Public health inspections and audits are essential tools in achieving compliance with regulations, policies, and procedures. While they share the common goal of evaluating your operations, they are in fact two distinct processes, with the difference between them found within their respective scopes.
Inspections & Audits
Culture Transformation is a Journey — It’s Time to Cast Off
The key to quality is to practice continuous improvement. By shifting focus to creating a positive public health culture, you can guarantee hygiene and sanitation standards throughout your fleet.
Public Health Compliance is Just the Beginning
Inspections provide quantitative information by examining vessels’ facilities, equipment, and processes to ensure they meet regulatory requirements. They evaluate past performance and focus on “the what” by assessing compliance at specific operational levels, mainly through the review of documentary evidence, observations, and interviews with crew.
Audits look towards the future by focusing on “the why”. They provide qualitative information by evaluating the effectiveness of company-designated control measures in preventing hazards and risks. Audits determine whether a company is compliant with regulations, identify weaknesses in management systems, and find opportunities to improve processes.
Your public health program may be compliant with regulatory requirements but still have critical flaws that leave crew and passengers at risk of illness!
Key Advantages of Inspections & Audits
When combined, public health inspections and audits can be a powerful tool in shaping your company’s public health values by:
Identifying areas for improvement. Audits and inspections can determine areas where improvement is required, helping your company become more efficient and effective.
Conducting evidence-based decision-making. Through the collection of data and evidence, audits and inspections can be used to evaluate previous decisions and make informed conclusions for the future based on facts rather than assumptions.
Establishing priorities and resources effectively. By highlighting and assessing risks, inefficiencies in processes, or gaps in compliance, audits and inspections support with optimizing assets and prioritizing resources, ensuring you address the most significant hazards and avoid potential legal or financial consequences.
Developing and implementing action planning. Observations raised during audits and inspections will provide a comprehensive understanding of your company’s public health performance, enabling the development of corrective measures to address any areas for enhancement.
Preventing public health incidents. Audits and inspections help identify potential public health issues before they become major problems, saving your company time and money in the long run, while protecting your brand and reputation from lasting damage.
Operate Your Ships with Assurance
Through MHS client-tailored audit and inspection programs, your company will benefit from our unbiased and objective perspective, helping enhance compliance efforts while protecting your company’s reputation. Start collaborating with us today to reduce the risk of public health incidents and increase your confidence in on board operations.