How health and safety management systems work and what they look like

 What they are and the benefits they bring

What good health and safety management systems look like

SCOPE OF LEARNING-

How health and safety management systems work and

 What they look like

•  Give an overview of the elements of a health and safety management system and the benefits of having a formal/certified system
• Discuss the main ingredients of health and safety management systems that make it effective – policy, responsibilities, arrangements

2.1.1 Key Elements of Health and Safety Management System

PDCA CYCLE

The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle has been adopted by ISO 45001 in order to achieve continuous improvement. This is an integral part of the systematic approach to determining workable solutions, evaluating the outcomes, and implementing those that have been demonstrated to be effective.

Management systems as a whole and their constituent parts can both benefit from the PDCA cycle’s iterative approach to improvement. Top Management plays a crucial role at every stage, making sure that the OH&S system is maintained properly.

Plan:

Learn about the organization as a whole, including the OH&S risks and opportunities. Set up the OH&S goals, processes, and resources that are needed to get things done in line with the organization’s OH&S Policy.

Do:

Include worker participation, hazard identification, and emergency preparedness in the implementation of the processes as planned.

Check:

Monitor, measure, and assess OH&S processes and activities.

Act:

Take steps to continuously improve, including addressing incident findings, nonconformance, and audit results.

Structure of International Standard – New Annex SL Structure

Foreword Introduction

0.1 Background

0.2 Aim of OH&S Management System

0.3 Success Factors

0.4 Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle

1. Scope
2. Normative References
3. Terms and Definitions
4. Context of the Organization
5. Leadership and Worker Participation
6. Planning
7. Support
8. Operation
9. Performance Evaluation
10. Improvement

Context of the Organisation (Clause 4)

Here, organizations are required to take stock of the bigger picture and record the requirements of those who stand to benefit from their work. Problems can be broken down into two categories: internal and external.

Internal factors include the knowledge and dedication of your staff, their openness to work together and adhere to company regulations, and the efficacy of your organization’s methods of communication.

In contrast, external factors consist of things outside your control, such as laws and regulations, the state of the economy and politics, and the hopes and dreams of your employees’ union (where applicable).

Whether their sway is internal or external, you must also take into account the expectations of stakeholders and shareholders.

Leadership and worker worker participation (Clause 5)

This provision is intended for both management and staff and serves to integrate health and safety into all operations.

ISO 45001 supports a collaborative effort across the team, as opposed to the individual responsibility suggested by certain earlier frameworks.

This fosters a culture of efficient health and safety and guarantees that numerous team members can administer the system.

Planning (Clause 6)

In this section, you’ll examine your OH&S system’s goals and the steps you’ll take to realize them. Your number one priority should be making sure that accidents and health problems in the workplace are as few as possible. Even so, it’s helpful to outline the stages below.

Think about things like what the law requires, what your stakeholders want and need, and what you need to run your business.

The next step is a thorough examination of potential threats to the organization. An initial risk assessment is necessary, but other data, such as the incidents reported, the estimated number of sick days, and the outcome of OH&S surveys among employees, may be included.

With this knowledge, precautions can be taken to ensure everyone’s safety.

Businesses should follow the advice of ISO 45001 and make their plans as straightforward as possible, with the following sub-steps:

• What are the plans
• What kind of means are required
• When and who should each task be carried out by
• Timeline for implementation of the strategy
• Methods of Assessment
• When and how the changes will be made within the company

Support (Clause 7)

Support components of your OH&S system, including as communication, staff awareness, documentation, and resources, are addressed in this clause.

The company’s senior management has a significant responsibility to ensure compliance with this provision. They have to provide the go-ahead for funds and other steps to be taken.

Training employees, in particular, needs to be sanctioned at the highest levels and included into standard operating procedures. To ensure that workers adhere to your policies, you may need to conduct training courses and drills at regular intervals.

Operation (Clause 8)

Operational controls are an integral part of any OH&S system. Hazard removal, change management, procurement, and emergency readiness and response are all covered in Article 8.

By developing operating criteria for process control, businesses may put their operational procedures into action.

For optimal performance, these need to be checked and tweaked on a regular basis.

Performance Evaluation (Clause 9)

Keeping tabs on and analyzing how well an OH&S program is working is essential. Organizational compliance and system efficacy are both evaluated as part of this process.

Monitoring, measuring , Health and Safety Management Audit and management review are integral part of the performance evaluation.

Improvement (Clause 10)

Last but not least, ISO 45001 stipulates that organizations must make a commitment to continuous improvement based on the findings of performance evaluations.

It may be worthwhile to talk to employees and team leaders about potential changes if the assessment reveals performance deficiencies rather than compliance issues.

As they are the ones actually interacting with the system, you may learn from their insights into what works and what doesn’t.

ILO-OSH 2001

The occupational safety and health management system in the organization

It is the obligation and duty of the employer to ensure the safety and health of all employees on the job, including ensuring that the necessary OSH requirements are met in accordance with applicable national laws and regulations. In order to build an OSH management system, the employer must demonstrate strong leadership and dedication to OSH operations within the firm. Policy, organization, planning and implementation, evaluation, and improvement action are all crucial parts of the system, as indicated in Figure 2.

Figure 2.  Main elements of the OSH management system

Policy

Occupational Safety and health policy

It needs to be endorsed by a top executive, as it was developed with input from employees. It should state that the company is dedicated to employee safety, that it will follow all relevant regulations and guidelines, that it will seek input from workers, and that it will constantly strive to get better. The effectiveness of a safety management system relies heavily on employee input and consultation, which is encouraged throughout the guidelines. In light of this, the ILO-OSH recommendations advocate for the formation of a health and safety committee and the designation of safety representatives.

Organising

While the employer is ultimately responsible for health and safety, different departments and individuals within the company should each take on different responsibilities and have different levels of authority. The framework and procedures must be in place so that, among other things:

To successfully deploy the safety management system, encourage collaboration and open, two-way communication.

Workplace hazards must be identified and managed, therefore make plans to do so.

Provide direction.

Make available sufficient means, etc.

The nomination of a senior person to promote involvement and periodic performance reporting, as well as monitor the establishment and maintenance of all parts of the occupational health and safety management system, is highly recommended.

Competence and education are highlighted as fundamental requirements for carrying out this plan. It is important to establish and maintain a system for managing occupational health and safety, complete with documentation of the system’s policy, objectives, key roles/responsibilities, significant dangers and means of prevention/control, processes, etc. In addition, records, such as information about accidents, health checks, and other types of monitoring, should be retained.

Planning and Implementation

First, you should conduct a preliminary analysis to determine where your company now stands. It should do things like examine health surveillance data, establish whether or not the controls in place are sufficient, identify relevant laws, regulations, and guidelines, and so on. This preliminary analysis will serve as the cornerstone of future iterative enhancements.

The following steps involve establishing a system to ensure everyone’s safety (based on the results of initial or subsequent reviews).

Setting attainable goals and developing a strategy to achieve them are important first steps, but it’s also important to choose the right metrics to utilize for gauging success and allocating resources once the goals have been achieved.

Health and safety concerns can be prevented or mitigated by taking the appropriate precautions in advance. Eliminate, control at source (with engineering and organizational measures), minimize (safe systems of work, including administrative controls), and finally, use personal protective equipment (PPE) if risks cannot be sufficiently controlled by collective measures.

Change management is also crucial. It is vital to handle changes in a methodical fashion, as they may occur both internally (new procedures, staff, etc.) and externally (legal changes, mergers, etc.). Important steps in this direction include doing thorough risk assessments and communicating effectively with individuals who stand to be affected by any upcoming changes.

Fire and medical emergencies are just two examples of the kinds of emergencies that should be planned for (including prevention, readiness, and response).

Health and safety regulations (both federal and company-specific) should be built into the procurement process from the start.

In addition, you need to make sure that contractors are held to the same health and safety standards as the rest of the company. This includes everything from the selection process to the contractors’ actual work on the site (hazard recognition, training, coordination and communication, accident reporting, site rules, compliance monitoring, etc.).

Evaluation

The effectiveness of the health and safety system must be tracked and recorded through established procedures. Don’t just rely on accident rate data; employ a variety of qualitative and quantitative, proactive and reactive performance indicators instead. Inspections, surveillance, legal compliance, goal attainment, etc. are all examples of active monitoring. Accidents, illnesses, and system breakdowns in occupational health and safety must all be reported and investigated as part of reactive monitoring. There needs to be a thorough investigation into accidents, etc., to find out what went wrong and why. Documenting investigations and taking corrective measures to prevent a recurrence is essential. The company needs an auditing policy (scope, competency, frequency, methodology, etc.).

Audits should at least cover the following aspects of an OHSMS: policy; worker participation; responsibility/accountability; competence and training; documentation; communication; planning, development, implementation; preventive and control measures; management of change; emergency preparedness; procurement; contracting; performance monitoring/measurement; accident investigations; and audits.

ILO-OSH-2001 audits, like ISO 45001 audits (see below), can be internal or external, however unlike ISO 45001, external audits are not required. As there is no need to be certified to ILO-OSH-2001, no certification authority performs any external audits. Instead, independent auditors can be commissioned for the purpose if the corporation so chooses. At the end of the day, the audit should draw certain judgments regarding the quality of the OH&S management system.

Organizational goals and the overall occupational health and safety management system should be assessed as part of a management review. It will consider information gathered from system monitoring, measurement, and auditing, as well as other potential influences (such as organizational shifts). Whether or not the system requires adjustments will be determined (or components of it). It’s important to keep track of and share the findings.

Action for improvement

Corrective measures will be identified through the monitoring, auditing, and reviewing of the management system for occupational health and safety. First, you need to identify what’s really causing the issues that need fixing, and second, you need to put measures in place to make sure those fixes actually happen (and checks made on their effectiveness.

The company should always be looking for ways to get better. It needs to look at itself in the context of other, comparable institutions.

2.1.2 The benefits of having a formal /certified health and safety management system

Developing a Health and Safety Management system in line with a formal Health and Safety Management System Standard (HSMS) helps the Organisation making its approach more organised and making the system more effective.

Improved Occupational Health and Safety Management Performance-

An OH&S management system based on ISO 45001 will help a company improve its OH&S performance by:

• Creating and putting into action an OH&S policy and OH&S goals;
• Setting up systematic processes that take into account its “context” and its risks and opportunities, as well as its legal and other requirements;
• figuring out the hazards and OH&S risks that come with its activities and trying to get rid of them or putting controls in place to lessen their effects;
• setting up operations and maintenance controls to manage its OH&S risks and meet legal and other requirements;
• making people more aware of its OH&S risks;
• trying to evaluate its OH&S performance and trying to improve it by taking the right steps;
• making sure workers are involved in OH&S matters.

Better Regulatory Compliance-

Legal Compliance is an integral part of all formal management systems which will help the organizations in preventing enforcement actions. It will help in reacting to compliance issues promptly.

Reducing the costs associated with Incidents

Improving productivity by reducing downtime and loss of time

Lower insurance premium– Insurance companies look for those organizations where the probability of claims is less, which is directly related to the accidents. A formal HSMS system may help the company in getting Insurance at lower premiums.

Better risk profiling within the Organisation thereby reducing Incidents

Better employee consultation and participation– The provision of Worker representatives, employee consultation and participation, feedback, and concern raising systems improves employee consultation and participation around the workplace which are parts of a formal management system.

Getting Competitive Advantage- Following an International health and safety management system standard like ISO 45001:2018 can help to stand out as Industry leader and gain a competitive advantage in the market.

Improved management commitment- A formal management system standard like ISO 45001:2018 clearly sets out the Leadership and management commitment in its Leadership and Worker Participation clause. Allocation of budget, participating in health and safety programs, etc. are parts of the management commitment.

A formal health and safety management system can help in improving the health and safety culture of the Organisation and also improving the overall morale of the workforce.

A formal Health and Safety Management system standard helps in integrating the Health and Safety management system with other systems of the Organisation

2.2    What good health and safety management systems look like

2.2.1   The Occupational Health and safety policy

An organization’s attitude to health and safety might be described in its health and safety policy. It details your company’s approach to health and safety management. Who performs what, when, and how should all be specified.

Top management is responsible for creating, enforcing, and maintaining an OH&S policy that:

1. a) is appropriate to the organization’s purpose, size, and context, as well as the specific nature of its OH&S risks and opportunities;
2. b) includes a commitment to develop and provide a safe workplace along with prevention of work-related injuries & ill-health;
3. c) a commitment to comply with legal and other requirements;
4. d) a commitment to eliminate hazards and reduce OH&S risks;
5. e) a commitment to the ongoing improvement of the OH&S management system;
6. f) and a commitment to consultation and participation of workers and, where applicable, workers’ representatives.

The OH&S policy must be current and suitable, be accessible as documented data, be discussed within the organization, and be made accessible to parties who are interested as necessary.

The Role of Health and Safety Policy

A policy’s defining characteristic is that it articulates the overarching strategy and dedication of an organization to the attainment of specific goals. These goals then serve as the basis for more specific operational arrangements to be formed. A precautionary measure

policy achieves this goal. It lays out a framework of standard health and safety duties for employees, as well as standard operational procedures that must be made, to ensure that those involved in the workplace are protected from harm. Under this structure, certain responsibilities will be delegated for the completion of certain tasks, and certain safeguards will be implemented in response to certain threats.

The policy statement may specify, for instance, that it is the supervisor’s duty to safeguard the safety of all employees under his or her supervision. This statement will be used to determine who is responsible for what in terms of training employees on the unique safety procedures that pertain to their job (such as how to operate a piece of equipment, whether or not to wear hard hats on the job, etc.).

The policy may also include measures to be taken to ensure the safety of any guests from outside the company who may be present at work. From this, specific protocols may be established to require visitors to sign in upon arrival, stay on designated paths, use earplugs in noise-sensitive regions, and sign out upon departure.

So, the health and safety policy would encompass all duties related to employee well-being and all measures taken to ensure the safety of employees.

Keep in mind that there is no one best way to create or organize a health and safety policy. Instead, it should be tailored to each company’s unique set of circumstances. It needs to be crafted with an eye toward the specific threats and dangers encountered or posed by the operations taking place within the organization’s designated workplace(s). As a result, it’ll be different depending on the specifics of the organization’s size, the sector in which it operates, and the nature of the work being done.

Contents of the Health and Safety Policy

Top management is responsible for creating, enforcing, and maintaining an OH&S policy that:

1. a) is appropriate to the organization’s purpose, size, and context, as well as the specific nature of its OH&S risks and opportunities;
2. b) includes a commitment to develop and provide a safe workplace along with prevention of work-related injuries & ill-health;
3. c) a commitment to comply with legal and other requirements;
4. d) a commitment to eliminate hazards and reduce OH&S risks;
5. e) a commitment to the ongoing improvement of the OH&S management system;
6. f) and a commitment to consultation and participation of workers and, where applicable, workers’ representatives.

Health and Safety Objectives

Management is accountable for developing, implementing, and updating an OH&S policy that: a) takes into account the organization’s mission, size, and context, as well as the unique nature of its OH&S risks and opportunities;

1. b) emphasizes the prevention of work-related injuries and illnesses and the provision of a safe workplace;
2. c) satisfies legal and other requirements; and
3. d) works to remove hazards and lessen OH&S risks.

2.2 Responsibilities – all workers at all levels of an organization have responsibility for health and safety

Individuals or organizations at every level must take responsibility for the preventative procedures and actions necessary to keep people safe from harm. Everyone, as we have seen, is responsible for something:

Every level of management is responsible for ensuring that, within their purview of duty, all necessary precautions are taken with regard to strategic plans and/or operational actions.

It is everyone’s obligation to follow all safety procedures at all times while on the job.

Professionals in the field of health and safety are tasked with assisting both upper management and employees in developing an awareness of and putting into practice effective safety procedures. These individuals may be paid safety officers or managers, or they may be regular employees who have agreed to take on additional duties — for example, as fire marshals or first responders — on the side or as volunteers. Employers may be required by law to appoint “competent individuals” to provide this expert advice on matters of health and safety in the workplace generally, as well as on the specific hazards and risks caused by certain tasks (such as handling substances hazardous to health, by which we mean chemicals). A “competent individual” is someone who possesses the necessary foundational knowledge and expertise to carry out the task at hand successfully. This definition may vary from place to place. This could be demonstrated by a combination of relevant academic credentials and work experience in a certain industry, or even a lifetime of relevant work experience.

Allocations of general duties and responsibilities include:

• Named and/or designated key personnel who report to upper management and are responsible for developing and enforcing comprehensive plans for safe workplace practices. In the event of an emergency, “competent individuals” must be on hand to administer first aid, assist with evacuation, put out fires, etc., as well as deal with more routine matters like conducting risk assessments, providing safe systems of work, and overseeing contractors.
• Compliance with the safety arrangements, including the responsibilities of both line and functional management.
• Functional experts, such as safety advisers, engineers, medical advisers, designers, chemists, ergonomists, etc., are either hired directly by the organization or brought in as consultants to help managers and other important people in the organization.
• The necessity of measuring, monitoring, and reviewing the health and safety results of the business.

2.2.3 Practical arrangements for making it work

These are the organizational structures, operational processes, and other measures required to implement the policy. They need to specify how the organization plans to ensure its employees’ safety and well-being through the use of various preventative and safety measures.

Planning and Organising

The risk assessment is the foundation for organizing preventative health and safety actions. This is a comprehensive assessment of the dangers and threats existing in the workplace. Risk assessments are typically required by law. Generally speaking, legal requirements are presumed to be met if not explicitly stated. It is not possible to remove or reduce risks to an acceptable level without first doing a risk assessment and then implementing the necessary control measures.

Therefore, the necessity of conducting risk assessments shall be made clear in the policy statement. As such, they will be unique to the tasks at hand.

The policy should also take into account the following while formulating and implementing safety measures:

• Responsibility and inspection structures to ensure health and safety procedures are followed.
• Methods for the regular upkeep of safety facilities and tools.
• Incident reporting procedures, including required levels of detail.
• Methods and structures for keeping track of and archiving work processes and related documentation.
• Information dissemination mechanisms, including education and instruction plans.

Controlling Hazards

In this area, you’ll find specifics on how to deal with potential dangers in the job. Controls may be technical, procedural, or behavioral, and may involve:

• The implementation of “permit-to-work” systems, which are more stringent than the less-restrictive written safe systems of work, where necessary.
• Instructions on how to evacuate, where to meet, and where to muster in the case of a fire should be provided in writing.
• The handing out of formal directives for keeping contractors under control and visitors under watch.
• Tidying up and trash disposal methods.
• Instructions on how to operate and maintain machinery, including safety features and contingency plans in case of breakdown.
• Access to appropriate PPE and other forms of safety gear.

Consultation

Consultation and participation with employees is a best practice (and in many countries, a legal necessity) that necessitates the establishment of suitable procedures to make it possible. Workers’ representatives, rather than individual workers, are typically consulted.

Consultation is encouraged and supported by many organizations. There is half as many accidents in businesses with safety advocates as in those without, according to recent studies. The safety performance of an organization can be greatly enhanced by enlisting the help of trained safety representatives who can contribute to the creation of health and safety policies, the monitoring of performance, the investigation of accidents and other incidents, and the overall enhancement of safety.

Communication

There must be transparency regarding the channels via which health and safety information is disseminated to employees:

• Adherence to documented processes, especially those pertaining to risk-free methods of operation.
• Providing directions, both verbally and in writing, using means such as signs and other visual cues.
• Providing sufficient training, including orientation to general workplace safety procedures as well as task-specific instruction in how to perform those activities safely.

Monitoring Compliance and Assessing Effectiveness

To ensure that all arrangements are operating and functioning as planned and that their goals are being met, monitoring is necessary. The systems for planning and organizing controls are subject to the same monitoring, review, assessment, and, where necessary, modification processes as the actual procedures and measures used to manage hazards.

The general techniques for monitoring would have to be specified in the policy:

• Active monitoring, which includes testing, inspections, and consultation processes that examine how arrangements are actually being used, as well as management control mechanisms that guarantee compliance with those arrangements.
• Reactive monitoring involves looking into and analyzing accidents and other occurrences in order to pinpoint the issues that led to them.

Active systems are unquestionably better since they seek to uncover flaws in existing arrangements prior to any accident that could result in personal hurt or financial loss.

The success of the arrangements should be evaluated in accordance to the policy statement’s stated objectives, such as accident rates, compliance levels, the number of safety violations found during inspections, etc.

2.2.4  Keeping it current: when you might need to review the health and safety management system, including passage of time, technological, organizational, or legal changes, and results of monitoring

Once it has been created and approved, a company’s health and safety policy shouldn’t be viewed as hard or unchanging. Instead, it should be regularly evaluated as part of the planning and organizing processes, both as a whole and in each of its component pieces.

There are specific circumstances that should prompt evaluations, either of the whole policy or of specific components of it, depending on the issues at hand. Examples of such circumstances include:

• Key staff departures and/or shifts in organizational structure.
• Relocation of offices or workspaces.
• When there is a shift in the way things are done at work or a new method is implemented.

When a risk analysis or safety inspection shows that it’s necessary.

• As a result of official disciplinary action or the results of an accident inquiry.
• After new laws have been passed.

If employees or their representatives point out problems during a consultation.

• If a third party, like an insurer, client, or consumer, requests it.

The goal of the assessment should be to identify and correct any flaws in the present overall philosophy, health, and safety management organization, and/or arrangements established to ensure safe working conditions.

References

Key elements of health and safety management system

https://www.ask-ehs.com/blog/abiding-by-the-key-elements-of-health-and-safety-management-systems/

ISO 45001 OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS MIGRATION GUIDE

https://d2evkimvhatqav.cloudfront.net/documents/isr_dis45001_guide.pdf

ISO 45001: Requirements and structure explained

https://www.itgovernance.co.uk/blog/iso-45001-requirements-and-structure-explained

Key Elements of Health and Safety Management System as per ILO-OSH-2001

https://entirelysafe.com/key-elements-of-health-and-safety-management-system-as-per-ilo-osh-2001/#.ZCFyWHZBzrc

Occupational health and safety

https://www.iso.org/files/live/sites/isoorg/files/archive/pdf/en/iso_45001_briefing_note.pdf

Prepare a health and safety policy

https://www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-safety/policy/index.htm