Site inspections and compliance audits

The record

What Stephen has delivered

Site and premises inspections for client businesses since 2011, producing reports and supporting closeout where required.
Inspecting and supporting each site team across three to nine live housing sites during 18 months seconded to a national housing contractor.
Gap analysis and organisational development planning as the first step of each client engagement, as Consultancy Director from 2017 to 2023.
Compliance auditing and policy review as core competencies across construction, retail, fabrication and process operations.
Safety analysis and reporting to clients, and monthly reporting to a contractor’s board.

Sectors

Where this was applied

Construction and housing developmentClients, principal contractors and contractors on commercial and housing projects, from demolition and groundworks through to completion, under CDM 2015.Read more Civil engineering and groundworksGroundwork and reinforced-concrete-frame contractors on highways, footings and deep excavation works, from a background in plant operation.Read more Retail fit-outFit-out projects from shell and core through to Category B: short programmes, trading neighbours and the public a hoarding away.Read more Fabrication and process operationsWorkshops, fabrication shops and process plants: machinery, hot work, hazardous substances and the management systems that hold up on the shop floor.Read more

Places

Areas where this discipline mattered most

Guides

Read the guide

ManagementThe health and safety policy: what the law requires and what a good one containsSection 2(3) of the 1974 Act, the five-employee threshold, the three parts of a policy, the arrangements section inspectors read first, and who signs it.Read more IncidentsAccident investigation: finding the root cause, not the person to blameThe HSG245 four-step approach, immediate, underlying and root causes, what RIDDOR requires and when, and the evidence to secure in the first hour.Read more

Questions about Inspections and audits

How often should a construction site be inspected?

There is no fixed legal interval for general site inspections, but the duty to monitor is continuous and specific inspections are prescribed: excavations at the start of every shift, scaffolds every seven days and after adverse weather, and lifting equipment at the intervals set by LOLER. Most principal contractors run a documented weekly inspection alongside daily supervisor checks.

What does a health and safety audit look at?

Policy and organisation, risk assessment and control, competence and training, communication and consultation, monitoring and inspection, incident reporting and investigation, and management review. Each is tested against documents, interviews and what is physically found in the workplace.

What is a gap analysis?

A structured comparison of a business’s current health and safety arrangements against what it needs: the law, a client’s or scheme’s requirements, or a standard. The output is a list of the gaps, prioritised, with a plan and owners for closing them. It is usually the first step in a new engagement.