A structured, independent review of your health & safety management system — benchmarked against current UK law, scored, and handed back as a prioritised action plan. Delivered by CMIOSH consultants with an OSHCR-registered lead. Since 1984.
A health and safety audit is a structured, independent review of your whole H&S management system — your policies, procedures, records and how things actually happen on site — measured against current UK law and good practice. It is broader than an inspection: an inspection looks at physical hazards on a walk-round; an audit examines whether the system behind them is sound.
There is no single law that says “you must have an audit.” But Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Regulation 5 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require every employer to make arrangements to monitor and review their H&S performance — and an independent audit is the recognised way to do that properly.
A KeyOstas audit includes a document review, staff interviews, a site walk and a scored report against the legislation that applies to you — finishing with a prioritised action plan, not just a list of problems. It is delivered by a CMIOSH consultant, so the competence behind the findings is verifiable.
Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Regulation 5 of MHSWR 1999 require employers to plan, organise, control, monitor and review their health and safety arrangements. An independent audit is the established method of evidencing that monitoring and review duty.
Six elements in every KeyOstas audit — delivered by a CMIOSH consultant and available as a one-off project or a recurring annual review.
We examine your H&S policy, risk assessments, procedures, training records and accident data against current law.
An on-site review of how work is actually done — conditions, controls and culture, not just paperwork.
Short conversations across roles to test whether the system on paper matches the system in practice.
A written report benchmarking you against the legislation that applies, with a clear compliance score.
Every finding becomes a tracked action with a priority, an owner and a target date — closed, not just listed.
We distinguish system findings from physical-hazard findings so you know what to fix structurally vs on the day.
Four reasons UK employers choose KeyOstas for an independent, credible H&S audit.
Five CMIOSH-grade consultants — Chartered Members of IOSH, the highest grade IOSH awards. Most one-person UK consultancies hold no Chartered grade at all.
Our lead consultant is listed on the Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register — the cross-body register endorsed by HSE, IOSH and IEMA. Verify us directly on OSHCR.
No junior account managers, no offshored advice lines. The Chartered consultant who scopes your engagement on the free call is the consultant who delivers it.
Findings closed, not just listed. Documents your team will actually use. The benchmark is whether this made your business safer.
From first call to delivery, the Chartered consultant you meet is the consultant who does the work — no handoffs, no junior advisors.
Talk to a Chartered consultant. We map your current state, your regulatory exposure and your priorities. No obligation, no pitch.
Written scope, deliverables, the named consultant who will lead, and a fixed fee or retainer rate — in your inbox within one working day.
Site work, documentation and ongoing competent-person support if you need it. The consultant who scoped the work is the consultant who delivers it.
A one-off audit is fixed-scope project work; recurring annual audits sit naturally inside a retained advisory package.
A standalone health & safety audit — document review, site walk, interviews and a scored report with a prioritised action plan. Written proposal within 24 hours of the scoping call.
Recurring annual audits, plus ongoing competent-person support, built into a retained package. Silver tier and above formally name KeyOstas as your Competent Person under Regulation 7.
The questions UK buyers ask us most about this service. Tap any to expand.
An inspection is a physical walk-round that spots hazards in the workplace on the day. An audit is deeper: it reviews the management system behind those hazards — your policies, procedures, records and how the system performs — against current law. You need both; the audit finds the structural gaps, the inspection catches what is happening right now.
There is no single law mandating an “audit” by name. But Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Regulation 5 of MHSWR 1999 require employers to monitor and review their H&S arrangements. An independent audit is the recognised, defensible way to meet that duty.
For most organisations an annual audit is appropriate, with a more frequent cycle for higher-risk operations. You should also audit after any significant change — new premises, new processes, a serious incident, or major legislative change.
A competent person — someone with sufficient training, knowledge and experience for your risks. For a credible, independent audit that means a qualified H&S professional; KeyOstas audits are delivered by CMIOSH (Chartered) consultants with an OSHCR-registered lead.
A KeyOstas audit report gives you a compliance score against the legislation that applies to you, the findings grouped by theme, and a prioritised action plan — each action with a priority rating, a suggested owner and a target date. It is written to be used by your management team, not filed and forgotten.
A focused audit of a single small site is often completed in a day on site plus reporting; larger or multi-site organisations take longer. We confirm the time and a fixed fee in the written proposal within 24 hours of the free scoping call.
Services and courses UK employers most often combine with this one.
Free 20-minute scoping call. Written proposal and fixed fee within 24 hours. No obligation — if an audit is not what you need, we will say so.
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