What is a Safety and Health Management ?
A safety and health management system means the part of the Organization’s
management system which covers:
- the
health and safety work organization and policy in a company
- the
planning process for accident and ill health prevention
- the
line management responsibilities and
- the
practices, procedures and resources for developing and implementing,
reviewing and maintaining the occupational safety and health policy.
The system should cover the entire gambit of an employer's
occupational health and safety organization. The key elements of a successful
safety and health management system are:
1. Policy and commitment
The workplace should prepare an occupational safety and
health policy programmer as part of the preparation .Effective safety and
health policies should set a clear direction for the organization to follow.
They will contribute to all aspects of business performance as part of a
demonstrable commitment to continuous improvement. Responsibilities to people
and the working environment will be met in a way that fulfills the spirit and
letter of the law. Cost-effective approaches to preserving and developing human
and physical resources will reduce financial losses and liabilities. In a wider
context, stakeholders' expectations, whether they are shareholders, employees
or their representatives, customers or society at large, can be met.
2. Planning
The workplace should formulate a plan to fulfill its safety
and health policy as set out in the Safety Statement. An effective management
structure and arrangements should be put in place for delivering the policy.
Safety and health objectives and targets should be set for all managers and
employees.
3. Implementation and operation
For effective implementation, organizations should develop
the capabilities and support mechanisms necessary to achieve the safety and
health policy, objectives and targets. All staff should be motivated and
empowered to work safely and to protect their long-term health, not simply to
avoid accidents. These arrangements should be:
- underpinned
by effective staff involvement and participation through appropriate
consultation, the use of the safety committee where it exists and the
safety representation system and,
- Sustained
by effective communication and the promotion of competence, which allows
all employees and their representatives to make a responsible and informed
contribution to the safety and health effort.
There should be a planned and systematic approach to
implementing the safety and health policy through an effective safety and
health management system. The aim is to minimize risks. Risk Assessment methods
should be used to determine priorities and set objectives for eliminating
hazards and reducing risks. Wherever possible, risks should be eliminated
through the selection and design of facilities, equipment and processes. If
risks cannot be eliminated, they should be minimized by the use of physical
controls and safe systems of work or, as a last resort. Performance standards should be established and used for measuring
achievement. Specific actions to promote a positive safety and health culture
should be identified. There should be a shared common understanding of the organization’s
vision, values and beliefs on health and safety. The visible and active
leadership of senior managers fosters a positive safety and health culture.
4. Measuring performance
The organization should measure, monitor and evaluate safety
and health performance. Performance can be measured against agreed standards to
reveal when and where improvement is needed. Active self-monitoring reveals how
effectively the safety and health management system is functioning.
Self-monitoring looks at both hardware (premises, plant and substances) and
software (people, procedures and systems, including individual behavior and
performance). If controls fail, reactive monitoring should find out why they
failed, by investigating the accidents, ill health or incidents, which could
have caused harm or loss. The objectives of active and reactive monitoring are:
- to
determine the immediate causes of substandard performance
- to
identify any underlying causes and implications for the design and
operation of the safety and health management system.
5. Auditing and reviewing performance
The organization should review and improve its safety and
health management system continuously, so that it’s overall safety and health
performance improves constantly. The organization can learn from relevant
experience and apply the lessons. There should be a systematic review of
performance based on data from monitoring and from independent audits of the
whole safety and health management system. There should be a strong commitment
to continuous improvement involving the development of policies, systems and
techniques of risk control. Performance should be assessed by:
- internal
reference to key performance indicators
- External
comparison with the performance of business competitors and best practice
in the organization’s employment sector.
Many companies now report on how well they have performed on
worker safety and health in their annual reports and how they have fulfilled
their responsibilities with regard to preparing and implementing their Safety
Statements
Reference
Health and Safety Authority.
2020. Safety And Health Managment. [online] Available at:
<https://www.hsa.ie/eng/Topics/Managing_Health_and_Safety/Safety_and_Health_Management_Systems/>
[Accessed 9 July 2020].
Most of Sri Lankans are traditional thinkers than Europeans. So what are the challenges do you think you have to face when establish the health and safety in your organization.
ReplyDeleteThe new standard aims to address this and will challenge organisations to rethink their strategic approach to occupational health and management and risk management. The new standard places emphasis on leadership and aligning health and safety with other corporate objectives. This new approach will be challenge most organisation but it will create a golden opportunity for leadership and stakeholder engagement.
DeleteWhilst the new standard does create opportunity we need to be clear on what we want to achieve and why.
What are the safety methods that your organization has adopted on behalf of their employees?
ReplyDeleteWork place sanitizing
Delete1 meter distance between person to person
Checking temperatures from individuals at the entrance
Before entrance wash all employees hands
Employees going through the sanitized boxes
Sanitizing their hands by hourly
What is the importance of safety management?
ReplyDeleteWorkplace safety is very important for each and every employee in the industry because all the workers desire to work in a safe and protected atmosphere. Health and safety is the key factor for all the industries in order to promote the wellness of both employees and employers. It is a duty and moral responsibility of the company to look after the employee’s protection.
DeleteWhat are the benefits of having a OSH?
ReplyDeletehealthy workers are productive and raise healthy families; thus healthy workers are a key strategy in overcoming poverty.
Deleteworkplace health risks are higher in the informal sector and small industries which are key arenas of action on poverty alleviation, where people can work their way out of poverty.
safe workplaces contribute to sustainable development, which is the key to poverty reduction.
the processes of protecting workers, surrounding communities and the environment for future generations have important common elements, such as pollution control and exposure reduction.
much pollution and many environmental exposures that are hazardous to health arise from industrial processes, that can be beneficially influenced by occupational health and safety programmes.
occupational safety and health can contribute to improving the employability of workers, through workplace (re)design, maintenance of a healthy and safe work environment, training and retraining, assessment of work demands, medical diagnosis, health screening and assessment of functional capacities.