Gap assessments and reviews

Safety due diligence before you buy a company

Also called: Pre-acquisition safety review

A pre-acquisition safety review tells a buyer what they are inheriting: the state of the safety program, the records behind it, the claims history, open orders and certificates. You get a plain summary of the risk and what it will cost in time and effort to fix.

See a sample report

Quoted per site. Call 1-800-440-6650 to talk to a safety expert.

Who does the work: Building and auditing safety programs for companies across Western Canada since 2008.

Who asks for a pre-acquisition safety review?

Buyers and their advisors

Safety is part of what you are buying. A weak program means claims, lost prequalification and a COR that may not survive the change of ownership.

Sellers getting ready

Find and fix the gaps before a buyer's review does, so they do not become a price discussion.

What do we check?

Program and certificates

  • Safety program and whether it matches the work
  • COR or SECOR status and what the change of ownership means for it
  • Prequalification platform standing with key clients

History

  • WCB experience and claims history
  • Incidents, investigations and open regulator orders
  • Fleet safety record, if the company runs commercial vehicles

Sample report

What does the report look like?

Four pages from a sample report, built on invented data. Real reports follow the same order: the summary first, then the scores, every improvement in full, and a roadmap to close them.
Sample Company Ltd.Sample

Executive summary

Site A and Site B, against the owner's contract requirements

91.4%

Conformance, Site B

Satisfactory

A well-established program with focused improvements at Site B.

What is working

  • Daily hazard assessments completed before work on every crew observed
  • Supervisors knew the emergency plan and muster points
  • Inspection program running on schedule at Site A

Top priorities

  • Review task assessments for the night crew
  • Run the overdue emergency drill at Site B
  • Get monthly statistics to the owner on time
Invented data for illustrationPage 1
1 of 4

Sample gap list

What does a gap look like?

Every gap names what we found, the evidence behind it, the fix, and the reference it comes from. Filter the sample list or open any row.

Showing 8 of 8 sample gaps

  • Evidence we checked
    3 of 5 task assessments sampled pre-date the change; the night crew supervisor confirmed in interview.
    The fix
    Review the three assessments with the night crew, add lighting and fatigue controls, and set a review trigger for any change in hours.
    Reference
    Alberta OHS Code, Part 2
    Target
    Within 30 days

How does it work?

  1. Confidential scoping

    What you are buying, the timeline, and who else is on the deal team.

  2. Data room review

    We work from the documents in your data room, with a named list of anything missing.

  3. Site visit, if allowed

    Where the deal allows it, a visit to the main site to check that practice matches paper.

  4. Risk summary

    A short report: what is solid, what is at risk, and the likely effort to fix each item.

What does it not cover?

  • Not legal or financial due diligence. We report on the safety side; your lawyers and accountants cover theirs.

  • Not public. The work is confidential and reported only to the person who engages us.

Frequently asked questions

What is safety due diligence?

A review of a company's health and safety program, records and history as part of buying it, so the buyer knows the risks and the cost of fixing them before closing.

How fast can you turn it around?

Deal timelines are short. Tell us the closing date and we will scope the review to fit it.

Is it confidential?

Yes. We report only to you, and nobody at the target company is told more than your deal team allows.

Related services

Other gap assessments and reviews

All gap assessments

Book a pre-acquisition safety review

Tell us what your customer, regulator or certifying partner is asking for. We will scope it and quote it per site, usually the same business day.

Call a safety expert: 1-800-440-6650