Skip to content

APP_27 — HSQE Culture Audit Register

Document Information

Field Value
Document Reference APP_27
Issue Number 2
Issue Date 30 September 2026
Next Review 22 September 2027
Controlled By Sean Ashton (HSQE Consultant)
Approved By Aaron Mason, Director

The record sheet

The audit is carried out on FORM_HCA_01 — HSQE Culture Audit Record. This page is the programme, the method and the register of cycles run.

Related: APP_11 HSQE Objectives & KPIs · APP_20 Internal Audits Programme · APP_21 Non-Conformance Register · APP_22 Accident Statistics

1. Why this register exists

AMWS audits its site work thoroughly. Between supervisor inspections, van pack checks, permit close-outs, COSHH control audits and the internal audit programme, twenty field teams are looked at from several directions.

Nothing audits the office.

That matters for two reasons. The first is plain conformity: the notice board, the fire log, the first aid provision, the COSHH cabinet, the DSE assessments and the records themselves all live in the office, and nobody has been checking them on a cycle.

The second is leadership visibility. If the directors submit their own workplace to the same scrutiny they ask of a ganger in a trench, that is visible to everyone. Auditing the office demonstrates that the rules apply to the directors as well.

What this replaces

The H&S Culture Survey was adopted as the replacement for the retired Director Site-Tours programme and was targeted to issue its first cycle on 31/08/2026. It did not issue. For the period since, the formal mechanism for capturing workforce sentiment and leadership visibility had been withdrawn and not replaced.

This register replaces it. The two differ as follows:

H&S Culture Survey HSQE Culture Audit
Method Anonymous questionnaire issued and collected Physical audit of the office with a director present, plus questions asked face to face
What it produces A response rate and a set of scores A dated record, findings with owners, and conversations that happened
Failure mode Nobody returns it, and the gap is invisible until the response rate is counted A cycle either ran on the date or it did not
Leadership signal The directors ask the workforce what it thinks The directors put their own workplace under audit

Decision recorded at the September 2026 Management Review. The survey is withdrawn; this is the mechanism that carries objective B1 forward. B3 was merged into B1 at APP_11 Issue 4 on 09/09/2026, so the survey’s objective already sat there.

This is not a substitute for consultation

Clause 5.4 of ISO 45001 requires consultation and participation of workers, which is a continuing arrangement, not a quarterly check. That is answered by the toolbox-talk programme, the WhatsApp Works group and the weekly Director / HSQE call recorded on FORM_WCC_01.

This audit answers Clause 9.1 monitoring. It measures whether those arrangements are working and whether the office itself conforms. The two are recorded separately and should not be presented as one.

2. How the audit works

The audit is run quarterly and takes about 45 minutes. It is carried out by the HSQE Consultant with a director present for the whole of it, and that presence is required.

The sheet has two halves, and they are different kinds of evidence.

Half one — conformity

Twelve physical checks on the office and yard. These are pass or fail and they are looked at, not asked about.

Half two — culture

Three questions asked face to face, of whoever is in that day, and written down in the words they use. The answers are not anonymous and are not scored.

The culture half exists mainly to address one number. Near-miss and close-call reporting has stood at zero for three years (APP_22). That is an absence of data rather than an absence of events, and it is objective H4. Asking people directly why they do not report is the best route AMWS has to understanding it.

Scoring

Meaning Action
🟢 Compliant All applicable checks pass Record and move on
🟡 Minor finding Something needs correcting — a date, a missing copy, a board out of date Fix within 30 days, recorded here
🔴 Major finding A statutory duty is not being met, or a control relied on is absent Raise in APP_21 with an owner and a date
⬛ Not audited Not covered this cycle —

A culture answer is never scored. It is recorded verbatim and it either drives an action or it does not.

3. Frequency

Cycle Quarter Target month Who
Q3 2026 Jul–Sep September 2026 — run 22/09/2026 Sean Ashton + Leanne Mason
Q4 2026 Oct–Dec December 2026 Sean Ashton + a director
Q1 2027 Jan–Mar March 2027 Sean Ashton + a director
Q2 2027 Apr–Jun June 2027 Sean Ashton + a director

Quarterly is proportionate for a two-unit office with four office-based staff. It is also frequent enough that a finding cannot sit for a year, which is what went wrong with the annual survey.

The audit is run on the monthly Onyx site visit in the target month, so it does not require a separate journey.

4. Register of cycles

Cycle Date Auditor Director present Result Findings Record
Q3 2026 22/09/2026 Sean Ashton Leanne Mason 🟡 Minor findings 2, both closed ONX-AMWS-HSI-2026-01
Q4 2026 — — — ⬛ Not yet due
Q1 2027 — — — ⬛ Not yet due
Q2 2027 — — — ⬛ Not yet due

Q3 2026 — the culture answers

Recorded on the visit of 22/09/2026. The conformity half was taken alongside the premises inspection, and the report at ONX-AMWS-HSI-2026-01 is the evidence for it.

Question Recorded
Who is the health and safety contact here, and how would you reach them? The WhatsApp Works group day to day, in both directions. Competence and the office arrangements are held directly by Leanne Mason, Director
When did a director last attend a toolbox talk or walk a job with you? Not recorded at this cycle. Put at Q4
Has anyone here reported a near miss? What happened after they did? Not recorded at this cycle. Put at Q4, and it is the first question on the sheet

5. Findings log

Ref Cycle Finding Grade Owner Target Status
HCA-01 Q3 2026 DSE assessments not on file for the two office workstations at the date of the cycle 🟡 Leanne Mason 30/09/2026 Closed 27/09/2026 — both office workstations assessed
HCA-02 Q3 2026 The weekly alarm test and the monthly emergency lighting test had no record to be kept on 🟡 Sean Ashton 31/10/2026 Closed 01/10/2026 — FORM_FIRE_LOG_01 issued

Any 🔴 finding is also raised in APP_21. Minor findings are tracked here and closed here.

6. What this feeds

Destination What goes there
APP_11 objective B1 That the cycle ran on time, and what it found
APP_11 objective H4 The reporting answers from the culture half — the only direct evidence AMWS has on why near-miss reporting is at zero
APP_21 Any major finding
Management review The cycle results, as a Clause 9.3 input
APP_22 Anything the culture half reveals about the reporting route

7. Responsibilities

Who What
Sean Ashton (HSQE Consultant) Runs the audit, completes FORM_HCA_01, maintains this register, raises findings
A director — Aaron or Leanne Mason Present for the whole audit. Answers for anything found in the office
Leanne Mason (Director) Owns the office arrangements being audited and closes minor findings
Aaron Mason (Director) Reviews the cycle results at management review

9. Audit trail

Issue Date Approved By Summary
2 30/09/2026 Aaron Mason, Director First cycle recorded at Section 4 and its finding at Section 5. The conformity half was taken on the visit of 22/09/2026 alongside the premises inspection ONX-AMWS-HSI-2026-01 and the certificate-currency check. The cycle, its two findings and the culture answers are recorded on this page. Two of the three culture questions are carried to the Q4 cycle.
1 22/09/2026 Aaron Mason, Director Register created. Adopted at the September 2026 Management Review as the replacement for the H&S Culture Survey, which was withdrawn without having issued a cycle. Carries objective B3 forward and adds a direct route at objective H4.