’What’s in an Audit’?

A qualitative analysis of audit practices and how they frame psychosocial work environment initiatives in OHS certified municipalities

Abstract

The article examines the management of psychosocial work environment in Danish municipalities by analyzing audit practices which is one of the main building blocks in occupational health and safety management (OHSM) systems. Prevailing research has highlighted a number of challenges in the management of psychosocial working environment in such systems. It can in particular be problematic that audits tend to focus on the procedures for OHS management rather than actual working environment issues at stake. The article scrutinizes how audits are carried out in practice in two Danish municipalities. The analysis suggests that in spite of the fact that certified OHSM systems are supposed to meet requirements specified in an international standard (OHSAS 18001), audit methods underlying such systems vary considerably. Not only do the internal practices between workplaces differ, but the interpretations of standards by external auditors monitoring these seem to vary as well. Furthermore, while auditors from external certification bodies seem competent and successful in depicting relevant psychosocial work environment issues (also the problematic ones) and have considerable knowledge of ‘what’s going on’, they do not have the au - thority nor the regulatory tools to enforce their assessment and suggestions for improvement and such problems are therefore rarely visible in the formal audit reports. The standard requires auditors’ assessments to be based on ‘objective evidence’ which makes it particularly difficult for auditors to sustain their judgment of the psychosocial work environment because such judgments are usually based on interviews with em - ployees and other qualitative data which are not interpreted as objective evidence. In addition, the bearing principle of risk assessment in OHSAS 18001 tend to prioritize the type of psychosocial work environment issues which can be identified as singular incidents e.g. threats and violence, while more complex issues are difficult to capture and diagnose via audits. Although these shortcomings are emphasized, the article concludes by stating that audits also shed light on a broader range of psychological work environment issues in their dialogue with local managers and employees although these do not appear in the formal audit reports.