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    General Safety Audit Checklist

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    Five-page, 120-item safety audit checklist in eleven sections, from housekeeping to manual handling. Each item is marked compliant, partially compliant, non-compliant or N/A, with the evidence seen, the finding, an owner and a target close date; items that check a record are marked R. It holds the questions and the answers of an audit, not its plan, sample and conclusion (the internal audit plan and report holds those), and it is not the shorter workplace inspection checklist or the 5S audit. A completed form does not show that you meet a legal requirement.

    What's inside

    Page 1: details, how to mark, and the first items

    1. Audit details: site or area audited, date and time, checklist version and date, auditor, who accompanied, the audit plan or report reference, and the scope and areas not entered
    2. Status and how to use it: Compliant (C), Partially compliant (P), Non-compliant (NC) and N/A, what each means, and what to write in Evidence seen and Finding
    3. R marker: items that check a record, tag, certificate or log are marked R

    Pages 1 to 5: 120 items in eleven sections. Every item has four status boxes, Evidence seen, Finding, Owner and Target close, and each section heading has a space for a reason if the whole section does not apply

    1. Housekeeping and workplace conditions (12 items)
    2. PPE compliance (10)
    3. Machinery and equipment guarding (15)
    4. Electrical safety (14)
    5. Fire prevention and protection (12)
    6. Emergency preparedness (10)
    7. Chemical storage and handling (10)
    8. Working at height (10)
    9. Confined space controls (8)
    10. Lockout / tagout (10)
    11. Manual handling and ergonomics (9)

    Page 5: results and sign-off

    • Section results: for each section, the number of items and the counts of compliant, partially compliant, non-compliant, N/A and not answered, and how many actions have an owner and a date. No score is calculated
    • Immediate danger found and limits of this check
    • Sign-off: auditor, area owner and reviewing manager, the date of the next audit and where the record is kept

    The 120 items, the section names and the wording of the marks are examples to replace with your own.

    What requires or shapes this record

    No source opened for this page prescribes a general safety audit checklist, its 120 questions or its four marks. The ILO's voluntary OSH management system guidelines ask for periodic audits by competent persons independent of the activity audited. HSE's HSG65, guidance for Great Britain and not law, says formal audits may be useful in some circumstances and warns against monitoring that is only a tick-box exercise. CCOHS describes an audit as a checklist of weighted questions answered from records, observations and interviews, with follow-up and target dates. Several items on the form check a record that a specific US rule requires, and those are the items marked R. This checklist is the question list used on the walk. The audit's plan, sample, graded findings and conclusion belong on the internal audit plan and report (/templates/internal-audit-report-template), and it does not replace the routine workplace inspection or the 5S audit. Whether your law, contract or certification scheme requires audits, how often and in what form, is for you to check. This page is general information, not legal advice.

    • 29 CFR 1910.147(c)(6), 29 CFR 1910.157(e)(2) to (e)(3) and 29 CFR 1910.119(o) (US OSHA; eCFR text read 20 October 2026, current to 16 October 2026)

      Three US general-industry rules, found in the eCFR under part 1910 (sections 1910.147, 1910.157 and 1910.119). The lockout/tagout item "Periodic audits" checks this: an inspection of each energy control procedure at least annually, by an authorized employee other than those using it, and a certification naming the machine or equipment, the date, the employees included and the inspector. Behind "Extinguishers in date": portable extinguishers are visually inspected monthly and given an annual maintenance check, whose date is recorded and kept for one year after the last entry or the life of the shell, whichever is less. If the site has a process covered by OSHA's process safety management standard, this checklist does not replace the PSM compliance audit: at least every three years, by at least one person knowledgeable in the process, with a report of findings, a documented response to each and evidence that deficiencies were corrected. The two most recent reports are kept. 1910.147 covers the servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment and does not cover, among others, construction and agriculture employment; 1910.157 applies to portable fire extinguishers provided for the use of employees. The rules' own text is not reproduced here, rules elsewhere differ, and a completed checklist does not show that you meet any of them.

    • ILO, Guidelines on occupational safety and health management systems, ILO-OSH 2001 (second edition 2009), sections 3.11.6 and 3.13 and the glossary (PDF, opened 20 October 2026)

      International guidelines that the ILO says are voluntary, not legally binding and not meant to replace national laws. Section 3.13 asks for arrangements for periodic audits to find out whether the OSH management system and its elements are in place, adequate and effective, and for an audit policy and programme that designates auditor competency, scope, frequency, methodology and reporting. The list of elements an audit can cover includes prevention and control measures, emergency prevention, preparedness and response, and contracting. Audits are to be done by competent persons, internal or external, independent of the activity audited; results and conclusions go to those responsible for corrective action; and workers are consulted, as appropriate, on the choice of auditor and at all stages. The glossary defines an audit as a systematic, independent and documented process for obtaining evidence and evaluating it objectively against defined criteria, and says this does not necessarily mean an outside auditor. Section 3.11.6 lists the systematic inspection of work systems, premises, plant and equipment as part of active monitoring. The form's evidence, finding, owner and sign-off parts follow these ideas in our own wording; the 120 items are ours.

    • HSE, Managing for health and safety (HSG65, third edition 2013, free web version, pages 8, 48 to 49 and 55; opened 20 October 2026)

      Guidance from the Health and Safety Executive for Great Britain; it is not law. Its Check step says to assess how well risks are being controlled and that "in some circumstances formal audits may be useful", warns that paperwork on its own is not a good performance measure and that monitoring should not be just a tick-box exercise, and lists routine inspections of premises, plant and equipment by staff as active monitoring. It says to monitor key risks and precautions more often and in more detail, and that the frequency of some monitoring or inspections is determined by law. On review it says that someone independent, perhaps from another business area, could add value, that remedial actions should be carried out and checked to see that they work, and that findings should be reported. That is why the form asks for evidence behind every mark and for an owner and date on every finding. The guide sets no checklist or scale.

    • CCOHS, Health and Safety Program: General Elements (OSH Answers, last revised 16 March 2021) and Effective Workplace Inspections (last revised 26 October 2022)

      The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety describes an audit as a checklist in which each element is divided into questions, each given a weighting, with records, observations, interviews and questionnaires used to evaluate each part. It says annual audits appear more common but that critical elements may be reviewed more often, that the audit team, which should include joint health and safety committee representation, must be trained in audit procedures, and that a procedure should ensure prompt follow-up on deficiencies, with target dates for remedial action and checks to confirm completion. Its inspections page (ccohs.ca/oshanswers/prevention/effectiv.html) says internal audits are done by qualified workers to verify that the overall workplace inspection programme is effective, and that a checklist is only a basic tool that must not make the team miss other hazardous conditions. The pages set no general legal duty to audit and no scale; the form's four marks are ours.

    • ISO 45001:2018, clause 9.2, and ISO 19011:2026

      The checklist is one input to an internal audit under ISO 45001 clause 9.2 (internal audit), not the audit programme itself. ISO 19011 gives the guidance on managing audit programmes and conducting management system audits; its fourth edition was published in May 2026 and ISO now lists ISO 19011:2018 as withdrawn. ISO text is not reproduced here.

    Each source checked on 20 October 2026. Not legal advice; check the text in force for your site.

    Field by field

    The form records the answers of one audit walk. Complete the details on page 1 first, mark each of the 120 items from what you see, read and are told, write the evidence behind each mark, and give every item that is not compliant an owner and a target close date. The 120 items, the eleven section names and the four marks are examples: delete what does not apply, add what your site needs, and keep the wording the same between audits so results can be compared. The plan, the sample and the conclusion of the audit belong on the internal audit plan and report; this form does not say which law, standard or system you audit against.

    Site or area audited
    Why: A result belongs to one place. Several audits of different areas on one sheet cannot be traced back to the area that failed.
    Common mistake: Writing the site name only, so a finding in the loading bay cannot be told from one in the workshop.
    Date and time
    Why: Conditions change by shift and by day; the date and the start and end times say when the result was true. Findings are compared with the date they were closed.
    Common mistake: Dating the form on the day it was typed up, not the day of the walk.
    Auditor (name, role)
    Why: ILO-OSH 2001 asks for competent auditors who are independent of the activity audited, and HSG65 says someone independent could add value to a review. Naming the person and role lets a reader see which applies.
    Common mistake: The area's own supervisor audits it every time, so the same blind spots repeat and the form does not say so.
    Accompanied by
    Why: The person who owns the area can answer questions and take the findings. ILO-OSH 2001 asks that workers are consulted at all stages of an audit, as appropriate.
    Common mistake: Walking round alone and then sending the findings to people who never saw the evidence.
    Audit plan or report reference
    Why: Ties this checklist to the audit it was used in, where the plan, the sample, the graded findings and the conclusion are recorded (see the internal audit plan and report template).
    Common mistake: Filing the checklist with no link to the audit report, so no one can tell which sections were meant to be covered.
    Scope and areas not entered
    Why: A gap you can see is better than a gap you cannot. ILO-OSH 2001 asks for the audit scope to be set; writing down the area you could not enter, and why, tells the reader what the result does not cover.
    Common mistake: Skipping the locked store or the roof and leaving no trace that it was skipped.
    Status: Compliant, Partially compliant, Non-compliant, N/A
    Why: Four marks keep "mostly fine" apart from "fine" and from "not fine". The marks and their meanings are ours; write your own criterion for each item in your procedure.
    Common mistake: Using Partially compliant as a polite fail with no action. Anything short of Compliant gets an owner and a date.
    Evidence seen
    Why: CCOHS lists records, observations, interviews and questionnaires as the ways an audit gathers information. Writing what you looked at, read or were told, and by whom, lets someone else judge the mark.
    Common mistake: Writing "in place" or "OK" with no note of what was actually seen.
    Finding
    Why: What is wrong, in a sentence a person could act on and check later. Left empty for Compliant items.
    Common mistake: "Housekeeping poor" or "training weak": no one can fix it or confirm that it was fixed.
    Owner
    Why: HSG65 says remedial actions should be carried out and checked, and CCOHS says to ensure prompt follow-up on deficiencies. Actions without a named person do not close.
    Common mistake: A department ("maintenance") instead of a person.
    Target close
    Why: Set by the risk of the finding, not by the calendar: an item that is an immediate danger is made safe on the day, a missing inspection record can take weeks. CCOHS asks for target dates and checks to confirm completion.
    Common mistake: Giving every finding the end of the month.
    Section not applicable (reason)
    Why: Records once, in the section heading, that a whole section does not apply (for example, no permit spaces on site), so the next auditor does not recheck it and a reader can tell N/A from not looked at.
    Common mistake: Ticking N/A on every item with no reason, which reads the same as "not checked".
    Record-based items
    Why: Items marked R, such as "Scaffold tags current", "Periodic audits", "Training records" or "Extinguishers in date", are checked against a document, tag or log, not by asking. Some are also backed by a specific record rule, for example the US lockout/tagout periodic inspection certification and the extinguisher annual maintenance record.
    Common mistake: Ticking them on a verbal assurance that the record exists.
    Section results
    Why: Counts per section show where the failures are, and the check that the counts add up to the number of items shows how much was not answered. The form does not compute a score, on purpose: 110 of 120 can hide that the ten failures are in lockout / tagout.
    Common mistake: Reporting an overall percentage without listing the non-compliant items.
    Immediate danger found
    Why: CCOHS says to draw attention to any immediate danger, while other items can await the final report. This box records what it was, who was told, what was done and when, so it is not lost among the 120 rows.
    Common mistake: Leaving a danger to be recorded in the next report instead of making it safe or stopping the work first.
    Limits of this check
    Why: An audit examines a sample on one day. HSG65 warns against monitoring that is only a tick-box exercise; saying which shifts, areas, records or people were not seen shows how far the result can be trusted.
    Common mistake: Leaving it blank on every audit, so the result reads as if the whole site was seen.
    Sign-off
    Why: Shows who audited, who owns the area and who reviewed, and when the next audit is due so open actions can be checked then.
    Common mistake: Signing the form and not setting the date of the next audit.

    Worked example

    IllustrativeExtract from a completed audit (invented site, people and figures)

    Section · itemStatusEvidence seen and findingOwnerTarget close
    Fire · 52 Extinguishers in date (R)Partially compliantEvidence: monthly inspection tags on 12 of the 14 extinguishers. Finding: 2 had no mark for the current month.Facilities coordinator7 days
    Lockout / tagout · 108 Periodic audits (R)Non-compliantEvidence: asked for the periodic inspection certification for press line 2 and found none for the last 12 months. Finding: no certification record.Maintenance manager30 days
    Working at height · 86 Scaffold tags current (R)CompliantEvidence: both scaffolds checked carried tags dated this week.––
    Electrical · 39 No daisy-chained extensionsNon-compliantEvidence: seen at the office printer bank. Finding: one extension lead plugged into another.Office managerSame day
    Confined space · all 8 itemsN/ASection not applicable (reason): the site's space register lists no permit spaces (register checked 12 August).––
    Fire · section results (12 items)9 Compliant, 2 Partially compliant, 0 Non-compliant, 1 N/A, 0 not answered9 + 2 + 0 + 1 + 0 = 12 items. The two partial items are the extinguishers and the drills log; sprinklers are N/A because the building has none.AuditorReport in 5 days

    The lockout finding is about the missing certification record that 1910.147(c)(6)(ii) requires where that US rule applies; the practice itself may be fine, but nothing shows it. Item numbers follow the printed form. The figures are invented to show how the form is used and are not benchmarks.

    When a spreadsheet stops being enough

    On paper the checklist records findings; closing them is the hard part. With several auditors and sites, a spreadsheet loses the thread between a finding, its corrective action and the evidence that closed it, and it cannot show that the same item fails at three sites.

    A software record assigns the action to the owner straight from the finding, reminds before the target date, keeps photos with the item and trends repeat failures by item rather than by overall score. Inspections happen in plant rooms and basements, so ask what happens to photos taken offline.

    Same rule for every product: tagged “Inspection Management”, “Audits & Inspections”, “Inspections”, “Offline Inspections”, “Mobile Inspections”, “Equipment Inspection”, “Audit Management”, “Internal Audit”, “Safety Management” or “EHS Management”, with a sourced inspection or safety-audit checklist capability in its record, or one the vendor stated to us, labelled as vendor-stated. Documented and conditional capabilities qualify; check the linked scope before treating a module as included.

    Tekmon pays for a sponsored placement (above); its place in this list follows the same rule as every entry. How lists are ordered

    All 79 matching profiles are shown. Documentation review, not hands-on testing or a claim of compliance.

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    Licensed CC BY 4.0: copy, adapt and share this template, also commercially, if you credit it, link to the licence and say if you changed it, without suggesting that QHSEtech endorses you. What the licence covers.

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