An Environment Health and Safety (EHS) audit is an important step in ensuring that employees are working in a safe environment. By conducting an EHS audit, you can identify potential hazards and make necessary modifications to workplace conditions. With an EHS audit checklist, you can ensure that everyone in your workforce is aware of safe work practices and knows how to respond if they encounter a hazard.
Improve health and safety at the workplace with an EHS audit checklist
It’s important to take safety precautions when working in a hazardous environment. That’s why an environmental health and safety audit is so valuable. This audit can help you identify potential hazards and make necessary modifications to workplace conditions.
While conducting an EHS audit checklist, you’ll need to perform a visual inspection of the site. You should check for general safety issues, such as signage that warns of dangerous materials or areas, adequate ventilation systems, safe work procedures, and training/education programs related to environmental health and safety. You should also inspect specific areas where workers may be exposed to potential dangers, such as chemical storage facilities or processing zones.
After completing your assessment, make any necessary changes to the workplace conditions and implement safer practices for employees.
Key elements of the EHS audit checklist
Here’s what the checklist includes so you can make the most of your audits
- Clear identification of inspection areas: You want your checklist to map out each zone or department clearly, from warehouse floors to chemical storage rooms. Structuring it this way keeps inspections systematic and reduces the risk of overlooking hidden problem areas.
- Detailed safety equipment checks:: Don’t just list “fire extinguisher.” Instead, ask your team to confirm if it’s mounted correctly, serviced on time, and accessible. Specific prompts drive better inspections and more actionable findings.
- Employee practices and behavior: A great checklist also tracks how workers interact with safety rules, like using PPE correctly or keeping exits clear. Observing daily behavior often reveals risks policies alone can’t catch.
- Storage and material handling review: Include checks for shelving stability, hazardous material labeling, and proper storage heights. Overloaded shelves or misplaced chemicals cause accidents faster than most realize.
- Emergency response readiness: Test more than equipment—confirm that evacuation maps are posted, alarm systems work, and staff know procedures. Preparing for “what if” scenarios strengthens real-world readiness.
- Documentation and compliance tracking: Finish with sections that check record-keeping, training certificates, and maintenance logs. A well-documented audit protects you during inspections and makes it easier to show regulators your proactive efforts.
Download Lumiform’s EHS audit checklist today
Simplify your inspection process with an easy-to-use checklist you can tailor to your operations. Assign tasks, capture evidence with photos, add detailed notes, and create action items, all within a single workflow. No important checkpoint slips through the cracks when you have a clear, methodical tool at hand.