Recently Audit Tree interviewed Steve Unruh, an online review auditor. Although he is reviewing companies all over Canada, you may be surprised where he lives!

What is an “Online Review Auditor”?

Well an on-line review auditor is an industry professional who reviews customized audits on behalf of any company or organization wishing to assess the qualifications of companies operating in a particular industry or sector of an industry. In my case this relates primarily to safety qualifications but really could be regarding any qualifications or standards that an organization wishes to set and verify. The BC Based Business standard is a good example of something that isn’t safety related but can be audited using a system like Audit Tree. The “on-line” aspect stems from the fact that the documentation for any given audit is all submitted through an on-line portal and can be reviewed by a qualified auditor, anywhere in the world where there is internet access.

Where are you located right now?

Steve Unruh completing a review audit in his “office” November 30, 2011.

As we speak, I’m sitting on my deck, beside the Caribbean Sea on the island of St. Lucia in the West Indies.

How are you able to complete an effective audit from St. Lucia?

Well that’s one of the amazing things about living in the digital age. With the technology that exists today, any work that is administrative in nature can be conducted pretty much anywhere on the planet. The biggest part of most audits is a review of systems and their supporting documentation. That can all be scanned and uploaded using the internet, reviewed online and sent back at the touch of a button. It is actually far more efficient than the old, travel to a remote location and dig through files method that was such a big part of audits in the past.

In addition, if direct communication with either the submitting company or the reviewing organization is required, the digital age allows for both email and face to face conversations through technologies such as Skype, MSN or Facetime, something that would have been difficult even 5 years ago.

What are the benefits to “Online Review Audits”?

I think the most obvious benefit is efficiency. Doing audit reviews in this manner eliminates the need for time consuming and costly travel and it creates a much more streamlined method for the reviewer. As more and more companies recognize the efficiency of digitizing their own systems and documentation, this efficiency will only increase.

Beyond that, and I think of even greater value, is the opportunity for communication between the reviewer and the submitting company. If you believe the purpose of audits is to improve health and safety systems and their application in the field then one of the most valuable aspects of this method is the opportunity for a professional auditor to provide feedback to companies on how to improve their systems. Their is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding in the ways companies interpret their health and safety obligations and putting these companies in direct contact with experienced people who can provide direction and explanations is invaluable. This isn’t meant to be a punitive or confrontational process, it’s intended to be a way of assisting companies to improve and that, for me, has so far been the most rewarding part of this type of work.

What are the drawbacks over traditional field audits?

The only drawback that I can see at this point is that it’s one thing to have a paper system but implementation of that system can look very different on the ground. This doesn’t give an auditor the opportunity to “see” the application of the system. A traditional audit consists of basically three things, paper review, interviews and physical conditions surveys. The first two can be effectively managed through the on-line process but the last one does require putting ones feet on the ground, however for most of the different kinds of audits that can be accommodated by Audit Tree that isn’t really a necessary component.

You mentioned that qualifying organizations / contractors get much more out of the online review process… than HSE pre-qualification questionnaires. Can you chat about that?

Yes certainly. As I mentioned earlier this isn’t a confrontational process. I think traditional audit systems and registries are viewed confrontationally by the businesses being asked to jump through the hoops so to speak. I think that’s true of the regulatory process as well. A lot of that negative perception stems from a lack of understanding and a lack of communication on both sides of the system. Businesses don’t necessarily understand what’s being asked of them and qualifying organizations don’t necessarily communicate very well on how to achieve what’s being asked or even why it’s important. Through this process there is an opportunity for the audit reviewer to facilitate communication and to provide clarification to both parties and this in turn creates a value added component that just isn’t there in traditional judgement based auditing. I think, often times, businesses feel like they’re being left in the dark when working in other systems. They feel like there is a lack of support, that there is no one to explain what is being asked of them or how to achieve it. I think the value of what Audit Tree is trying to accomplish is in putting that resource in place. When a business gets stuck there is someone there to help and when they get through the process they can see where they got value out of it.

What organizations can use online review auditing? How do they use it?

Oh this could be so broad in scope. Any organization that has a need to assess and verify information to a standard that they see as important to them could make use of this system and this process. In particular if efficiency and cost effectiveness are important to them. In health and safety the examples are obvious but we can see how effective it has been with the BC Based Business standard which has nothing to do with health and safety and everything to do with business and community. Governments at every level from regional districts, to school boards to municipalities, volunteer organizations, any organization that is or needs to evaluate member or business relationships could make use of this system.

How does a professional health and safety auditor become an online review auditor?

Well since this is relatively new, certainly in the oil and gas industry, this is fairly uncharted territory at the moment but I would say the first thing is ensuring you have a broad base of experience in the industry. You want to be in a position to provide as much guidance and direction to the clients as possible and the industry is diverse so the broader your experience the more successful you will be.

Secondly, you have to find an organization like Audit Tree that is growing this sector of the industry. The beautiful thing about where Audit Tree is taking this is that there will be opportunity to work as much or as little as you like. If you want or need flexibility in your work life, if you want to live someplace less traditional but still have opportunity to utilize your knowledge and experience helping companies and organizations improve their health and safety performance or whatever aspect of the work world you happen to be involved in, this is a great way to do it.

Steve Unruh lives with his family in St. Lucia where he operates Solstice Safety. He conducts online safety audits and safety consulting services for various producers and contractors in the Canadian oil and gas industry. Steve can be contacted at his email address, solsticesafety1@gmail.com, for additional information on Solstice or his experience as an online review auditor.

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