External Factors in Health and Safety Management Systems
Table of Contents
- Overview of External Factors
- External Interested Parties
- Emergency Services and External Support
- Legal and Regulatory Requirements
- Fire Safety and Certification
- Disaster Preparedness and Environmental Factors
- References
- Bibliography
Overview of External Factors
External factors continue to have influence in all aspects of the organizations health and safety management system and its effectiveness. External factors are categorized by the organization as external interested parties. As stated in the ISO 45001:2018 standard, external factors can be seen as external interested parties which may include, clients, enforcement agencies, the media, trade unions among others.
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External Interested Parties
The COVID-19 taskforce of the Ghana Health Service was involved with the organization to test its specific procedure for identifying and responding to potential cases of coronavirus infection. The organization also carries out other emergency drills like fire drill which is observed by the Ghana National Fire Service. Where medical emergencies arise, the organization depends on the Ghana Ambulance Service to initiate emergency plan for assistance. It is captured in the health and safety procedure provisions that describe what the procedure covers in terms of specific emergencies, roles played by employees and management, communication channels for getting in touch with emergency services, training arrangements and systems to check effectiveness of the procedure itself.
Legal and Regulatory Requirements
Section 28 of Act 328 of the Ghana Factories, Offices and Shops Act, 1970 makes it obligatory for the organization to have first aiders and first aid boxes at the required locations based on the needs of risk assessment. See (Laws Ghana, 2021). The Health and Safety Executive also provides some guidance which has been adopted by the organization. For Medical Service provision in the workplace Sterling Safety Services makes arrangement for occupational health provisions with the aim of promoting workers wellbeing, health and safety, as well as promoting a safe working environment. These are made possible with the engagement of occupational health and safety practitioners functioning within the company who also liaise with external services for same goal. A system which is well coordinated by internal and external emergency communication procedure.
Fire Safety and Certification
Fire safety requirements in the organizations procedure are spelled out by the Ghana National Fire Service who undertakes a fire risk assessment of our sites and rate levels of risk upon which a fire certificate is issues. The significance of the fire certificate shows that Sterling Safety Services has put in place adequate fire safety systems and procedures to aid prevention or fighting of fire. For example fire and smoke detection units, fire extinguishers, fire alarms, assembly points, fire wardens, fire plan, fire training are covered. It’s much easy for most organizations to dismiss the need to prepare for major disasters. Disasters may be from natural causes or a result of fatalities arising in the workplace.
Disaster Preparedness and Environmental Factors
To a large extent COVID-19 has been able to test some of these systems due to the global disruption it caused in workplaces. Because Major disasters can lead to a swerve of events, sterling safety has a disaster plan that seeks to address the issues of responding to disasters. As part of the disaster preparedness plan, a number of emergency services and communication channels are specified. This also includes arrangements to respond to public queries. Sterling services also has in place guidelines from the Environmental protection agency and the Ghana Atomic Energy who spell out structures and arrangements to deal with events that affect the communities where we operate and how to manage the impact of radiation sources respectively. These guidelines and other best practices are adopted by the organization and are contained in the internal Emergency Procedure. (558 Words)
References
Laws Ghana, 2021. Factories,Offices and Shops Act, 1970 (Act 328). [Online]
Available at: https://cutt.ly/8cVV2G2
[Accessed 09 April 2021].
Bibliography
International Labour Office, 2021. Chapter 16 - Occupational Health Services. [Online]
Available at: http://www.ilocis.org/documents/chpt16e.htm
[Accessed 09 April 2021].
Pourrajab, V., Eftekhari, N. and Hashemi, S.K., 2019. Implementation of an integrated management system for monitoring risks and opportunities: a case study at TAMCO. International Journal of Quality and Innovation, 4(3-4), pp.210-231.
