How Health and Safety Management Systems Work
Table of Contents
- Overview of Health and Safety Management Systems
- Health and Safety Policies
- Health and Safety Legislation
- Organizational Structure
- Health and Safety Procedures
- Hazard Identification and Risk Management
- Health and Safety Training
- Inspection and Monitoring
- References
- Bibliography
Overview of Health and Safety Management Systems
The Health and Safety Management Systems primarily provides a framework that guides the organization to perform its mandate as a Safety and Other Services Consulting Agency in a manner that does not endanger the life of workers who have been employed to perform various duties. The health and safety management system is made up of components that interact so that the organization can meet its health and safety goals. The health and safety management system comprises health and safety policies, health and safety legislation, health and safety organizational structure, health and safety procedures, Hazard Identification/Risk and Opportunity Management, Training, Health and Safety Inspection and Monitoring.
Health and Safety Policies
Policies express the position of senior management on various parts of the health and safety management systems. It can serve as a tool deployed by senior management to address particular needs, risks and issues identified implementation or review. For example Sterling Safety Services has the following policies. The list is however not exhaustive.
Drug and Alcohol Policy
Anti-harassment and discrimination policy
Stop Work Policy
Personal Protective Equipment Policy
Inspection and Monitoring Policy
Risk and Opportunity Assessment Policy
Health Safety Environment and Quality Policy(Integrated Policy)
The Anti-harassment was recently reviewed as Diversity and Inclusion Policy following some new knowledge from this NVQ Level 6 Qualification. This is an indication of Policy review which is a component of making Policies relevant and reflecting best practices across the globe. All policies introduced are goal oriented, express management commitment, emphasize of responsibility and the involvement of all workers. Specific guidelines to achieve the policies are spelled out and usually signed by the Chief Executive Officer after which the policy is communicated to interested parties at all levels of the organization. Apart from risks assessments, new legislations, incidents, new standards, and other issues that may call for a review of the health and safety Policy, the organization performs Annual Reviews for all health and Safety Policies
Health and Safety Legislation
For every country, there are laws. Whether Common Laws or Laws passed by Legislature. These laws are a focal point of governance which extends to organizations including Sterling Safety Services. Apart from the widespread statutory requirements like registering a company and honoring tax obligations, there are a bunch of health and safety laws that the organization has to comply with. These health and safety laws cover a range of areas not limited to fire safety at work, provision of welfare facilities, first aid provision, emergency responses and reportable incidents. The organization also takes necessary steps to engage competent personnel who are dedicated to ensure that compliance is maintained and all changes are applied and communicated to all relevant parties. These competent persons also carry out compliance evaluations every quarter of the year based on the legal and other requirement register that has been compiled by the company.
Organizational Structure
In order to fulfil the requirements of the health and safety management system, personnel are needed. Through the health and safety organizational structure various roles are clearly defined to indicate the chain of command and clear reporting lines are also identified for purposes of effective communication. The Chief Executive Officer being the one with overall responsibility to see to the effective implementation of the health and safety management system lies at the top of the structure. The health and safety organizational serves as a source to develop communication lines when responding to emergencies and are reviewed annually to rectify changes where applicable.
Health and Safety Procedures
In (Alert Force, the Health and Safety Training People, 2021), Health and Safety procedures can be seen as systematic and actionable steps that the organization follows so that it can comply with the applicable laws and also fulfil requirements spelled out in the health and safety management system. Employees, Managers, Senior Management, Specialists and Consultants are involved in the development of these procedures where necessary. Even though the health and safety procedures are actionable, some of the actions forms part of exercises carried out to prepare for unforeseen contingencies that might call for the deployment of a particular procedure. Hence there are specific procedures to meet Emergency needs which form part of the management of emergency as a health and safety management system requirement. Health and Safety procedures are reviewed every three years to ensure that they remain relevant to the businesses undertaken by Sterling Safety Services. Other sources that warrant immediate reviews may be new legislations, risk assessment requirements, new standards or findings from an Audit. It has to however be established that a review is essential for health and safety of all workers. Examples of health and safety procedures in the organization are Risk and Opportunity Procedure, STOP Work Procedure, Work at Height Procedure, Confined Space Procedure, Audit Procedure, Health and Safety Inspection Procedure, Personal Protective Equipment Procedure and others.
Hazard Identification and Risk Management
Hazard Identification/Risk and Opportunity Management. The management of risks are important to ensure that the organization identifies unsafe situations, issues of concern, risks and sometimes unsafe behaviors that hinder the effective implementation of the health and safety management system. Where there are risks or issues, there may be opportunities for reflection. Risk and Opportunity assessments are task specific and are not the same for all situations. The organization promotes total worker involvement when developing risk assessments. Risk Assessments are also subject to reviews where there are changes. Example change in personnel, change in work location, environmental changes, new activities and new job requirements. Technically these changes fall under the Management of Change. New laws can cause a risk and opportunity assessment to be reviewed as well. The organization however keeps a risk and opportunity register which is subject to annual review.
Health and Safety Training
The Main Focus of Health and Safety Training is to develop competent people for the effective implementation and review of the health and safety management system. Training needs are identified for all system requirements and are registered in a Competency and training matrix to monitor levels of trainings achieved. Trainings are carried out by internal workers or consultants which may include enforcement agency trainers depending on the competence needs requirements of applicable laws and standards.
Inspection and Monitoring
There are also inspection and monitoring systems that allow us to measure performance by checking to ensure that risks are managed properly and performance is being measured. Inspections and monitoring systems can be utilized proactively and reactively in response to issues, risks or needs of the organization. The review of Inspection and monitoring systems are determined by the HSEQ department as and when needed. Senior Management is however involved in this process. (1075 Words)
References
Alert Force, the Health and Safety Training People, 2021. Why do you need health and safety procedures in the workplace?. [Online]
Available at: https://alertforce.com.au/why-do-you-need-health-and-safety-procedures-in-the-workplace/
[Accessed 13 April 2021].
Bibliography
Books, H.S.E., 1997. Successful health and safety management. HS (G).
