How can your presence as an auditor, during an audit, and the pressure created from your presence, create health and safety risks? How can this be mitigated?

When conducting an on-site ISO audit, the goal is to help spot nonconformities. If you’re auditing ISO 45001, health and safety is a key focus. However, as an auditor, are you aware of your role in maintaining a safe working environment during the audit?

While it may seem unlikely that an external observer could compromise safety, the mere presence of a critical eye can significantly alter the dynamics of a workplace.

Effect of Audit Pressure on Staff

For many employees, having an auditor on the floor can be a rare, high-pressure event. This scrutiny can unintentionally throw staff members, influencing their behavior and causing them to deviate from their usual routines.

Even when an auditor follows every physical safety protocol, such as maintaining a safe distance and wearing proper gear, the psychological impact of their presence remains a factor that can lead to unexpected consequences.

As a consultancy, we recently witnessed this phenomenon at a warehouse while providing external audit support. Here, an external auditor was observing day-to-day operations within the warehouse.

While monitoring a forklift driver from a designated safe distance, the driver became visibly distracted by the presence of the auditor and the accompanying team observing their activities. This momentary lapse in concentration resulted in the driver reversing directly into the warehouse racking. Crunch!

Fortunately, because the organization had implemented robust safety measures and avoided overloading their racks, this caused nothing more than a scratch to the FLT and the racking… it’ll buff out!

After the collision, the driver admitted that the mistake was purely a result of the pressure he felt while being watched; an error he insisted he would never make under normal circumstances.

This serves as a vital cautionary tale for auditors. To avoid harming the very operations you are there to improve, it is essential to minimize distractions. When an audience is unavoidable, consider how you as an auditor could reassure staff and alleviate undue pressure.

Ignoring the human element of an audit risks creating the very hazards you are tasked with preventing.