Guide
Health and safety audit checklist
A health and safety audit checklist is a list of things to look at while the work is happening. It is not a score that makes the site safe, and it is not a RAMS.
Look at the work, then write the gap
Ask whether the assessment names this address, whether the platform matches it, whether products are being mixed, and whether anyone checked for asbestos before drilling. The hazards below are examples of what you are looking for. They are library entries, not a finding about a site we have visited.
No law requires a document called a RAMS. The duty is to assess risk under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, regulation 3, and to plan the work safely.
Every hazard below is from the RAMSPack library and is marked draft – awaiting competent review. Change it for the site. It is not HSE approved.
Chemical burns or fumes from cleaners, including mixing incompatible products
Library status: draft – awaiting competent review
From the cleaning library, task: Commercial office clean. Who might be harmed: Cleaners and office users
Before controls: 9 Medium. After controls: 3 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Do not mix products. Bleach and acids together can release toxic gas.
- Wear the gloves the safety data sheet names. Wash splashes off skin.
- Store products locked if the client requires it, and away from food.
Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.
Asbestos cement sheets or slates mistaken for ordinary covering
Library status: draft – awaiting competent review
From the roofer library, task: Pitched roof tile replacement. Who might be harmed: Operatives doing the work, other workers, occupiers and visitors
Before controls: 10 Medium. After controls: 5 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- This task is tile or slate replacement. Asbestos cement sheets are not that covering.
- Check the asbestos survey or register before work starts.
- If asbestos is suspected, stop. Do not disturb it and do not take a sample.
- Tell the duty holder or the principal contractor.
- Where a licensed contractor is required under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, leave that work to them.
Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012.
Striking a buried electric cable or gas pipe
Library status: draft – awaiting competent review
From the landscaper library, task: Patio laying. Who might be harmed: Operatives, other workers, occupiers and the public
Before controls: 15 High. After controls: 5 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Obtain service plans where they exist, scan the area, and mark it.
- Use hand tools near known services. If you strike a service, stop, keep clear, and call the operator. Do not bury a damaged cable.
Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022); Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
Cement burns and dermatitis
Library status: draft – awaiting competent review
From the general builder library, task: Brickwork and blockwork. Who might be harmed: Bricklayers and labourers
Before controls: 12 Medium. After controls: 4 Low. These scores are a prompt. Score the job yourself.
- Keep mortar off skin. Change soaked gloves.
- Provide washing water on the site, as CDM 2015 Schedule 2 requires welfare on construction work.
Regulations that fit this hazard: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015; Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002; Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended 2022).
Health and safety audit sheet
Write what you found. A tick with no note is not an audit.
Site: ____________________
Date: ____________________
Auditor: ____________________
People spoken to: ____________________
- Does the risk assessment name this address, and is it the work actually happening?
- Can the people doing the work describe the controls?
- Is the platform the one the assessment describes?
- Are safety data sheets on site, and are products being mixed?
- Was the asbestos survey checked before anything was drilled, stripped, or sanded?
- How were electricity, gas, and buried services isolated or marked?
- Is there welfare, and a stocked first-aid kit?
- Are guards on, and was plant checked before use?
- Is waste segregated, and not blowing into a drain?
- What will be put right today, and who will do it?
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Health and safety audit checklist
Generate a strip-out RAMS to compare with the site