Health Safety Environmental Management - Example

HEALTH SAFETY ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Name Institution Affiliation Course Date of Submission Health Safety Environmental Management Nothing at the workplace is more important than the health, safety of the workers and any other person involved in work processes. From this understanding, the need for health safety management system has become very critical component of organizational success. Barrick Corporation offers a very good example of an elaborate health and safety management system. 1) Health and Safety Management System Policy Framework The health and management system policies and programs need to be developed in such a way that they are unique, in reflection of the way that the organization conducts its business, the hazards of the work involved, and how it seeks to manage the safety and health of the employees (“Successful health and safety management,” 1997). Putting health and safety first through policies is important because it sets a clear direction fort which the organization to follow. Policies also ensure that responsibility to the environment and people are met in a way that is provided for by the law. Further, they help in fostering the confidence and expectations of the various stakeholders in the activity, and are cost effective measures that go a long way in developing and preserving human and physical resources, that serve to moderate financial liabilities and losses. Planning Planning ensures that there is a planned and systematic approach in place for executing health and safety strategy through an operational health and safety managing system. Aim of such planning is risks reduction, where risk management methods are used to set objectives and decide priorities for getting rid of hazards and reducing risks. Where situation permits, risks can be eliminated in the process of selecting and designing facilities, and equipment. Risks can also be minimised by use of personal protective equipment and systems of work, this should, however, come as a last resort when risk prevention is not tenable (“Successful health and safety management,” 1997). Achievement is measured through performance standards and the specific actions identified to promote a safety culture and positive health. Performance measurement Performance is weighed in terms of the standards that have been agreed and developed to determine when and where improvements need to be made. Active self-monitoring reveal the effectiveness of the safety and health management system put in place, in terms of how well it is functioning. It works by looking at the hardware like premises, plant and substances as well as the software, which include the people, procedures, and systems, that assessment include matters to do with how individuals perform and how they behave. If the control does not work as expected, reactive monitoring is done to determine to find out why by scrutinizing misfortunes, matters of infirmity, and any other occurrences, which have the potency to cause harm or loss (“Successful health and safety management,” 1997). Active and reactive monitoring has various objectives that determine the immediate cause of below performances and determine the underlying causes. They also have implications of the operation and design of management of the health and safety system developed. Auditing and reviewing performance These are last steps in control cycle of health and safety management. Made up of a feedback loop, they allow the company to maintain, reinforce and develop its ability to mitigate risk completely. They ensure perpetual effectiveness to the controlling of safety and health system (“Successful health and safety management,” 1997). For finance, quality and environment, organisations audit their performance. Auditing performance applies to organisational health and safety. Audit is, therefore, the process an organisation collects independent information regarding reliability, efficiency and effectiveness of management of safety and health system and developing plans for remedial actions. Through auditing, managers understand components and plans in the management of health and safety system and how they are implemented. In reviewing the performance, the managers make judgement about an adequacy in performance and decide the timing and nature of the measures required to rectify deficits. Feedback allows the management to determine whether health and safety management system is operating as designed. Feeding success or failure information back to the system motivates the workers to improve and maintain performance. A successful organisation emphasises positive reinforcement and focus on motivating progress on the positive signs in risk control. 2) Effect of effective health and safety policies in organizations The significance of effective safety and health guidelines in an organization needs to be underlined, most immediately because they contribute to business performance. Health and safety policies support human resource development, further; they serve to help in minimising of financial losses which may come about as a result of avoidable unplanned events (Flin, et al., 2006). Health and safety policies have a high impact in terms of helping to understand those accidents, ill health and incidents are caused by a failure on the part of management controls and are not necessarily caused by fault by the individual employees. Moreover, they help us to understand the value of having a culture that is supportive of safety and health to accomplish adequate risks control. They also help in ensuring that there is a methodical tactic to the risks documentation and the distribution of resources to control them. 3) The Plan, do check, act approach The Plan, do check, act approach treats management of safety and health as an essential component of successful administration (“Managing for health and safety” 2013). “Plan” involves determining organisation’s policy or plan for implementation. It defines and communicates acceptable resources and performance needed. “Do” involves profiling risks, health and safety organisation and executing the plan. Process safety involve identifying and assessing risk, control identification, recording and maintaining process safety knowledge. Controls measures are implemented and managed. “Check” entails measuring performance before and after events. Act involves reviewing performance/Act on the lessons learnt. Check and act involve measuring and reviewing performance, learning from measurement and findings compiled through investigations, which may include audition and inspecting reports. There is a need to revisit the sequence several times when initiating, developing new products, method, or services, and applying any adjustment. (“Managing for health and safety” 2013). 4) Core elements of health and safety management Irrespective of the industry that the organization operates in, keys to successfully managing safety and health include management and leadership, trained and skilled workforce, and work environment where people are trusted and involved (“Managing for health and safety” 2013). Management and leadership involve applicable business procedures. The principal components involve business risk management, health and safety management, and leadership organisation, involvement of workers, competency, profiling risk, and legal acquiescence. The elements are an integral part of daily process of running organisations and part of workplace attitudes and behaviours. The success is determined by on the assertiveness and conducts of the people in the establishment. It is the legal duties of the employee to develop an arrangement to control safety and health risks. The management should go beyond the health and safety risk including quality asset and environmental damage, since issues in one-area impacts may influence in another (“Managing for health and safety” 2013). 5) Effective planning Planning is vital for implementing safety and health policy. Through coordinated action by members of organisation, risk can be controlled adequately. Effective planning involves the prevention through identifying and controlling risks. An effective healthy and safety management system require organisation to plan control, react to change demands, and maintain positive health and safety behaviours and attitudes. Besides policy setting, planning should embrace measures to ensure legal obedience and techniques for dealing with emergency. This should involve persons throughout the firm. Planning the scheme to be used to accomplish health and safety includes designing, developing and implementing appropriate and balanced management arrangements, performance precautions, and risk control systems (“Managing for health and safety” 2013). It also involves operating and maintaining the system while being equally keen to seek out improvements where necessary, and linking it management of other facets of the company. 10) Importance of training workers and how training can reduce accidents Key people in every organization need to be given the necessary training so that they can make an effective contribution of ensuring occupational health and safety (OHS). Employers are obligated under the Regulations and Act to ensure their managers, supervisors and employees are adequately trained. Employees are required to keep records of any OHWS training that they have participated in under their employers. Managers, supervisors and employees have different training requirements depending on their particular health and safety roles and responsibilities (“Managing for health and safety” 2013). OHS training helps in reducing accidents since it helps both business owners, managers and workers to understand where they need to institute better working conditions and how to do it. When the workplace is safe, then there will be fewer accidents. OHS training can also reduce worker stress and such stress has been known to be a potential cause of accidents. Additionally, an unsafe work environment is also more stressful. 12) How can you evaluate that health and safety management system is good in an organization Procedures to monitor and record the performance and effectiveness of OHS performance should be developed, and reviewed periodically. Organizations should follow five steps in evaluating the effectiveness management of the health and safety system. The first is getting to know what the specific health and safety objectives are which involves trying to find out if the goals meet the legal requirements or the standards that apply to the workplace. Moreover, to find out if the workplace is as much as practicable sate and without risk to health. The second step is the development of performance measures, which will indicate the progress of achieving achievement of your objectives as an organization. The measures could either be stated in the organization’s objectives or build into the health and safety programmes established in the organization. It is important to look at both the long-term and short-term measures of the performance, and specifically, have measures that will look at the organization’s overall management of health and safety. The third step is to collect evidence on the measures of effectiveness that is once the organization has decided on the measures that it will use; it will also need to decide on the manner in which the information will be collected, and how often that information will be collected, and who will collect it. The type of programme or strategy will dictate these decisions. The fourth step is to analyse the results and decide upon improvements. It is significant to appreciate the information so that it can be used to know the kind of improvement needed in both the safety and health management system, and extra individual strategies. The last step is implementing changes and starting all over again, once you have identified specific improvements to the health and safety system, then you need to make the results known and embark on implementing collective measures (“Managing for health and safety” 2013). 13) Health and safety management system Implementation Health and safety procedures and policies are part of a framework aimed at ensuring that there are safety management and effective health. At its core, the objective of the Safety Act of 1995 and Occupational Health is to elimination of risks to health, safety as well as the welfare of the people at work (“Getting started with workplace health and safety” 2001). Elimination is the first safety and health measure of risks that involve getting rid of toxic substances, hazardous processes or plant, which are not important to a system of work. The second measure is substitution, which entails substituting a toxic substance, or a hazardous plant or processes with one that has proven to be less harmful to health. Isolation is the other strategy of managing health and safety in an organization. Isolation involves enclosing a hazard such as a toxic substance from employees, in a bid to reduce or prevent the risk of illness or injury. Personal protective equipment (PPE) should also be highly implemented to prevent individuals with protection from hazards. Other measures include administrative controls, which involves changing work procedures to reduce exposure to risk. 14) Health and safety procedures Preparing a successful policy requires consultation. Health and safety policies should vary from one organization to the other. The policy statement should include the health and safety terms of the organization in clear terms. It should also describe the arrangements that are in place to achieve those objectives, such as the allocation of functions and roles (“Getting started with workplace health and safety” 2001). The issues that should be considered include commitment of senior management to the provision and the maintenance of a working environment, which is safe, and without risks to health. Additionally, it should have that integrated into all the activities of the organization, it should also have accountability at all levels of management for implementing health and safety practices (“Getting started with workplace health and safety” 2001). References Successful health and safety management HSE Books 1997. ISBN 978 0 7176 1276 5. Consulting an employee on health and safety. 2013. Leaflet INDG232(rev2) HSE Books Getting started with workplace health and safety. 1997. ISBN 0 7311 0478 1 Victorian Workcover Authority Workplace Health and safety standards. 2013. The NHS Staff Council, Promote a health and safety culture within the workplace. 2004. OCR NVQs in Policing. Managing for health and safety. 2013. ISBN 978 0 7176 6456 6 Health and safety Executives Flin, R. Et al., 2006. Measuring safety climate in health care International Journal of Healthcare Improvement 15: 109-115 CCH Australia Limited. 2009. Planning Occupational Health and Safety Sydney: CHS Australia Limited Read More