A second set of eyes-the benefits of a third party audit

When everything is going well, electrical safety professionals can easily be lulled into a feeling of false complacency. This sometimes occurs when you "get away" with safety compromises for a number of years. What is often needed is another set of eyes to assess the site electrical safety program. One large chemical company chose to have such an audit performed by a consulting firm that excels in best practices and regulatory compliance issues. This paper describes the process of "selling" the concept of bringing in an independent team of auditors to company management, and provides information on (1) the auditing process including pre-audit activities, (2) onsite activities including auditing protocols and criteria involved, (3) post-audit activities, and (4) typical learnings and results.