Advantages and disadvantages of external and internal safety and health audit

Advantages and disadvantages of external and internal safety and health audit.

Advantages of health and safety internal audit.

• Internal audits are less expensive to conduct. Managements will not incur much expense while conducting an internal audit since they use their in-house personnel in the audit.
• Over the years, the personnel involved in internal audit can build their competence from the auditing exposure.
• Since it involves internal personnel, the workers can quickly improve ownership of issues found.
• The internal auditors are familiar with the system and can quickly know what is realistic to achieve in the organisation.

Disadvantages of health and Safety internal audit.

• Because internal auditors are familiar with the system, they may overlook specific issues while conducting the audit. These issues will take the effort of an external person to see them.
• Some internal auditors may not know the industry and legal standards well.
• Since the internal auditors may not be able to acquire all the skills needed to perform an effective audit, there may be a need to undergo training, and some of this training may be expensive for the organisation to handle.
• During an audit, the Independence of the auditor enhances the result of the audit. However, internal auditors may not be independent as they rely on their management direction.

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Advantages of health and safety external audit.

• Because this audit involves external personnel, they are independent in their activities.
• They may have broader experience in their approach to an audit and be able to offer a better understanding to the organisation when conducting an audit
• Their experienced nature may make them offer better recommendations. Most of the time, the recommendations carry more weight than those of internal auditors.
• They can easily see what an internal auditor may not see.

Disadvantages of health and Safety external audit.

• External audits are expensive and essentially involve high costs to the management.
• It often takes time, and because of this, some of the management may not like to consume their productive time in conducting an audit.
• Some external auditors may not be familiar with a particular industry, so their suggestions may be practical. However, this can be managed when you engage the services of those familiar with your industry.
• Workers may not quickly respond to external auditors during the audit process. They may be afraid to relate with the external auditors and may be unable to answer questions during the process. So, workers may feel intimidated to give evidence during an audit.