Right Directions has launched a second stage to its auditing process to challenge the way leisure operators handle their health and safety procedures.

Around 20 per cent of Right Directions' leisure-based clients, that subscribe to the company's health and safety support services, are ready to further develop their processes, generally scoring 80% or above on their yearly audits.

The Stage One Health and Safety Audit contains 35 sections, each with up to five questions that are answered on a Yes/No basis and averaged out to reach a percentage score. As well as using the scores to benchmark operators and advise on risk reduction, Right Directions provides clients with action plans to help improve their results by 5 - 10 per cent for the following year.

The new Stage Two Health and Safety Audit includes a self assessment pre-audit questionnaire that looks at generic and corporate standards. The Stage Two Audit contains less questions than the Stage One Health and Safety Audit, but includes more detail on each section, and, as with the on-site audit, will delve deeper into the delivery of each operator's health and safety processes. As with Stage One, the six-hour on-site audit will include a facility tour, interviews with several staff members, documentation checks and direct observations.

Operators are then provided with prioritised actions for improvement, including high priority for actions that must be undertaken to meet a statutory requirement, medium priority for actions needed to meet Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Guidance or HSE Approved Code of Practices and low priority to meet industry best or good practice.

Joe Ryan, Director of Right Directions, which specialises in providing health and safety and quality management support to the leisure industry, explains: "We have been working with some of our clients for up to five years now and so, having successfully put in place all the health and safety systems and processes, many of their scores in the Stage One audit are very high. This new level will test them further and look at the specifics of what they do on a day to day basis. For the clients it makes sure their processes are as efficient as they can be and that they are being delivered properly.

"Lee Valley Regional Park Authority is a prime example," continues Ryan. "When we started working with Lee Valley in 2005 their corporate average score was just 40 per cent. Through the systems and processes we put in place they averaged an impressive 95 per cent across their 19 sites this year. The Right Directions Health and Safety Audit results were backed up by their British Safety Council award, which has also improved from a one star to a four star."