Most safety programs fail an audit not because the documents are missing but because the documents stopped describing the work years ago. This self-assessment measures that gap directly: twenty questions about what is written, answered against what actually happens.
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Score each question: 0 no · 1 partly, or only sometimes · 2 yes, and I could prove it today. Question 6 is reverse-scored: 0 yes, workarounds exist · 1 some · 2 no. Maximum 40.
| # | Question | Score | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Could you produce your written safety program right now, in under five minutes, in its current version? | ||
| 2 | Has anyone other than the person who wrote it read it in the past twelve months? | ||
| 3 | Do the procedures describe how the work is actually done, rather than how it was done when they were written? | ||
| 4 | Can a front-line worker find the procedure for their task without asking a manager? | ||
| 5 | If you asked three workers how a high-risk task is done, would you get the same answer? | ||
| 6 | Are there known workarounds that everyone uses and no procedure mentions? (Reverse-scored: 0 yes, 1 some, 2 no.) | ||
| 7 | Are your hazard assessments specific to your site, rather than a template with your name inserted? | ||
| 8 | Has a hazard assessment been updated because the work changed, in the past year? | ||
| 9 | Do your inspection findings get assigned to a named person with a date? | ||
| 10 | Do those findings actually close, and does someone verify they closed? | ||
| 11 | Are near misses reported by workers without a manager having to chase them? | ||
| 12 | When something is reported, does the person who reported it hear what happened next? | ||
| 13 | Do investigations reach a system cause, rather than stopping at “worker did not follow procedure”? | ||
| 14 | Could you produce any individual worker’s training record within five minutes? | ||
| 15 | Do you know which certifications expire in the next ninety days without going to look? | ||
| 16 | Has a worker stopped a job on safety grounds in the past year, and was that person supported afterwards? | ||
| 17 | Do supervisors have time in their day to do the safety duties their job description lists? | ||
| 18 | Does your joint committee change anything, or does it record that nothing changed? | ||
| 19 | Do contractors on your site work under your safety expectations in practice, not just in the contract? | ||
| 20 | Did last year’s management review change a single thing about how work is done? | ||
| Total (out of 40) |
| Total | What you have | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 0 – 13 | A binder | The program exists as a document and not much else. An inspector will find the gap in the first hour. |
| 14 – 25 | A program with drift | Real in places. The written and the actual have diverged and nobody has reconciled them. |
| 26 – 34 | A working program | It runs. The remaining gaps are usually verification and closing the loop with workers. |
| 35 – 40 | A managed program | Documented, practised and improving. Ready for external audit. |
Have a supervisor and a front-line worker complete the same twenty questions independently. Record the questions where your answers differ most.
| Q# | Manager score | Supervisor score | Worker score | What the gap tells us |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Our consultants (CRSP Certified · COR & ISO 45001 Lead Auditors) can adapt this to your workplace or review your safety program with you.
This resource is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm every requirement against the current regulation in your jurisdiction before relying on it.