What it means
An audit trail logs actions: who created a record, who edited it, what the old value was, and when. It is written by the system, not typed by a person, and ordinary users can't edit it.
For safety and training records it answers the questions that come up after an incident or during an audit. Who signed this inspection? Was the form changed afterward? When was this training marked complete?
Ask whether the trail covers edits and deletions, whether it keeps the original, and whether times come from the phone or the server. For offline apps, the time the work was done matters as much as the time it arrived.
Why it matters
A record that can be quietly changed isn't worth much when it counts. An audit trail shows that the record is what it was when it was made, or shows exactly what was changed. It doesn't make a record correct. It makes the history visible.
What it looks like on a site
- Each inspection shows who did it, on which device, and the time it was done.
- Edits to a signed record are logged, with the old and new values.
- An admin can see who changed a worker's training status, and when.
- The trail can be exported for an audit or an investigation.
- Records that were closed stay closed. Changes go in as new entries, not overwrites.
This is general information, not legal advice. Check the current rule and your own procedures. Back to the glossary