Good news from audits is really no news for management. Good news from audits means that things are going as planned and there is no need for management intervention. System effectiveness has been confirmed through the audit process.

Bad news from audits is actually good news for management! The audit findings give management the opportunity to act (create incentive for change). Hopefully that change will correct the bad news situation discovered during the audit.

No News is Bad News. Organizations not performing audits have no means to assess the effectiveness of the management system. They are not getting information feedback about the organizations EH&S performance.

I encourage organizations to continue to audit even if they struggle to correct all the problems discovered. At some point the light bulb will turn on and the organization will recognize they have a problem with the corrective action process and hopefully figure out a fix.