Health and safety audit history

How to track H&S audit history without losing the evidence

The current status tells you where a record is now. The audit history proves how it got there.

What every audit event should record

• The organisation and record affected
• The authenticated person making the change
• The previous and new values or status
• A server-generated date and time
• Supporting notes, evidence and approval

Common spreadsheet weaknesses

Shared spreadsheets are easy to alter, overwrite or detach from the emails and files that explain a decision. Colour coding may show urgency, but it rarely proves authorship, independent verification or the exact sequence of events.

Protect the history

Use role-based permissions, authenticated access, organisation separation, private document storage and server-generated timestamps. Avoid letting ordinary users rewrite historical events.

Make reporting straightforward

Audit exports should bring together the record, evidence, actions, status transitions and sign-off. This reduces document hunting and makes management review more useful.