are the kinds of issues addressed by an evaluation. A safety and health evaluation looks at the systems created to carry out the safety and health program. It asks if these systems are working effectively and efficiently. All systems that contribute to the safety and health program should be reviewed.

Note that OSHA offers a self-evaluation checklist for a safety and health program. See https://tinyurl.com/3redwtz5.