InspectWrk

Ethics Program Checklist

Use this ethics program checklist to work through governance and leadership commitment, code of conduct and policies, training and communication, reporting channels and whistleblower protection, conflicts of interest, gifts, and anti-bribery, and investigations and disciplinary process, recording pass, fail, or N/A and capturing a photo on anything that needs proof.

8 sections24 questions16 to 30 minutesFree

Ethics ProgramHead office · Governance and Leadership Commitment0 of 3 checked
  • Confirm senior leadership visibly supports the ethics program.Desk covered with printed charts, sticky notes, red glasses, pencils and a hole punchPhoto Added
  • Check accountability for the program is assigned and resourced.Desk covered with printed charts, sticky notes, red glasses, pencils and a hole punchPhoto Added
  • Confirm the program is reviewed at management level.Desk covered with printed charts, sticky notes, red glasses, pencils and a hole punchPhoto Added
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What’s in this checklist.

8 sections · 24 questions · 16 to 30 minutes · Free

    1. Confirm senior leadership visibly supports the ethics program.

    2. Check accountability for the program is assigned and resourced.

    3. Confirm the program is reviewed at management level.

    1. Confirm a code of conduct and supporting ethics policies exist.

    2. Check the policies are current and accessible to employees.

    3. Confirm the policies cover the organisation's key ethics risks.

    1. Confirm employees receive ethics and code-of-conduct training.

    2. Check the program is communicated across the organisation.

    3. Confirm training records are kept.

    1. Confirm reporting channels for ethics concerns are available.

    2. Check whistleblowers are protected from retaliation.

    3. Confirm reports are recorded and followed up.

    1. Confirm conflicts of interest are declared and managed.

    2. Check gifts and hospitality are recorded against the policy.

    3. Confirm anti-bribery and corruption controls are in place.

    1. Confirm a process exists to investigate reported concerns.

    2. Check investigations are fair, documented, and timely.

    3. Confirm a disciplinary process applies consistent outcomes.

    1. Confirm ethics expectations are set for third parties.

    2. Check an ethics risk assessment informs the program.

    3. Confirm higher-risk areas receive additional attention.

    1. Confirm the program is monitored and measured.

    2. Check records support the program's activities.

    3. Confirm a periodic management review drives continuous improvement.

How the Ethics Program checklist works.

Three steps, about 16 to 30 minutes.

  1. Work through each section

    Section by section, one check at a time.

  2. Log every finding

    Tap Fail, add a photo, assign who fixes it.

  3. Sign off and share

    The report is ready the moment you finish.

Same checklist, two ways to run it.

Paper for a one-off check. The app when every finding needs fixing.

Printed PDF

  • Pen on paper
  • Photos in your camera roll
  • Report typed up later

InspectWrk appRecommended

  • Photos on every finding
  • Owner and due date per finding
  • Report ready at sign-off
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What is an ethics program checklist?

Quick answer

An ethics program checklist is used to assess whether an organisation's ethics and compliance program is established, communicated, accessible, and actively managed. Rather than a list of ethical behaviours, it is a program assessment: it covers governance and leadership commitment, the code of conduct and policies, training and communication, reporting channels and whistleblower protection, conflicts of interest, gifts and anti-bribery controls, investigations and discipline, third-party expectations and risk assessment, and monitoring, records, and management review. It answers whether the program is real and working, not just written down.

An ethics program checklist is a program-level assessment tool for an organisation's ethics and compliance program. It is deliberately broader than a single anti-bribery or whistleblower checklist, and it is not just a list of ethical behaviours: it assesses whether the program is established, communicated, accessible, and actively managed. Working through governance and leadership commitment, the code of conduct and policies, training and communication, reporting channels and whistleblower protection, conflicts of interest, gifts and anti-bribery controls, the investigation and disciplinary process, third-party expectations and risk assessment, and monitoring, records, and management review, it answers one question: is the ethics program real and working across the organisation, or only written down?

Why ethics programs exist on paper only

Many organisations have a code of conduct and little else. Training is a one-off, reporting channels are unknown or distrusted, conflicts and gifts go undeclared, and no one monitors whether any of it works. The program looks complete in a policy binder but is not lived day to day, which is exactly what fails under scrutiny.

An ethics program assessment fixes that by checking the whole program, from leadership and policies to training, reporting, risk, and review, so the organisation can see what is genuinely in place and what needs to improve.

Before and After InspectWrk

Before InspectWrk

  • risk management & compliance inspections for ethics program happen on paper or in WhatsApp threads, with no timestamp and no photo evidence.
  • Ethics program checks are ticked on paper without photo evidence per finding.
  • You find out about an ethics program issue from a client complaint or an auditor, not from your own team in real time.

After InspectWrk

  • Compliance officers complete the inspection in the app with photo evidence at the ethics program, even offline.
  • Managers see open findings, closure status, and your code of conduct and ethics policies, anti-bribery and corruption requirements and your compliance governance framework evidence live on one dashboard.
  • Overdue corrective actions escalate automatically so the fix happens before the next risk management & compliance audit.

Why is an ethics program checklist important?

A program assessment shows whether ethics is managed, not just stated:

  • Confirms leadership owns and resources the ethics program
  • Checks the code and policies are current and accessible
  • Makes sure training and reporting channels actually reach employees
  • Confirms conflicts, gifts, and bribery risks are managed
  • Drives monitoring, review, and continuous improvement

What should be included in an ethics program checklist?

A complete ethics program assessment works across governance to review:

Governance and policies

Confirm the foundation is in place:

  • Leadership commitment and assigned accountability
  • Code of conduct and supporting ethics policies
  • Policies current, accessible, and covering key risks

People and channels

Check the program reaches people:

  • Ethics training and program communication
  • Reporting channels and whistleblower protection
  • Conflicts of interest, gifts, and anti-bribery controls

Oversight and improvement

Confirm the program is managed:

  • Investigation and disciplinary process
  • Third-party expectations and ethics risk assessment
  • Monitoring, records, and periodic management review

How do teams use an ethics program checklist?

Work through the assessment in order:

  1. Confirm leadership commitment and accountability
  2. Review the code of conduct and supporting policies
  3. Check training, communication, and reporting channels
  4. Confirm conflicts, gifts, and anti-bribery controls
  5. Check the investigation and disciplinary process and third-party expectations
  6. Confirm monitoring, records, and management review

See how this checklist fits into AI audit software.

This checklist runs as a mobile inspection app that works fully offline on site, with AI-powered defect detection on every photo. To see it on your own workflows, talk to our team.

AI-Powered Features for Your Field Workflows

Submit an inspection and AI writes the PDF report and Excel sheet for you. No admin, no waiting.

01 / 05Photo to formVISION AI

Take a Photo. AI Fills the Form.

Your inspector takes a photo of any asset or defect. AI reads it and fills the inspection form automatically.

No typing. No manual entry.

02 / 05Voice to textVOICE AI

Speak. AI Writes It Down.

Inspectors speak their observations in any language. AI transcribes and fills the form in real time.

Completely hands-free in the field.

03 / 05Auto reportsREPORT AI

AI Writes the Report. PDF and Excel, Instantly.

The moment an inspection is submitted, AI summarises the findings and builds a branded PDF report and an Excel sheet for you.

No manual reporting. No copy-paste.

04 / 05IntegrationsINTEGRATIONS

Connect Your Existing Tools.

InspectWrk integrates with the tools your team already uses, including Zoho, Microsoft 365, and SAP.

No double entry.

05 / 05Live dashboardLIVE DATA

Live Dashboard. Every Site. Always On.

Your operations team sees completion rates, open issues, and compliance scores across all sites in real time.

No chasing updates.

One Platform. Mobile-First. AI-Powered.

  • Collaborate

    Collaborate with your team anytime, anywhere

    See which checklists your team has in progress across every site, jump into the same inspection with one tap, and keep field, supervisor, and back-office views in sync without sending screenshots on WhatsApp.

    • Organise inspection data by site, team, and date
    • Assign checks to the inspector or vendor responsible
    • Track completion across every location in one view
    • Keep field and back-office in sync in real time
    • Comment on findings without leaving the inspection
  • Custom Reports

    Custom reports that guide your decision making

    Every team reports differently. Build the report your operations, quality, or compliance leads actually want to read, share it as a branded PDF, and schedule delivery to the stakeholders who need it.

    • Branded PDF and CSV export from any completed inspection
    • Schedule weekly or monthly delivery to managers and clients
    • Share to email, Drive, Teams, or Slack in one click
    • Filter findings by site, severity, or corrective-action status
  • Powerful Analytics

    Analyse your inspection data with confidence

    See completion, pass rate, and recurring findings across every checklist and every site, without pulling spreadsheets together at the end of the month.

    Powerful dashboard
    Combine multiple reports into one dashboard so you can monitor status, bottlenecks, and completion trends at a glance.
    Always in sync
    Changes sync across devices so inspectors, supervisors, and back-office teams always see the latest responses and attachments.
    Embedded analytics
    Explore checklist data with charts and breakdowns that stay tied to the underlying inspections, without exporting to spreadsheets.

Ethics Programquestions

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It is used to assess whether an organisation's ethics and compliance program is established, communicated, accessible, and actively managed. Rather than a list of ethical behaviours, it is a program assessment covering governance and leadership commitment, the code of conduct and policies, training and communication, reporting channels and whistleblower protection, conflicts of interest, gifts and anti-bribery controls, investigations and discipline, third-party expectations and risk assessment, and monitoring, records, and management review. It answers whether the program is real and working.

A code of conduct checklist focuses on the code document itself. This assessment is broader: the code is one component, but the checklist also looks at leadership commitment, training, reporting channels, conflicts and gifts, anti-bribery, investigations, third-party expectations, risk assessment, and management review. It assesses whether the whole ethics program is established and actively managed, not just whether a code exists. A written code alone does not make a working program, which is the gap this checklist surfaces.

It covers governance and leadership commitment, the code of conduct and supporting policies, ethics training and communication, reporting channels and whistleblower protection, conflicts of interest, gifts and hospitality, and anti-bribery controls, the investigation and disciplinary process, ethics expectations for third parties, an ethics risk assessment, and the monitoring, records, and periodic management review that drive continuous improvement. The aim is to confirm each element is in place and active, giving a view of how mature and effective the program actually is.

It is usually carried out by a compliance officer or ethics and compliance lead, with input from HR, legal, and senior management, and sometimes internal audit. One owner should run the assessment, gather evidence for each element, and report gaps to management. Recording the evidence, gaps, and improvement actions, with a management review, gives a clear picture of the program's maturity and a basis for strengthening it over time.

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