Thanks to a new safety systems audit tool developed by SafeCare BC, continuing care organizations across B.C. will soon be able to more easily assess the presence, implementation and effectiveness of their occupational health and safety policies, processes, and practices. This tool can be used by organizations as a self-audit tool to identify opportunities for health and safety improvement, but should only be employed at organizations that have a basic safety program in place.

Increasing the know-how

With the goal of building capacity among care professionals to conduct audits of their own organizations, SafeCare BC piloted auditor training on March 30 and 31. We want to thank the nine individuals from four organizations (two home care and support and two long-term care) who participated.

What’s next

Pilot participants will use the Safety Systems Audit tool to conduct an internal “student audit” of their own organization. After submitting this audit to SafeCare BC, participants will be asked to provide feedback on the training and audit tool. SafeCare BC will then use their feedback to amend the program to make the Safety Systems Audit Tool and the supporting training widely available to all interested SafeCare BC members in 2018.

“The pilot training was a great opportunity for organizations to learn more about the audit process. They were provided with the skills to conduct an audit on their own organization, giving them the tools they need to evaluate their internal program and make improvements as they see fit.”

– Saleema Dhalla, Director, Workplace Health and Safety Programs, SafeCare BC