You have procedures in place, training is provided, and certain OHS responsibilities have been defined.
But does all of this still reflect the reality of your organization?
Over time, operations change, teams evolve, new risks emerge, and occupational health and safety requirements become more specific.
An OHS audit or an assessment of your occupational health and safety practices can help determine whether your prevention measures are still adapted to your current reality.
Here are 7 signs that it may be time to take a closer look.
1. Your OHS Procedures Haven’t Been Reviewed in Several Years
Work methods, equipment, and responsibilities evolve. Habits do too.
Over time, certain instructions may be followed less consistently, shortcuts may become common, and some risks may gradually be taken for granted, especially when no accident has occurred for a long period of time.
A procedure that was perfectly appropriate a few years ago may no longer fully reflect what is happening in the workplace today — or may no longer be applied as intended.
An OHS audit helps verify whether your procedures are still up to date, but also whether they are truly understood and followed in day-to-day operations.
2. Your Company Has Changed Significantly
Rapid growth, a move, new equipment, new facilities, changes within teams, or new work methods can all introduce new risks.
These risks need to be identified, assessed, and, when necessary, controlled through appropriate prevention measures.
The question to ask is simple:
Has your risk assessment evolved at the same pace as your organization?
An OHS audit can help review your work environment as a whole and determine whether new risks have emerged since your last assessment.
3. You’re Not Sure You Fully Understand Your OHS Obligations
Requirements are evolving and no longer focus only on physical hazards.
Employers must also integrate psychosocial risks into their prevention approach, identify them, and document them.
To learn more about this issue, read our article Preventing Psychosocial Risks at Work: Employer Obligations in Quebec.
For a broader overview, you can also read New Year, New Resolutions: Are You Compliant With Your OHS Obligations?
4. OHS Responsibilities Are No Longer Very Clear
Who handles follow-ups? Who updates procedures? Who makes sure corrective actions are implemented?
OHS does not rest on one person or one department alone. Purchasing, engineering, maintenance, operations, and managers can all make decisions that affect worker health and safety.
When new equipment is purchased, a facility is modified, or a work method changes, information needs to flow so that risks can be assessed and prevention measures adjusted when needed.
When responsibilities are unclear or departments work in silos, certain OHS issues can easily fall through the cracks.
An audit can help determine whether roles are clearly defined, whether information is shared effectively, and whether OHS is truly integrated into organizational decision-making.
5. Your Approach Is Mostly Reactive
Do you take action after an accident, an incident, or only once a problem has been raised?
A strong prevention approach aims to identify risks before they turn into problems.
And the financial consequences of a workplace accident may be greater than they first appear.
For employers subject to personalized rate pricing, CNESST does not take into account only the amounts already paid to the worker. It also applies indemnity cost factors to account for the cost associated with a claim when determining the employer’s rate.
Depending on the situation, including the duration of the claim and the payment of income replacement benefits, these factors can be significant. In some cases, the cost used for rating purposes can represent more than three times certain amounts associated with the claim.
In other words, an accident that extends over time can have a much greater financial impact than what an employer initially sees.
That is another reason why prevention should begin before an accident occurs.
As we explain in OHS: A Profitable Investment for Your Business in Quebec, prevention can also help reduce human, operational, and financial impacts.
6. You No Longer Know What to Prioritize
A training course to review. A procedure to update. A risk to assess. A prevention program to complete.
When everything feels urgent, it becomes difficult to know where to start.
An OHS audit can help distinguish priority risks, compliance requirements, and actions that can wait.
7. A CNESST Inspection Tomorrow Would Make You Uncomfortable
If an inspector arrived tomorrow, would you be able to quickly demonstrate that your risks are identified, your prevention measures are up to date, and OHS responsibilities are clearly defined?
If you would need to spend a long time searching for information, validating documents, or wondering whether certain requirements are actually covered, a more complete assessment of your situation may be useful.
An OHS Audit Is Mainly About Knowing Where to Act
An occupational health and safety audit helps you step back from your current practices, identify gaps, better understand your risks, and determine which actions should be prioritized.
The goal is not necessarily to change everything.
It is to know where to focus your efforts first and make sure your prevention measures truly reflect what is happening in the workplace.
Start With a Free Self-Assessment
Did you recognize your organization in one or more of these signs?
Santinel has developed a free OHS self-assessment tool to help you quickly get an initial overview of your current situation.
