BASE 3 Interview Workbook

Using this Workbook

Points
# / BASE Question* / Audience / Guidelines / POS / NEG / N/Cs / X/Y / Available / Awarded
A2.1 / Have specific safety responsibilities for all occupations been written and communicated to relevant workers? / Workers / If at least 70% of interviewed workers have had their specific safety responsibilities communicated to them, award 8 points. / (0,8) /
Notes:

Example Interview Note

Requirements:

□Data identifies who was interviewed (mangers, supervisors, workers, etc) and gives positive percentage results.

□Obtained Interview results should be summarized but not quoted.

□Data is of sufficient volume to justify the score and includes positive percentage.

□Interview data volume has to be roughly proportional to the score value.

□Scoring is based upon the percentage of positive interviews. Scoring to be rounded off to the nearest whole number

□List deficiencies, if any

□Recommendation provided for questions with less than full points.

Example:

(I)16/16 workers interviewed provided knowledgeableresponses regarding communication of specific safety responsibilities which included, WorkSafeBC regulations, certification requirements, identifying and communicating hazards, PPE, close call and incident reporting, ERP and first aid. Discussion take place during initial orientations, annual orientationsand before each job starts. The company has met the minimum 70% threshold, therefore 8/8 points awarded.

Scoring

Requirements:

□Score (including N/A) awarded is justified by notes and fully explained to the company.

□If the question has a scoring threshold, this must be referenced in the note and used to justify the score.

General

Requirements:

□O, D and I data clearly indicated and separated.

□Photographs should not be included in the notes.

□Scores should be rounded off to the nearest whole number.

□Notes are self contained and do not reference other notes.

□Notes are written in full sentences with standard professional grammar and spelling (or bullet points or lists where appropriate).

□Notes clearly demonstrate that the auditor understands the BASE tool and its application, including CAL entries from any prior audits.

□Correct inclusion of Elements G and/or H and/or applicable Technical Audit Modules.

□All N/A scoring must be clearly justified whether individual questions, elements or TAM’s. In elements A through F, only the questions with N/A instructions in the guidelines may be scored as not applicable.

Audit Recommendations

Requirements:

□Recommendations are required for any questions not scoring full points. Continual improvement recommendations are acceptable but should not influence scoring.

□Recommendations are to inform the company on what to do and to provide reason(s) and appropriate method or methods for addressing the requirements of the questions and guidelines.

□Recommendations are SMART (Simple Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely) and take into consideration the company’s capacity both to understand and to implement them.

□Recommendations relate to the question and the notes.

□Recommendations are unique and self contained for each question and do not reference other recommendations.

□Recommendations are written in full sentences with standard professional grammar and spelling (or bullet points or lists where appropriate).

□Recommendations clearly demonstrate that the auditor understands their role of giving guidance to the company on improving worker safety in an effective manner.

□Recommendations should be based on applicable current legal or regulatory requirements, standards and best practices, and appropriate to the nature of the company’s safety management system and processes.

Effective Interviews

Do’s / Don’ts
  • Conduct interviews in a private location.
  • Introduce yourself, explain the general audit process, and mention the confidentially of the interview process.
  • Explain that you will be taking brief notes so you can tally your scores at the end of the audit.
  • Ask open-ended questions.
  • Destroy these notes after the audit has been accepted and approved by the BCFSC.
/
  • Do not conduct group interviews or interviews that are not in a private location.
  • Do not record names or share your specific interview findings with others.
  • Avoid asking closed-ended questions or questions that convey what a positive answer may be.

Opening the Interview / Attentive Listening “SOLER”
Introduce yourself and tell them what you are doing.
  • Your name.
  • You are conducting an audit for the company.
  • You will be asking questions about the safety program.
  • Your interview is confidential.
  • I may be taking a few notes, it’s nothing to be alarmed about. These notes are for me alone.
  • Are you okay with this? Any initial questions?
/
  • Squarely face the person.
  • Open your posture.
  • Lean towards the sender.
  • Eye contact.
  • Relax

Internal Audits: You want to know how well the system works. Be honest. Don’t tell me what you think I want to hear. I really just want to hear the truth so we can improve our systems.

Interview Sample Sizes

Overview

The interview sample size for the large employer BASE Audit must be representative of the size of the company, the type of the business unit, and ultimately allow the auditor to get a proper sample from which to draw conclusions and score the company.The following criteria must be considered when determining the proper representative sample:

  • A cross sample of employees, based on their years of service. This should include new hires, short term employees, long term employees, and contract workers.
  • A cross sample of employees, based on their occupations. This should include field or facility workers, office staff, front line supervisors, department managers, middle managers, and executive management.
  • A cross sample of shift workers, to ensure that there is an adequate sample from all active shifts.
  • A cross sample of work sites that are covered under the same WSBC industry code, including remote sites.

Interview Guidelines

The minimum number of interviews required must meet the specified requirement of the Minimum Interview Requirements Chart.

Total Staff / Minimum Interviews / Total Staff / Minimum Interviews / Total Staff / Minimum Interviews
<5 / all / 234-240 / 35 / 560 / 66
5 / 4 / 241-249 / 36 / 561-570 / 67
6 to 7 / 5 / 250-299 / 37 / 571-580 / 68
8 / 6 / 300-302 / 38 / 581-595 / 69
9 / 7 / 303-309 / 39 / 596-605 / 70
10 to 11 / 8 / 310-312 / 40 / 606-615 / 71
12 to 14 / 9 / 313-315 / 41 / 616-625 / 72
15-16 / 10 / 316-320 / 42 / 626-638 / 73
16-17 / 11 / 321-325 / 43 / 639-645 / 74
18-20 / 12 / 326-329 / 44 / 646-655 / 75
21-24 / 13 / 330-332 / 45 / 656-665 / 76
25-27 / 14 / 333-335 / 46 / 666-678 / 77
28-30 / 15 / 336-338 / 47 / 679-689 / 78
31-36 / 16 / 339-341 / 48 / 690-699 / 79
37-44 / 17 / 342-348 / 49 / 700-705 / 80
45-49 / 18 / 349-354 / 50 / 706-719 / 81
50-64 / 19 / 355-359 / 51 / 720-729 / 82
65-74 / 20 / 360-364 / 52 / 730-740 / 83
75-88 / 21 / 365-369 / 53 / 741-749 / 84
89-99 / 22 / 370-374 / 54 / 750-790 / 85
100-120 / 23 / 375-379 / 55 / 791-840 / 86
121-149 / 24 / 380-389 / 56 / 841-959 / 87
150-199 / 25 / 390-399 / 57 / 960-1000 / 88
200-204 / 26 / 400-475 / 58 / 1001-1499 / 89
205-209 / 27 / 476-499 / 59 / 1500-1800 / 90
210-212 / 28 / 500-509 / 60 / 1801-2500 / 91
213-214 / 29 / 510-519 / 61 / 2501-4000 / 92
215-220 / 30 / 520-529 / 62 / 4001-4999 / 93
221-222 / 31 / 530-539 / 63 / 5000-9999 / 94
223-226 / 32 / 540-549 / 64 / 10000-24999 / 95
227-230 / 33 / 550-559 / 65 / 25000+ / 96
231-233 / 34

Minimum Number of Interviews

Personnel Description / # Personnel / Minimum # Interviews / Planned # Interviews
Owners
Employees (All Levels)
Dependent Contractors
Total # Personnel
Role Name / # People in Role / # Planned for Interview / Actual # Interviewed
Total
Points
# / BASE Question* / Audience / Guidelines / POS / NEG / N/Cs / X/Y / Available / Awarded
A2.1 / Have specific safety responsibilities for all occupations been written and communicated to relevant workers? / Workers / If at least 70% of interviewed workers have had their specific safety responsibilities communicated to them, award 8 points. / (0,8)
Notes:
A2.2 / Are supervisors monitoring the health and safety of all workers under their direct supervision? / Workers
Supervisors / Award up to 5 points based on % interviewed workers and supervisors reporting appropriate supervisory presence and communication of known and foreseeable hazards at the work site. / (0-5)
Notes:
A2.3 / Do supervisors know the applicable standards and required control measures when evaluating safety of work activities? / Supervisors / Award up to 10 points based on the % of positive responses from interviewed supervisors understanding the applicable legal and regulatory requirements, company safety standards and control measures required for evaluating work activities. This is intended to evaluate aggregate supervisor knowledge, so if 4 of 5 supervisors fully understand and 1 understands 50%, this would be worth 9/10 points. / (0-10)
Notes:
A2.4 / Are managers measuring and evaluating the performance of the company’s safety program? / Managers / Award up to 7 points based on % of interviewed managers able to confirm that they are appropriately evaluating key safety performance indicators and providing direction for continual improvement based on those evaluations. / (0-7)
Notes:
A2.5 / Are managers and supervisors leading by example and following the health and safety rules and procedures? / Workers / If at least 70% of interviewed workers state that managers and supervisors always follow all safety rules, award 10 points. / (0, 10)
Notes:
A2.6 / Have managers ensured that relevant health and safety regulations, industry safety codes of practice and safe work procedures are available to supervisors and workers? / Workers
Supervisors / If 70% of interviewed workers and supervisors are aware of the types of safety resources available and can describe how to access them, award 3 points. / (0,3)
Notes:
A2.8 / Has management allocated the resources necessary for the safety program? / Senior Managers / Award up to 20 points based on the % positive responses from senior management able to describe how safety resources are allocated appropriately within the company with respect to financial, operational and other constraints as well as to the activities, hazards and risks that the company manages.
Resources may be financial, personnel and/or equipment.
Senior management should have an understanding of budgeting and priority setting for safety activities and initiatives within the company structure and be able to explain this to the auditor. / (0-20)
Notes:
B1.4 / Are documented hazards, risks and controls communicated to all workers before the job starts and as they become identified during operations? / Workers / I-Award up to 8 points based on % of positive responses from interviewed workers reporting receiving communication on the hazards, risks and controls for their work activities.
The reported risk communication may be written and/or verbal. / (0-8)
Notes:
B1.5 / Is there a process in place to ensure that risks associated with new products, equipment and tools are assessed before they are purchased? / Purchasers / If at least 70% of interviewed persons with purchasing responsibility can describe the pre-purchase assessment process (whether or not it has been needed to be used), award 2 points. / (0,2)
Notes:
B2.1 / Is there a maintenance program in place for facilities, tools and equipment meeting the manufacturer, regulatory and company safety requirements? / Managers
Supervisors / Award up to 5 points based on the % of positive responses from interviewed managers and supervisors confirming the maintenance program meets manufacturer, regulatory and company safety requirements. / (0-5)
Notes:
B2.2 / Is there evidence that the maintenance program is being followed? / Maintenance Personnel / Award up to 5 points based on the % of maintenance personnel and tool/equipment users that confirm the maintenance program is being followed. / (0-5)
Notes:
B2.5 / Are workers involved directly or by representation in the development, evaluation and revision of the safe work procedures and risk control measures? / Managers
Supervisors
Workers / -If at least 70% of interviewed managers, supervisors and workers report that workers are involved in the review process, award 5 points.
It is not necessary for every worker to be directly involved in the process. Worker involvement may be via a committee or representative. However, every interviewed worker must be aware how their issue or idea could be evaluated for incorporation into a revised procedure. / (0,5)
Notes:
B2.6 / Does the company have a progressive enforcement policy to address safety non-compliance and is it being used by managers and supervisors where required? / Managers
Supervisors
Workers / Award up to 5 points based on % of interviewed managers and supervisors reporting dealing with non-compliance appropriately, consistent and progressively AND on % of interviewed workers reporting that necessary corrective actions have been taken to deal with non-compliance.
Interviews that report no corrective actions were taken due to none being needed should be re-questioned to evaluate if the person is aware of the company process and evaluated on their knowledge of the possibility of corrective action being applied for non-compliance. / (0-6)
Notes:
B4.1 / Are deficiencies being reported and the corrective/preventive actions being implemented in a timely manner? / Workers / Award up to 5 points based on % of positive responses of interviewed workers reporting BOTH that:
  1. Deficiencies are reported; AND
  2. Deficiencies are addressed in a timely manner.
/ (0,5)
Notes:
C1.1 / Does the company have general health and safety rules (other than safe work procedures or work instructions) for expected standards of safe work behaviour in the work place? / Workers
Visitors / Award up to 5 points based on the % of positive responses for interviewed workers and available visitors aware of the applicable company health and safety rules. If the auditor is a visitor, auditor awareness is to be included in the interview evidence by self-assessment. / (0,5)
Notes:
C1.2 / Does the company have a Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) policy governing the selection, training, provision and maintenance of PPE in accordance with regulatory requirements and established risk control measures? / Managers
Supervisors
Workers / If at least 70% of interviewed managers, supervisors and workers know how to use, maintain/dispose and gain access to necessary PPE, award 4 points. / (0,4)
Notes:
C1.3 / Does the company have written standards or rules regarding alcohol and drug use/abuse and impairment by any means including fatigue? / Supervisors
Workers / If at least 80% of interviewed supervisors and workers are aware in a general sense of the company rules on alcohol and drug use/abuse, award 3 points. / (0-3)
Notes:
C2.1 / Are worksite conditions in line with required company safety standards and regulatory requirements? / Managers
Supervisors / Award up to 4 points based on % of positive responses from interviewed supervisors and managers being aware of, and requiring compliance with, applicable worksite safety standards. / (0-4)
Notes:
C2.2 / Are workers complying with all company safety rules, manufacturer standards and regulatory requirements? / Workers
(new hires, dependent and non-dependent contractors) / Award up to 10 points based on % of positive responses from interviewed workers understanding the safety rules applicable to their tasks.
If possible, include new hires and dependent and non-dependent contractors in the interview sample size.
It is not necessary for workers to be able to separate regulatory, manufacturer and company requirements, only that they understand the total requirements. / (0-10)
Notes:
C2.3 / Has a Workplace Hazardous Materials (WHMIS) Information System program been implemented within the company? / Workers / Award up to 2 points based on % of interviewed workers able to describe the hazards, precautions and emergency response procedures for controlled products that they handle or work near. Workers need to have a general, practical knowledge, rather than a detailed technical knowledge. Knowing where to go, or whom to ask, for more information beyond the fundamentals is sufficient / (0-2)
Notes:
C3.2 / Are there written safe work procedures for transportation of workers to and from worksites? Are the worker transportation Safe Work Procedures (SWPs) being followed? / Supervisors
Workers / If at least 90% of positive responses of interviewed supervisors and workers being aware of ANDable to state that everyone follows worker transportation safe work procedures, award 5 points.
If the company does not have or use transportation equipment, score this question as ‘N/A’ and adjust the total accordingly. / (0,5)
Notes:
C4.4 / Are there written Emergency Response Plans (ERPs) for handling other potential emergencies relevant to the company’s operations? Are workers on the site knowledgeable regarding the ERPs? / Workers / Award up to 5 points based on the % of interviewed workers aware of their roles in applicable emergencies. The workers should be able to discuss marshalling points, communication devices, how to contact help, location of emergency numbers and understand any specific assigned responsibilities / (0-5)
Notes:
D1.1 / Does the orientation program for employees and contractors meet regulatory requirements? / Workers
(dependent contractors and non-dependent contractors) / If at least 90% of interviewed new workers confirm orientation on or before the first day of work, award 5 points.
New workers include new hires, Return-to-Work cases and reassigned or transferred workers.
Workers include workers of the company, of dependent contractors and of non-dependent contractors.
If there are no new workers in the scope of the audit, interview a sample of workers hired in the last 5 years.
If there are no new workers hired within the last 5 years, interview managers and supervisors for knowledge of the system and its applicability to future new workers. / (0,5)
Notes:
D2.1 / Does the company ensure workers are competent before they are permitted to perform their assigned tasks? / Managers
Supervisors / If at least 90% of interviewed supervisors and managers are:
  • knowledgeable about the company program and regulatory requirements, and
  • assessing workers in accordance with company and regulatory requirements,
award 3 points.
If managers also assess workers, include applicable managers in the interview sample size.
If all supervisors are also managers, exclude supervisor assessment from the question / (0,3)
Notes:
D2.2 / Is training being conducted with employees on an ongoing and as required basis? / Supervisors
Workers / If at least 90% of interviewed supervisors are aware of what training is required for which tasks and are ensuring only appropriately trained workers perform those tasks, award 2 points.
If at least 90% of workers are aware of and have received the training necessary for their assigned tasks, award 3 points. / (0-5)
Notes:
D2.3 / Are members of the Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee (JOHSC) provided with appropriate training to be competent in carrying out their duties and responsibilities? / JOHSC / Award up to 5 points based on % of interviewed current JOHSC members able to confirm all of:
  • Attending initial training;
  • Basic knowledge of their duties under the combination of legal, regulatory and company requirements; and
  • Attending 8 hours of JOHSC training per year.
/ (0-5)
Notes:
E1.1 / Are site safety/tailgate meetings being held on a monthly or more frequent basis with workers to discuss current and ongoing health and safety issues? / Workers / If at least 70% of interviewed workers confirm existence of the monthly (or more frequent) meetings and their personal attendance at all of those meetings or having meeting information passed to them after the meeting, award 5 points. / (0,5)