Learning-Centred Approaches to Health and Safety Audits

Health and safety audits have long been an essential part of ensuring safe workplaces. Historically, the emphasis has been on compliance with established standards such as ISO 45001, usually conducted through checklists, documentation reviews, and verification against prescribed procedures.

Posted

17.07.2025

Written by

Richard Bowen

While this compliance-led approach brings structure and legal assurance, there is growing recognition that richer and more lasting improvements arise when audits become opportunities for learning and adapt themselves to the organisational context.

From Traditional Compliance to Learning and Exploration

ISO 45001, the international standard for occupational health and safety management systems, remains the most widely adopted model in the UK and globally. It sets out requirements for leadership involvement, worker participation, risk assessment, and continuous improvement. The ISO audit process is thorough and systematic, often including document checks, interviews, and formal assessments to ensure that policies and procedures are being followed exactly as written.

While the rigour of ISO 45001 audits cannot be dismissed, they also have limitations. A traditional audit can easily become a process where people focus on passing an inspection, rather than one where the organisation genuinely learns about its strengths and weaknesses. As Ruth Waring, a respected safety specialist in logistics, puts it, “The difference between a living system and static paperwork is that the latter cannot adapt or evolve- yet our workplaces need to be able to do both to remain safe.”

What Does a Learning-Centred Audit Look Like?

In learning- centred auditing, the process is collaborative and dynamic. Rather than simply reviewing standards and checking boxes, the auditor invites discussion, encourages people to share their experiences, and listens for the stories behind the data.

This approach values what people actually do, the "work as done", as much as what should happen according to the manual. It acknowledges that things are rarely as simple or as straightforward as a procedure might make them seem.

Research from recent years demonstrates the benefits of this perspective. A 2024 study in the journal Safety Science reported that meaningful improvement in safety culture and outcomes occurs most reliably when staff at all levels are involved in reflecting on audit findings, and when those findings are used to drive practical changes quickly. The authors found that ongoing dialogue and learning, more than simple documentation exercises, were critical to sustained improvements.

Similarly, a comprehensive review published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) observed that “bottom up” audit models, where staff shape solutions together, lead to greater engagement and longer lasting change than “top down” inspections. Instead of audits providing comfort without impact, these learning- centred models encourage people to challenge assumptions, surface weak signals, and be honest about what is not working as well as what is.

Learning as a Shared Responsibility

Karl Weick, a leading organisational theorist, wrote “Error is everywhere. What is rare are well developed skills to detect and address errors while they are still small.” This underlines the need for an audit culture that treats uncertainty, adaptation, and informal learning as important as formal compliance. Rather than simply identifying non-conformities, learning-centred audits foster a sense of shared ownership regarding improvement. People at all levels feel empowered to suggest changes and contribute their unique perspectives.

Industry leaders reinforce this shift. Stephen Asbury, a noted British safety professional, encourages adopting a “gemba mindset”, in other words, going to the place of actual work and engaging with the people doing it.

“People support what they have helped to create,”

he observes, emphasising the importance of co- creation in successful safety management.

At a recent Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) conference, practitioners voiced frustration with audits that only measure injuries or negative outcomes. Safety Director Bob Fitzgerald, remarked, “When we focus on injuries, we are chasing after the fact rather than looking at the conditions and activities that prevent harm in the first place.” Learning-centred approaches help to move the focus towards more meaningful leading indicators by asking what is enabling or hindering safe work right now.

The Value of Context

One of the most important developments in health and safety auditing is the recognition of the role of context. Every organisation, site, and even department has its own specific risks, work practices, and culture. A recent Lloyds Register Foundation report on safety interventions found that the most effective safety measures are those adapted to the local environment and regularly updated based on feedback from those involved. “Organisations should give as much thought to the context in which an intervention is deployed as to the intervention itself,” the authors recommend.

A study by Dan Davis and colleagues in 2023 showed that generic, prescriptive audit models rarely lead to sustained improvement unless they are tailored to the “operational and cultural realities of the workplace.” The University of Aberdeen’s audit guidelines also stress that understanding local hazards, workflows, and staff perspectives makes audits more relevant, credible, and effective.

Context driven auditing means asking, “How does this specific team get its work done? What are the unique pressures and resources in this environment?”

It encourages looking beyond universal checklists to questions about how people respond to risk on the ground, how safety initiatives interact with other business needs, and how lessons can be spread across similar but not identical situations elsewhere in the organisation.

Connecting to ISO 45001: Compatibility and Opportunity

A learning-centred, audit approach does not conflict with ISO 45001 requirements. The standard explicitly calls for leadership, worker involvement, and continual improvement. What learning- centred methods offer is a way to truly live out these clauses in day-to-day practice.

For example, Clause 5.4 of ISO 45001 requires effective worker consultation and participation. A learning-centred audit goes beyond survey forms or brief interviews, instead creating space for real conversation, critical reflection, and collaboratively developed solutions. Similarly, Clause 10 emphasizes improvement based on audit findings. When those findings harness the knowledge, experience, and creativity of frontline staff, improvement becomes more rapid and robust.

The future of health and safety auditing lies not simply in more detailed checklists or broader documentation, but in the willingness to learn, to listen, and to adapt. Research consistently shows that organisations who see audits as opportunities for collective discovery gain deeper insights and more sustainable improvements. Practitioners who listen to staff, embrace local context, and encourage open dialogue are able to move beyond compliance and towards true safety resilience.

To quote Andrew Hale, a leading safety researcher, “Safety is not a product of rules enforced, but of lessons learned and shared by everyone involved.” Organisations that want to not only meet standards but truly protect their people would do well to embrace learning, context, and participation at the heart of their audit processes.

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Learning-Centred Approaches to Health and Safety Audits

Posted

Written by

From Traditional Compliance to Learning and Exploration

What Does a Learning-Centred Audit Look Like?

Learning as a Shared Responsibility

The Value of Context

Connecting to ISO 45001: Compatibility and Opportunity

Written by

Richard Bowen

Senior Consultant