The Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner (OFSC) runs an ongoing audit program as part of
the Scheme. These audits aim to verify the implementation of claims made in documentation by the contractor. Audits are conducted to assess compliance against the
Scheme criteria.
Audits are conducted in the following circumstances:
Accreditation audits
When a contractor applies for accreditation under the Scheme, the application undergoes a two-phase assessment. Phase one is the desktop assessment, an analysis of documents and evidence submitted by the company. Phase two is an on-site audit to verify implementation of the claims made in documentation supplied in the application.
On application there will be an initial audit. On-site audits are conducted against Scheme criteria determined by the FSC. The Scheme criteria cover three key areas:
OHS managment systems
FSC focus points
Hazard criteria
If one or more non-conformances are raised at the initial audit the contractor may be required to undergo a follow-up audit to verify that any corrective actions made to their system to address the non-conformance(s) have been implemented on site. For more information, see Audit results and Corrective Actions Guidelines for an Accreditation Audit.
Project safety audits
When an accredited company is awarded a contract for construction work covered by the Scheme, a series of project safety audits are conducted over the life of the project. For more information, see Corrective Actions Guidelines for a Project Safety Audit.
Special audits
Special audits are conducted to monitor ongoing compliance with the Scheme requirements. Some examples where special audits may be undertaken include:
- as a result of a condition of a company’s accreditation
- as a result of the compliance process being applied to a company
- as a result of continuous unsatisfactory project safety audits.
Maintenance audits
Maintenance audits are conducted on accredited companies that have not been audited through a project safety audit for at least six months. These audits form part of the requirement of accreditation, that contractors participate in ongoing on-site audits to verify they still comply with the Scheme criteria.
Timing
Audits for companies applying for accreditation and being assessed against all criteria take up to two days.
Project safety audits generally take half a day depending on the hazards selected. Follow-up audits and special audits generally take one day.
Federal Safety Officers
Audits are conducted on sites selected by the OFSC by Federal Safety Officers (FSOs) appointed under the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005. FSOs are qualified OHS auditors with experience in the building and construction industry and operate throughout Australia.
The OFSC liaises with the contractor and the FSO to set an agreed audit date.
At the completion of an audit the FSO prepares an audit report including any corrective action reports (CARs). CARs set out the detail of the non-conformance the FSO has raised against specific audit criteria.
There are two levels of non-conformance:
- Major non-conformance - A judgment made by the FSO after review of the objective evidence that the aspect of the system being audited does not meet the requirements of the audit criteria, due to an absence of a system, or the failure to implement and maintain the system.
- Minor non-conformance - A judgment made by the FSO after review of the objective evidence that the aspect of the system being audited indicates a weakness in the system or in the implementation of the system which if not addressed will lead to system failure. A number of minor non-conformances raised against the same system element may indicate a breakdown of the system and may constitute a major non-conformance.
Opportunity for improvement
An opportunity for improvement may be allocated to an activity as a comment when the activity complies with all prescribed legislation and procedures, but could be improved by making minor changes to contractor procedures.
Reporting
Contractors who undergo an audit as part of the Scheme are provided with a copy of the FSO's audit report for each audit.