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IA202608 — Health & Safety Management

Audit Record

Field Value
Audit reference IA202608
Area audited Occupational health and safety — the requirements specific to ISO 45001
Audit criteria ISO 45001:2018 clauses 5.4, 6.1.2, 8.1.2, 8.1.3, 8.1.4 and 10.2 · SOP 2.2, 3.1, 8.1, 8.10, 8.12, 8.15 · POL_HSQE_16
Audit date 11/05/2026
Auditor Sean Ashton, HSQE Consultant, Onyx Operations Ltd
Auditees Aaron Mason (Director), Jason May (Site Supervisor), two operatives
Result Conforms. 0 non-conformities, 1 observation
Previous audit of this area IA202508, 2025 cycle
Form FORM_INTAR001 Rev 1 ID 01/09/2025

1. Scope, criteria and independence

1.1 Scope

The requirements ISO 45001 places on AMWS that the other two standards do not: consultation and participation of workers, proactive hazard identification, the hierarchy of controls, management of change, procurement and contractors, and incident investigation.

Clauses examined: 5.4 consultation and participation of workers, 6.1.2 hazard identification and assessment, 8.1.2 eliminating hazards and reducing risks, 8.1.3 management of change, 8.1.4 procurement including contractors and outsourcing, and 10.2 incident, nonconformity and corrective action as it applies to incidents.

1.2 Independence

The auditor is an external HSQE consultant engaged through Onyx Operations Ltd. He is not an employee of AMWS and holds no line responsibility for the work audited. SOP 6.2 requires that an auditor does not audit work for which they are also responsible; AMWS has no second competent auditor, and the consultant drafted much of the documented system. The mitigation applied is that no document is tested against its own wording. Each clause is tested against records, against what the people responsible describe doing, and against what can be produced on request. Findings are reviewed and countersigned by a Director, who holds the authority to accept or reject them.

2. Method and sample

Method What was covered
Document review SOP 2.2 Communication, Consultation & Worker Participation Issue 3 (01/05/2026) · SOP 3.1 Identification and Evaluation of Risk Issue 3 · SOP 8.1 Accident, Incident & Near Miss Reporting Issue 3 · SOP 8.10 Hand-Arm Vibration Issue 3 · SOP 8.12 Confined Space Issue 3 · SOP 8.15 Fire Issue 3 · SOP 6.3 Site Inspections & Tours Issue 3 · POL_HSQE_16 Health & Safety Policy Revision 3
Registers examined APP_07 Hazard Identification at Issue 3 · APP_08 OHS Assessments at Issue 1 · APP_09 COSHH at Issue 1 · APP_22 Accident Statistics at Issue 2 · APP_21 at Issue 3
Records sampled Toolbox talk delivery for the twelve months to the audit date, including lone working 04/02/2026 and manual handling 02/04/2026 · the communication cascade test of 17/02/2026 · the monthly HSQE bulletins January to May 2026 · the Director site walk of 28/04/2026 and the action it produced · the fatigue management risk assessment issued 04/05/2026 · the mental health first aider certificates · the accident and incident position for 2023 to the audit date
Interview Two operatives, on what they are consulted about and what happens when they raise something; the Site Supervisor, on hazard identification before and during a job

3. Result against each clause

Clause What the standard requires Objective evidence examined Result
5.4 Consultation and participation of workers Establish processes for consultation and participation of non-managerial workers, provide mechanisms, remove obstacles, and consult and enable participation on the specified matters SOP 2.2 Issue 3 names the matters rather than stating a general commitment. Consultation: "Non-managerial workers must be consulted on, at minimum: determining the needs and expectations of interested parties; establishing the OH&S policy; assigning organisational roles, responsibilities and authorities..." Participation: "Non-managerial workers must be enabled to participate in: hazard identification and risk assessment; determining controls; determining competence requirements, training needs and evaluation of training... and incident investigation." Change is consulted before it happens: "Consult with employees and contractors on changes affecting H&S, prior to implementation." Evidenced in operation by the toolbox talk programme, the cascade test of 17/02/2026 which recorded a full response within the hour, and the Director site walk of 28/04/2026, at which an operative raised a PPE specification question that was routed to the office. SOP 6.3 Issue 3 adds a peer route: "Peer-led HSQE walks (operative-to-operative, structured by topic) are encouraged monthly to build the worker-participation evidence required by ISO 45001 Section 5.4." Conforms
6.1.2 Hazard identification and assessment of risks and opportunities Establish processes for hazard identification that are ongoing and proactive, and assess the risks arising SOP 3.1 Issue 3 requires both an uncontrolled and a controlled score, so the contribution of each control is visible: "Present initial risk evaluation (assuming worse case scenario with no control measures in place) using the risk rating scoring scheme." Identification is proactive and was demonstrably exercised as such within the period: a fatigue management assessment was issued on 04/05/2026 for a hazard identified in planning rather than after an incident. Review triggers include regulatory change and any accident or incident, with a maximum interval regardless Conforms
8.1.2 Eliminating hazards and reducing OH&S risks Establish processes for the elimination of hazards and reduction of risks using the hierarchy of controls The hierarchy is applied in the assessments and carried into the procedures as operating limits. SOP 8.12 Issue 3 sets the atmospheric gates for confined space entry: "Below 19.5% = oxygen deficient (asphyxiation risk); above 23.5% = oxygen enriched (fire risk). Evacuate, ventilate, re-test", and for flammables, "10–25% LEL: evacuate, ventilate; above 25% LEL: do not enter, treat as explosive atmosphere." SOP 8.15 Issue 3 sets the hot work controls: combustibles cleared "within a 10 m radius" and a "fire watch maintained throughout work and for 60 minutes after work completion". SOP 8.10 Issue 3 puts vibration exposure in the operative's own hands: "Operative records actual usage / trigger times each shift on the HAVS Exposure Log", with records retained forty years Conforms
8.1.3 Management of change Establish processes for the implementation and control of planned changes that affect OH&S performance Examined at IA202604 against the management of change procedure, which operates a stop-and-assess gate with a five-part objective test of significance. Confirmed here against the consultation requirement at SOP 2.2, which requires workers and contractors to be consulted on changes affecting health and safety before implementation Conforms
8.1.4 Procurement, contractors and outsourcing Establish processes to control procurement, coordinate with contractors to identify hazards and control risks, and ensure outsourced functions are controlled Subcontracted operatives work to the AMWS risk assessment and method statement for the task, briefed and signed before the shift. Supplier and subcontractor control runs through the approved supplier arrangements, reviewed annually, with the most recent review completed 16/04/2026. Hired plant arrives with its own statutory examination evidence and AMWS does not extend its own certificates to it. Examined in full at IA202604 Conforms
10.2 Incident investigation Establish processes for reporting, investigating and taking action on incidents, in a timely manner and with the participation of workers SOP 8.1 Issue 3 sets the internal timescale and the statutory duty separately, and is precise about when the clock starts: "Enter accident, incident or near miss details on the Incident Reporting Register within 24 hours"; "Notify HSE by phone ASAP for fatality or specified injury; submit F2508 online within 10 days; F2508A for reportable disease"; and "The statutory clock starts at the moment of injury or the moment of confirmed diagnosis, not the moment AMWS hears about it." Worker participation in investigation is required by SOP 2.2 as quoted at 5.4. The accident and incident statistics record no reportable incident and no lost-time injury across 2023 to the audit date, so the process has not been exercised on a reportable event in that period; it was tested by walkthrough with the Site Supervisor against a hypothetical service strike, and by the review of an actual customer escalation on 22/01/2026, at which lessons were documented Conforms
10.2 Near miss reporting Near misses are reported and used The same procedure covers near misses and the same twenty-four hour rule applies. The recorded near miss rate is low, and the mechanisms intended to raise it — the toolbox talk attendance route and Director presence on site — were introduced recently. This is the subject of OBS-01 Conforms — see OBS-01

4. Findings

4.1 Non-conformities

None.

4.2 Observations

Ref Clause Observation Owner Target Corrective action
OBS-01 ISO 45001 10.2 The near miss reporting rate is low. The procedure, the twenty-four hour rule and the register are all in place, and two new capture mechanisms have been introduced — the toolbox talk attendance route and Director presence on site, the latter having produced one captured action on 28/04/2026. A low rate in a business doing this work is more likely to indicate under-reporting than an absence of near misses. Monitor the rate over the coming quarter and assess whether the new mechanisms lift it Jason May 31/07/2026 CAR-2026-009

4.3 Status of the previous audit of this area

IA202508 raised the same observation on near miss reporting, carried as CAR-2025-012. It is rolled forward into CAR-2026-009 rather than closed, because the rate has not yet changed.

5. Conclusion

Occupational health and safety management conforms to the ISO 45001 requirements within the scope of this audit. The consultation and participation requirements are met at the level the clause specifies — the procedure names the matters workers must be consulted on and the matters they must be able to participate in, rather than asserting that consultation happens, and the routes were evidenced in operation and described by operatives at interview.

The strongest feature of this area is that hazard control is expressed as operating limits in the procedures the work is done under. An oxygen range, a lower explosive limit threshold, a ten metre radius, a sixty minute fire watch, a vibration action value recorded shift by shift by the person exposed to it. Controls stated as numbers are testable on site; controls stated as principles are not.

Hazard identification was demonstrated to be proactive rather than reactive by a new assessment issued for a hazard identified in planning. Incident reporting has not been exercised on a reportable event in the period, which reflects the absence of such events rather than the absence of a process; the process was tested by walkthrough and against an actual escalation reviewed in January.

One observation was raised, on the near miss reporting rate.

6. Recommendations

  1. Track the near miss rate over the coming quarter and close CAR-2026-009 on the trend rather than on the introduction of the mechanisms.
  2. When a near miss is reported, close the loop visibly at the next toolbox talk. Reporting rates rise when reporters see an outcome.
  3. Keep operating limits in the procedures rather than in the assessments alone. It is what allows a supervisor to apply a control without re-reading a risk assessment on site.

7. Sign-off

Role Name Position Signature Date
Auditor Sean Ashton HSQE Consultant, Onyx Operations Ltd S. Ashton 11/05/2026
Reviewed and accepted Aaron Mason Director A. Mason 11/05/2026