Recently, the global economy has been a bit of a bear. Canada has been hit pretty hard by low oil prices and the downswing in the commodity super cycle. Many industries have been forced to downsize.
From a COR auditing standpoint, downsizing can result in technicalities. Specifically, a large employer (defined as 20+ employees) can become a small employer (defined as 4 – 19 employees). An example might be a company that originally had 28 employees, downsizes, and now has 18 employees. They crossed a technical threshold and went from large employer status to small employer status.
In this large to small situation, the employer has two choices.
- Continue to use the large employer audit tool and a combination of an external auditor for re-certification audits and a qualified internal auditor for annual maintenance audits.
- Audit themselves using the small employer audit tool and a qualified internal auditor for both re-certification and annual maintenance audits
Why two choices? Why not just use the small employer audit tool?
Look to the future. Often, downsizing is temporary and employers typically begin hiring again as conditions improve. Large employer status will be regained relatively soon.
Additionally, it’s not like the company suddenly became less sophisticated just because the employee 
count dropped. Often, the company is doing the same work, with the same risks, just with a leaner workforce.
Turning 180°, some companies are small employers who are growing quickly. Typically, they have 15 to 19 employees, with intent to hire more in the near-term. They’ll be a large employer in no time.
Companies on this trajectory should strongly consider challenging the large employer audit even when they are still small employers. It is inefficient to audit your safety management system with the small employer standard when the company will be required to audit using the large employer audit tool in the next 8, 12, or 15 months. The effort would be better spent by immediately developing the safety management system to the higher standard.
Please contact cor@safetydriven.ca if you have any questions.
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