Health and Safety Management System - Example

Health and Safety Management System Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Health and Safety Management System 3 Policy 5 Organising 7 Measuring performance 10 Auditing and reviewing performance 11 Conclusion 12 Health and Safety Management System Description Health and safety management system refers to a mixture of arrangements in the organization applied jointly to improve health and safety of individuals within the organization. Such elements of programs are risk assessment, identification of hazard, risk control and management, training and recordkeeping (HAS 2006). Health and safety management system may also refer to a process developed by an organization to reduce the risk of illness or injury. It can be achieved through identification, assessment and control of risks to employees in workplace operations. The intricacy and scope of the system often varies based on the nature and type of workplace operations in an organization (Makin & Winder 2008). To ensure that it is effective, the health and safety hazards need to be identified and assessed, control measures have to be introduced to minimize risks, the management should vividly demonstrate commitment and introduce written policy, employees need to be trained and to be competent on health and safety measures, an organization needs to have an inspection program, there also has to be an emergency response system and incident investigation and reporting and lastly, there has to be a management system to make sure that all elements of the system are functioning appropriately (Alberta n.d.). Importance of health and management system 200 words The significance of health and safety management cannot be downplayed as it sends a clear message to the entire organization on the need to manage workers’ health and safety with a level of proficiency and standards similar to other core business operations. Towards this ends, health and safety management system can effectively ensure that risks are managed and individuals are protected from harm (HSE 1997). The system also creates a health and safety pathway for the organization to follow. This is since it contributes significantly to policy creation of how operations should be conducted within an organization with the view of minimizing incidents or risks (Makin & Winder 2008). The system also ensures that an effective management structure is developed to ensure that the working environment is safe. This is effective in motivating workers as they are confident that they are working in a safe environment and that their long-term health is protected. This is in addition to the fact that the system ensures effective employee involvement as well as effective communication across the organization (Zanko & Dawson 2012). The system also ensures that the organization has a common understanding of health and safety culture, which can be passed on to new employees hence ensuring long-term safety of employees. Additionally, the system ensures that there are reduced financial costs of ill-health and accidents, which is also significant in reducing organizational expenditure. This is effective in ensuring that the organization has sustained profitability (HSE 1997). For legal reasons, the system helps an organization to comply with workplace legislations aimed at ensuring safety and healthy welfare of employees. This also ensures that an organization is proactive in management of workplace health and safety, in compliance with legal requirements within the jurisdictions where it operates (HSA 2006). Policy Policy is a component of health and safety management that depicts to the overall approaches, intentions and objectives of an organization, in addition to the standards and criteria upon which an organization bases its actions. Such, forms the basis for management of health and safety that determines the written guidelines of the policy required to attain health and safety standards (HAS 2006). For the system to be effective, an organization needs to demonstrate commitment and leadership to the system. To accomplish this, an organization needs to link its objectives to health and safety through written statements by creating health and safety policy (HSE 1997). The policy should show that the management is committed to health and safety. Next, it should also depict the overall objectives or goals of health and safety program. Further, it should demonstrate the management’s overall health and safety responsibility, in addition to that of employees, visitors and contractors. It should also show commitment to legal requirements as well as the organisation’s requirement to comply with the health and safety standards it has developed. Companies such as Qatar Petroleum (2013) have showed compliance with these factors. For instance, the company has developed a health, safety and environment (HSE) policy that is based on standards that cover compliance with international and national legislative requirements, as well as oil industry standards. The company also aims to manage health and safety based on the company’s values. It has also aimed to establish health and safety as an organizational culture. Its focus has been on ensuring occupation health and safety, ensuring emergency preparedness, oil spill preparedness, sustainable development and environmental protection and conservation (Qatar Petroleum 2013). Successful health and safety policies are those that reflect the value of the organization that develops and implements them. Such policies should also reflect genuine commitment to ensuring safety in the organization (Makin & Winder 2008). In all, effective policies contribute significantly to organizational performance through supporting the human resource development and reducing the financial losses that emerge from unplanned incidents that may be avoided. They should also recognize that injuries or incidents caused by workplace injuries are due to failure of the management to control the workplace environment rather than the fault of the workers. Further, they should recognize that it is essential to develop and support culture and health and safety to attain sufficient control over risks. Such policies should also ensure that there is a systematic approach to identifying of risks and allocating resources to control the risks (HSE 1997). Further, they should support programs targeted at ensuring sustained improvement of worker health and safety (HSE 1997). At the University of Central Lancashire, the organization has developed its health and safety policy based on the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 with the objective of ensuring that the workplace is safe and healthy for workers, visitors and students. The focus has also been on assessment and reduction of risk as required by reg. 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulation 1999. The organization ensures that students and employees are made aware of the contents of the policy by making it available for download from its website (UCLan 2013). Organising The process of organizing health and safety system collectively refers to activities that jointly serve to promote realization of constructive health and safety outcomes in an organisation. In ensuring this process, companies such as Shell and British Petroleum have generally concentrated on four key areas (Shell 2004; BP 2013). The four critical areas include control, communication, co-operation and competence. Control is where the organisation takes the leadership role in organising the health and safety system. Control entails getting all individuals in an organisation work towards attaining desirable health and safety outcomes. BP and Shell treat people as critical part and parcel of putting the health and safety policy in practice (Shell 2004). To ensure this, the duties and responsibilities of workers are defined from the managing director to departmental managers and eventually to all employees. Responsibilities remain clear and easy to understand. Additionally, those entrusted with responsibilities are allocated relevant resources and time (BP 2013). With regard to co-operation, individuals within the organization are allowed to take part in health and safety program to ensure ownership and understanding. This is also effective in ensuring that knowledge and expertise is put into practice. BP has aimed to ensure this through safety committees (BP 2013). At Shell, the organization aims at ensuring that all employees are involved to certain extents in getting involved in problem-solving and decision-making. Communication entails sending out messages on health and safety with the view of ensuring that the recipients understand them as intended by the sender. In all, face-to-face communication is regarded as effective as the management and employees are able to interact and seek clarifications. However, direct communication can also be ensured through training of employees, briefing workers on health and safety and having health safety appraisal session. Such have been practiced by BP, which has taken the initiative in training employees to ensure that they are prepared for emergencies both off- and onshore (BP 2013). Competence refers to a group or an individual’s capability to execute a task or duty appropriately and safely. To ensure this, organizations train their employees on health and safety measures. In any case, the first step involves defining the competence requirement. This will in turn ensure that the organization recruits employees with the right attitude, training needs are effectively identified and lastly, training and assessment is properly executed to ensure that the necessary competence is attained. Companies such as Shell have set health, safety and environment management competences for specific roles such as that of company site representative and contract holders, whose jobs are associated with job competency. Specialised training is hence provided to enable them manage and mitigate potential hazards (Shell 2004). Planning Planning is critical for effective implementation of health and safety policies. Maximal risk control is achievable using coordinated actions by all individuals in the organization. Indeed, to effectively plan for the health and safety program, an organization needs a health and safety system capable of controlling risks while at the same time complying with safety and health regulations, responds to shifting demands and circumstances and ensures sustained desirable health and safety culture (HAS 2006). In the outset, an organization should identify the relevant legislations as well as health and safety guidelines and codes of practice. It should also monitor legal requirements to comply with changes. Next, it should communicate such pertinent information to workers. Second, an organization should develop a plan to incorporate objective, health and safety policy as well as targets. The plan should in turn incorporate comprehensible performance standards, define the work programs, allocate responsibilities and set out time frames against which tasks should be finished. Generally, performance standards form the basis for measuring and planning attainment of health and safety. In which case, for an organization to effectively and efficiently control risks, it has to coordinate its processes to ensure that all individuals understand what is expected of them. BP has sustained its focus on process safety through implementation of the BP operating management system that provides a structure under which its safety operations have to be followed while covering all spheres of process safety such as environmental performance and individual employee health (BP 2013). The health and safety plan should afterwards be revised and reviewed consistently to reflect the changes in organizations safety and health objectives. Organizations such as BP have taken to this trend in planning for health and safety. To comply with changes in process safety, the organization periodically reviews its design principles (BP 2013). The health and safety plan should enable an organization to meet its legal objectives as well as be able to improve its performance (HAS 2006). Measuring performance The company management needs to ensure that it is kept informed on pertinent health and safety risk issues. This can be ensured through monitoring and measurement. It is apt that the management should appoint an individual as the health and safety director to ensure that the management is kept informed on health and safety issues. To ensure this, companies such as Shell have set specific roles such as that of company site representative and contract holders, whose jobs entail monitoring and measurement of health and safety risks (Shell 2004). The management needs to ensure that health and safety responsibilities are reviewed annually, safety principles reflect the organisation’s priorities and that the health and safety management system offers effective monitoring and reporting. In all, monitoring strengthens the commitment of the management towards achieving health and safety objectives. To ensure this, two types of monitoring can be used. These include active monitoring and reactive monitoring (HAS 2006). Active monitoring refers to where an organization collects information to determine the reasons for substandard health and safety performance. It entails documented procedures necessary for undertaking such activities regularly to ensure that operations are maintained and developed. It also involved monitoring the attainment of certain plans using performance criteria. Other strategies involve analysis of records and monitoring data collected (HAS 2006). Reactive monitoring consists of an internal reporting system of injuries or incidents resulting from failure to comply with the health and safety system. It should be developed to ensure that expertise gained is applied in improving the management system (Zanko & Dawson 2012). In using this technique, Shell encourages open and constructive approach in reporting incidents before a follow-up, so as to ensure that a system is put in place, which further ensures that reporting requirements are achieved. Later, those responsible for investigating incidents are identified. This may include company site representative or health and safety directors. The investigation is followed by corrective action (Shell 2004). Auditing and reviewing performance Auditing and review of performance consist of the concluding steps in the control cycle of health and safety management system. Such involves enable a company to strengthen as well as sustain and develop its capacity to minimize risks to the maximal extent and to see to it continual effectiveness of the system. Audits can be ensured by the company’s employees or contractors to see whether the system achieves optimal results. The results should afterwards be related to the information from audits to promote an organisation’s overall approach to health and safety management. Various organizations have made efforts to ensure this. For instance, BP undertakes annual audits to ensure that health and safety standards are met. This may include safety concerns of tanker drivers. In Australia for instance, BP seeks safety alliance through meeting quarterly with contractor personnel at Kwinana refinery to work together towards improving health and safety (BP 2013). The organization should develop procedures for frequent audit of the health and safety management system that enables overall appraisal of all components of the system. Auditing comprises the structures processes for collection of information regarding efficiency and reliability of the system to ensure optimal safety and corrective actions. Auditing should supplement routine monitoring, surveillance and inspection of the system (HSE 1997). The aim of auditing is to ensure a continual efficiency and suitability of the health and safety management system. The audit process should also be able to collect relevant information as well as allow the management to undertake evaluation efficiently. Audit protocols should also be developed, documented and sustained. It should also incorporate resource allocation and personnel requirements. Organizations such as Shell use checklists, interviews, questionnaires, interviews and measurement (Shell 2006). Conclusion To conclude, health and safety management system refers to a mixture of arrangements in the organization aimed at improving health and safety of individuals within the organization. The system can effectively ensure that risks are managed and individuals are protected from harm. It also creates a health and safety pathway for the organization to follow. Further, it ensures that an effective management structure is developed to ensure that the working environment is safe. Additionally, the system ensures that there are reduced financial costs of ill-health and accidents. Various elements of the system include policy, organising, planning, measurement and auditing. Policy is a component of health and safety management that depicts to the overall approaches, intentions and objectives of an organization in addition to the standards and criteria upon which an organization bases its actions. Organizing collectively refers to activities that jointly serve to promote realization of constructive health and safety outcomes in an organization. The four critical areas include control, communication, co-operation and competence. Planning is critical for effective implementation of health and safety policies. Maximal risk control is achievable using coordinated actions by all individuals in the organization. Monitoring and measurement helps the management to ensure that it is kept informed on pertinent health and safety risk issues. Auditing comprises the structures processes for collection of information regarding efficiency and reliability of the system to ensure optimal safety and corrective actions. The organization should develop procedures for frequent audit of the health and safety management system that enables overall appraisal of all components of the system. References Alberta n.d. Building an Effective Health and Safety Management System, viewed 6 Jan 2014, http://humanservices.alberta.ca/documents/whs-ps-building.pdf BP 2013, Health and Safety, 7 Jan 2014, http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9035706&contentId=7066158 HSA 2006, Workplace Safety And Health Management: Practical Guidelines on the Implementation and Maintenance of an Occupational Safety, Health and Welfare Management System, Health and Safety Authority, Dublin HSE 1997, Successful health and safety management, The National Archives, London Makin, A & Winder, C 2008, "A new conceptual framework to improve the application of occupational health and safety management systems," Safety Science, Vol. 46, pp.935–948 Qatar Petroleum 2013, Health, Safety & Environment (HSE), viewed 6 Jan 2014, http://www.qp.com.qa/en/homepage/qpactivities/qpoperations/environmentandsociety/20-1719777058.aspx Shell 2004, Shell Exploratin and Production, HSE Management System, The Hague, the Netherlands UCLan 2013, Safety, Health and Environment, viewed 6 Jan 2014, http://www.uclan.ac.uk/safety_health_environment/index.php Zanko, M & Dawson, P 2012, "Occupational health and safety management in organizations: A review," International Journal of Management Reviews, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp.328-344. 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