Safety audits are systematic evaluations that are conducted to assess the effectiveness of an organisation's safety management system and ensure compliance with relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards like OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) or HSE (Health, Safety, and Environment). Safety audits can identify potential hazards, risks, and weaknesses in workplace safety protocols, procedures, and practices.

Here are some key aspects of Safety Audits:

• Objective Evaluation: Safety audits involve a thorough and objective examination of various aspects of workplace safety, including physical facilities, equipment, processes, and employee behaviours.
  
  
• Compliance Assessment: Safety Auditors compare current safety practices with established standards, regulations, and best practices to determine safety compliance levels. It includes adherence to occupational health and safety laws, industry standards, and internal safety policies.
  
  
• Identification of Hazards and Risks: Safety auditors identify potential hazards and risks within the workplace environment, such as unsafe working conditions, hazardous materials, ergonomic issues, and environmental factors.
  
  
• Review of Safety Procedures: Safety audits assess the effectiveness of existing safety procedures and protocols, including emergency response plans, accident reporting mechanisms, safety training programs, and preventive maintenance schedules.
  
  
• Continuous Improvement: Safety audits promote a culture of continuous improvement by highlighting areas for enhancement and providing recommendations to mitigate risks and prevent accidents or injuries.
  
  
• Employee Involvement: In many cases, safety audits involve input from employees at various levels of the organisation. This enhances the audit process by capturing frontline perspectives and fosters employee engagement and ownership of safety initiatives.
  
  
• Follow-Up and Monitoring: After the Safety audit, organisations typically implement corrective actions based on audit findings and recommendations. Safety auditors may conduct follow-up audits to verify the effectiveness of these actions and ensure sustained improvement over time.

The term "Kamishibai" translates to "paper theatre," reflecting their original use in storytelling. Kamishibai boards are a visual management tool used to deliver essential information quickly and effectively on the shop floor, particularly within the scope of safety audits. Kamishibai Boards provide a comprehensive overview of ongoing processes across the factory floor, ensuring that critical safety checks are systematically conducted and documented.

Avoiding paper-based safety audits is crucial due to their inefficiency, error-prone nature, and difficulty managing and retrieving data. Paper systems lack real-time updates, delaying corrective actions and increasing workplace risks. They affect accessibility and collaboration and negatively impact the environment. Additionally, paper audits offer poor data analysis capabilities and are vulnerable to loss, damage, and unauthorised access, unlike digital systems, which provide better security, scalability, and advanced analytics.

When you use a Digital Kamishibai Board in your safety audits, it offers several benefits, including:

• Enhanced Visual Management: The structured format of Kamishibai boards simplifies health and safety audits by providing a clear, visual representation of safety audit tasks and their status. This makes it easier for all employees to understand the audit process and for auditors to verify compliance.
  
  
• Real-time Updates: Kamishibai Boards allow real-time tracking of safety issues and their resolutions, ensuring prompt action.
  
  
• Increasing Safety Awareness: The visibility of Kamishibai boards on the shop floor increases safety awareness among workers, ensuring that everyone is informed about safety priorities. This heightened awareness helps in preventing accidents and injuries.
  
  
• Improved Accountability: Kamishibai Boards foster a culture of accountability and transparency by publicly displaying audit tasks and responsible individuals.
  
  
• Immediate Corrective Actions: Kamishibai boards facilitate immediate corrective actions by quickly identifying incomplete tasks or safety issues through the red side of the cards. This rapid response helps mitigate risks promptly.
  
  
• Consistency in Audits: These boards ensure that safety audits are conducted consistently and comprehensively, covering all critical areas.
  
  
• Meeting Regulatory Requirements: Kamishibai boards help organisations meet regulatory requirements by systematically documenting safety checks and ensuring compliance with occupational health and safety standards. This organised approach simplifies regulatory audits.
  
  
• Employee Engagement: The interactive nature of Kamishibai Boards can increase employee involvement in safety processes, promoting a safer workplace culture.
  

1. Placement and Visibility: Kamishibai boards are strategically placed on the shop floor in areas where the processes being audited are located. This ensures that the relevant information is readily accessible and visible to supervisors and employees. Digital Kamishibai boards are accessible from any location using any devices making safety audits streamlined like never before. 

2. Task Cards: The boards are equipped with cards that detail specific tasks to be checked during the process safety management audit. These cards are crucial for process confirmation and addressing all key safety points like fire safety audit or electrical safety audit.

3. Colour-Coded Cards: Each card is double-sided, featuring green on one side and red on the other. This colour-coding system provides an at-a-glance indication of the audit status:

• Green Side: Indicates that the task has been completed successfully.

• Red Side: This signifies that the task is incomplete or that there are issues requiring attention.

4. Audit Process: Supervisors review the process confirmation checklists for each task during the audit process. They evaluate whether the key points have been adequately addressed.

5. Card Management based on the findings:

• If a process is verified as complete and compliant with safety standards, the supervisor inserts the card back into the board with the green side facing out.

• If a task is incomplete or there are identified setbacks, the card is placed back with the red side facing out. This visual cue signals that corrective actions are necessary.

6. Analysis and Improvement: The red cards prompt immediate analysis of the issues, allowing supervisors and employees to identify the root causes of setbacks. This process fosters a continuous improvement culture by highlighting areas that require corrective actions and ensuring that these actions are implemented promptly.

Step 1: Understand the Kamishibai Audit System

Familiarise yourself with the Kamishibai system, which uses visual management to monitor and improve safety processes. Recognise the main components, including task cards (green/red sides), boards, and the process confirmation checklist.

Step 2: Design the Kamishibai Audit Process

Identify the processes and areas on the shop floor that will be audited using the Kamishibai boards. Establish clear safety objectives that the audit process aims to achieve.

Step 3: Develop a Safety Audit Checklist

Create a comprehensive safety audit checklist that includes all critical safety tasks and compliance requirements. Organise the safety checklist into categories, such as equipment safety, employee behaviour, emergency procedures, and environmental conditions.

Step 4: Create a Safety Audit Kamishibai Template

Develop a standard template for the Kamishibai task cards, ensuring each card has space for detailed task descriptions, key points to check, and colour-coded sides.

Step 5: Assemble the Kamishibai Boards

Place the Kamishibai boards strategically on the shop floor within the areas identified in the audit scope. Place task cards on the boards, ensuring they are easily accessible and visible to supervisors and employees. Your Kamishibai audit and inspection software should support features such as real-time data entry, automatic reporting, and integration with mobile devices for on-the-go updates.

Step 7: Conduct Initial Training

Provide comprehensive safety audit program training for supervisors and employees on how to use the digital Kamishibai board auditing software. Ensure that your team members understand their roles and responsibilities in the audit process.

Step 8: Perform the Safety Audit

Supervisors or auditors conduct audits using the Kamishibai boards and the safety audit checklist. They check each task, referring to the process confirmation checklist. Based on the audit findings, supervisors turn the task cards green for completed tasks and red for incomplete tasks or issues.

Step 9: Analyse Findings and Take Corrective Actions

Analyse the red cards to identify setbacks and root causes of incomplete tasks. Implement corrective actions promptly and document these actions in the digital Kamishibai board software for tracking and future reference.

Step 10: Monitor and Review

Regularly review the Kamishibai boards to ensure ongoing compliance and to address new safety issues as they arise. Utilise the safety audit reports to get insights and track improvements over time.

Kamishibai boards are strategically placed on the shop floor within the areas being audited, delivering essential information at a glance. This auditing system provides a comprehensive overview of the processes occurring throughout the factory floor.

• Manufacturing Floors: To monitor machinery safety, employee practices, and hazard identification.
  
  

• Construction Sites: For daily safety checks, equipment inspections, and ensuring compliance with safety regulations.
  
  

• Healthcare Facilities: To track hygiene practices, patient safety measures, and staff compliance with safety protocols.
  
  

• Warehouses and Logistics Centers: To oversee safe handling and storage of goods, forklift operations, and emergency preparedness.

Kamishibai Boards can be used at various times, depending on the specific needs of the organisation:

• Daily Checks: For routine safety inspections and immediate identification of hazards.
  
  

• Weekly Audits: To review and analyse safety performance over the week and address any recurring issues.
  
  

• Monthly Reviews: For a comprehensive evaluation of safety practices and the effectiveness of implemented measures.
  
  

• Incident Follow-Ups: After any safety incident, to ensure corrective actions are taken and prevent recurrence.
  
  

• Project Start and End: At the beginning and end of projects to ensure safety protocols are in place and maintained throughout the project lifecycle.

In a manufacturing industry setting, let's illustrate an example of the Kamishibai Safety Audit Process:

• Setup of Kamishibai Boards: Kamishibai boards are installed strategically on the factory floor, near the machines and workstations where safety checks are required. Each board contains task cards for machine safety guards, emergency stop buttons, and employee PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) usage.

• Daily Safety Audits: Shift supervisors conduct daily safety audits using the Kamishibai boards. Supervisors review the task cards at the beginning of each shift to ensure all necessary safety checks are completed.

• Task Card Evaluation: Supervisors inspect machine safety guards to verify they are in place and functioning correctly. They also check emergency stop buttons to ensure they are easily accessible and operational. Additionally, they assess employee PPE usage to confirm that all workers wear appropriate safety gear.

• Colour-Coded Assessment: If all safety checks are completed satisfactorily, the supervisor moves the corresponding task cards to the green side, indicating compliance. However, if any issues are identified, such as missing or malfunctioning safety guards, non-functional emergency stop buttons, or inadequate PPE (Personal protective equipment) usage, the task cards are moved to the red side, signalling the need for corrective action.

• Issue Resolution: When task cards are moved to the red side, the supervisor immediately investigates the issue and takes necessary corrective actions. This may involve repairing or replacing safety equipment, providing additional training to employees on proper PPE usage, or addressing any other safety concerns.

• Documentation and Reporting: Using the Kamishibai audit report template, the supervisor documents all audit findings, including any issues identified and actions taken. This documentation records safety compliance and helps track trends over time.

• Continuous Improvement: Using the Kamishibai boards for daily safety audits, the manufacturing facility promotes a culture of continuous improvement in safety practices. Regular audits help identify areas for enhancement and ensure that safety standards are consistently upheld.

Implementing Kamishibai Boards for safety audits represents a pivotal step towards enhancing the effectiveness of safety management systems across various industries. By offering a clear, visual, and engaging method for conducting safety audits, Kamishibai Boards empowers organisations to strengthen accountability, consistency, and employee involvement in maintaining a safe work environment. Whether utilised in manufacturing, construction, healthcare, or corporate settings, these boards serve as invaluable tools for ensuring comprehensive and effective safety audits.

The visual nature of Kamishibai Boards facilitates easy identification of safety issues, prompt corrective actions, and continuous improvement initiatives. Moreover, their structured approach fosters a culture of accountability, as supervisors and employees alike are actively engaged in the audit process. This not only enhances safety awareness but also promotes a sense of ownership and responsibility for maintaining workplace safety standards.

Kamishibai Boards promote consistency in safety practices by providing standardised audit procedures and documentation formats. This ensures that safety audits are conducted systematically and uniformly across different departments and shifts, thereby minimising the risk of oversights or inconsistencies in safety protocols.

Additionally, the interactive nature of Kamishibai Boards encourages greater employee involvement in safety initiatives. By actively participating in safety audits and contributing to identifying safety hazards, employees become stakeholders in creating a safer work environment. This collaborative approach fosters a culture of shared responsibility and empowers employees to take proactive measures to mitigate risks and prevent accidents. 

Integrating Kamishibai Boards into safety audit processes signifies a commitment to prioritising safety and continuously improving safety standards. By leveraging the visual and interactive capabilities of digital Kamishibai boards, organisations can enhance safety awareness, streamline audit procedures, and cultivate a culture of safety excellence. As such, Kamishibai Boards emerge as indispensable tools for organisations striving to uphold the highest standards of workplace safety and ensure the well-being of their employees.

The LTS Digital Kamishibai Audit System can streamline your safety audits by providing a clear, visual, and engaging method for monitoring and improving workplace safety. Our Kamishibai Board Software enhances accountability, consistency, and employee involvement, ensuring comprehensive and effective safety audits. With real-time updates, automated reporting, and advanced analytics, the LTS Digital Kamishibai Audit System simplifies compliance, promotes continuous improvement, and fosters a proactive safety culture.