Recently a client inquired about utilizing a consultant to conduct a “third-party” audit of his operations using the client’s second-party auditing protocols. At first, I thought this was an innocent request, but the more I got to thinking about it, I realized the client was simply transferring second-party auditing responsibility from his organization to the consultant’s organization. The client assumed this would reduce internal costs and introduce a “fresh-eyes” perspective of his operations. Since several sites had experienced fatalities and numerous injuries over the past year, I wondered if the client was contemplating the possibility of transferring some liability, if the need surfaced. More on this later.
Introducing a “Third-Party Systemic Safety Audit” protocol into an existing internal second-party safety audit program serves as an excellent means for establishing the overall effectiveness of a corporate safety audit process. For years, third-party safety audits have been treated as an industry best practice providing an external perspective on the effectiveness of the safety management systems a corporation depends upon to ensure compliance.