Safety is a full time job - don't make it a part time practice
Safety
Safety is the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error,accidents, harm or any other event which could be considered non-desirable. Safety can also be defined to be the control of recognized hazards to achieve an acceptable level of risk. This can take the form of being protected from the event or from exposure to something that causes health or economical losses. It can include protection of people or of possessions
Safety Management Systems
Safety Management System (SMS) is a term used to refer to a comprehensive business management system designed to manage occupational safety and health elements in the workplace.
Safety Management System provides a systematic way to identify hazards and control risks while maintaining assurance that these risk controls are effective.
Safety Management System can be defined as: ...a businesslike approach to safety. It is a systematic, explicit and comprehensive process for managing safety risks. As with all management systems, a safety management system provides for goal setting, planning, and measuring performance. A safety management system is woven into the fabric of an organization. It becomes part of the culture, the way people do their jobs.
For the purposes of defining safety management, safety can be defined as the reduction of risk to a level that is as low as is reasonably practicable.
There are three imperatives for adopting a safety management system for a business - these are ethical, legal and financial.
There is an implied moral obligation placed on an employer to ensure that work activities and the place of work to be safe, there are legislative requirements defined in just about every jurisdiction on how this is to be achieved and there is a substantial body of research which shows that effective safety management (which is the reduction of risk in the workplace) can reduce the financial exposure of an organization by reducing direct and indirect costs associated with accident and incidents.
International Labour Organisation SMS Model
Since there are many models to choose from to outline the basic components of a safety management system, the one chosen here is the international standard promoted by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
o Policy
o Organizing
o Planning and Implementation
o Evaluation
o Action for Improvement
Although other SMS models use different terminology, the process and workflow for safety management systems is always the same;
Ø Policy - Establish within policy statements what the requirements are for the organization in terms of resources, defining management commitment and defining OSH targets
Ø Organizing - How is the organization structured, where are responsibilities and accountabilities defined, who reports to who and who is responsible for what.
Ø Planning and Implementation - What legislation and standards apply to our organization, what OSH objectives are defined and how are these reviews, hazard prevention and the assessment and management of risk.
Ø Evaluation - How is OSH performance measured and assessed, what are the processes for the reporting of accidents and incidents and for the investigation of accidents and what internal and external audit processes are in place to review the system.
Ø Action for Improvement - How are preventative and corrective actions managed and what processes are in place to ensure the continual improvement process.
There is a significant amount of detail within each of these sections and these should be examined in detail from the ILO-OSH Guidelines document.
Safety Management Systems
Safety Management System (SMS) is a term used to refer to a comprehensive business management system designed to manage occupational safety and health elements in the workplace.
Safety Management System provides a systematic way to identify hazards and control risks while maintaining assurance that these risk controls are effective.
Safety Management System can be defined as: ...a businesslike approach to safety. It is a systematic, explicit and comprehensive process for managing safety risks. As with all management systems, a safety management system provides for goal setting, planning, and measuring performance. A safety management system is woven into the fabric of an organization. It becomes part of the culture, the way people do their jobs.
For the purposes of defining safety management, safety can be defined as the reduction of risk to a level that is as low as is reasonably practicable.
There are three imperatives for adopting a safety management system for a business - these are ethical, legal and financial.
There is an implied moral obligation placed on an employer to ensure that work activities and the place of work to be safe, there are legislative requirements defined in just about every jurisdiction on how this is to be achieved and there is a substantial body of research which shows that effective safety management (which is the reduction of risk in the workplace) can reduce the financial exposure of an organization by reducing direct and indirect costs associated with accident and incidents.
International Labour Organisation SMS Model
Since there are many models to choose from to outline the basic components of a safety management system, the one chosen here is the international standard promoted by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
o Policy
o Organizing
o Planning and Implementation
o Evaluation
o Action for Improvement
Although other SMS models use different terminology, the process and workflow for safety management systems is always the same;
Ø Policy - Establish within policy statements what the requirements are for the organization in terms of resources, defining management commitment and defining OSH targets
Ø Organizing - How is the organization structured, where are responsibilities and accountabilities defined, who reports to who and who is responsible for what.
Ø Planning and Implementation - What legislation and standards apply to our organization, what OSH objectives are defined and how are these reviews, hazard prevention and the assessment and management of risk.
Ø Evaluation - How is OSH performance measured and assessed, what are the processes for the reporting of accidents and incidents and for the investigation of accidents and what internal and external audit processes are in place to review the system.
Ø Action for Improvement - How are preventative and corrective actions managed and what processes are in place to ensure the continual improvement process.
There is a significant amount of detail within each of these sections and these should be examined in detail from the ILO-OSH Guidelines document.
