Can safety auditing replace inspection?

In the event of a Conservative victory next Spring, there could be a major shift in approach to health and safety regulation. The shift would see a move from regulation to so-called “co-regulation” and from inspection to auditing. With the banking crisis fresh in everyone’s mind, there is of course no mention of “self regulation”, although the move to replace inspection with auditing, as with finance functions, may raise a few eyebrows in the current climate.