Chapter 1
The Safety and
Health
Manager
Contents
• Introduction
• Reasonable Objective
• Safety versus Health
• Role in the Corporate Structure
• Resources at Hand
Introduction
• Everyone wants a safe and healthful workplace; people have different opinion
and strategies to achieve this objective
• Management must decide the target of safety and health.
• Without management Responsibility, Commitment, and Support to Safety and
Health, worker safety cannot be achieved.
• Before OSHA:
• Plant Nurse (first aid/after the fact) – (Responsible for health) - had little authority to
influence policy or to take action to prevent hazards.
• Safety Manager - (Responsible for Safety) – little authority, ignored by management and
worker, performed only public relations activities such as posting motivational signs and
compiling statistics.
• In 1970, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was
created.
• OSHA was given the authority to establish the Safety and Health mandatory
standards.
Introduction
• Duties of safety and health manager include:
• Increasing safety culture (e.g., Posting motivational signs, training, engaging all
levels of workers from top management to frontline workers in safety
activities,…)
• Compiling and analyzing statistics (e.g., Accidents, Incidents, near misses, safety
training, investigations, corrected hazards,… )
• Identification, assessment, analysis, and correction of workplace hazards.
• Capital investment planning (decide and show how it is worth it to invest in
safety).
• Compliance with standards, involve two main challenges:
1. Only 10% of the standards generate 90% of the activity (violations)→ safety and health
managers need to know the frequently cited standards to bring their facilities within
compliance (look for inspection statistics and the frequency of citation)
Introduction
• Compliance with standards (cont.)
2. Safety and Health Managers need to know the “why” behind the standards to persuade
management and employees that a given situation needs correction (learn what hazards a
particular standard is intended to prevent).
• Example: Why use a hard hat??
• Option 1: this is the rules and worker must follow!!
• Option 2: without a hard hat, you could be hit by objects falling from the upper floors
accidentally.
Safety activity objective (A Reasonable Objective)
Is ZERO accidents and ZERO workplace hazards feasible??
• There are three types of hazards that exist in the real world:
• Hazards which are physically infeasible to correct
• Hazards which are physically feasible, but economically infeasible
to correct
• Hazards which are physically and economically feasible to correct
Safety activity objective (A Reasonable Objective)
• Examples:
• Hazards which are physically infeasible to correct
• bird entry into jet engines
• exposure to radiation during x-ray procedures.
• Hazards which are physically feasible, but economically infeasible to correct
• crosswalks on university campuses.
• Hazards which are physically and economically feasible to correct
• car passenger struck by objects inside car during accident → airbags.
• anti-lock brake system (ABS) to restore traction to your tires.
It is an unrealistic and naive strategy to attempt to eliminate all hazards.
Safety activity objective (A Reasonable Objective)
Safety activity objective (A Reasonable Objective)
• Option 1: accept the safety and health rationale as all they need
to begin action to correct the problems.
• Wasting resources - missing opportunities to have a really
significant impact on worker safety and health.
• Anyone could do this, No need for safety and health manager!
• Deteriorating the safety and health manager’s credibility with top
management
• Better Option: Investigate all three areas (collect more data)
• You could identify serious electrocution or respiratory hazard
unchecked, which require immediate action
• Only eliminate unreasonable hazards
Safety versus Health
• Safety deals with acute (sudden reaction to a sever conditions)
hazards
• An acute effect is a sudden reaction to a severe condition
• Health deals with chronic (long-term) hazards
• A chronic effect is a long-term deterioration due to prolonged
exposure to a milder adverse condition
• Examples:
• Acute Hazards: Risk of amputation in a power press
• Chronic Hazards: Asbestosis (a chronic lung disease caused by
inhaling asbestos fibers)
• Machine guarding is a _____ consideration.
• Airborne asbestos is a _____ consideration.
• Paint spray area, welding operations, and Industrial Noise?
Safety versus Health
• Some situations may be both a health and a safety hazard
• Example: industrial noise is usually a health hazard because it is
usually the long-term exposure to noise levels in the range 90 to
100 decibels that leads to the permanent damage.
• But noise can also be a safety hazard because a sudden acute
exposure to impact noise can injure the hearing system.
• Many chemical exposures have both acute and chronic effects.
Safety versus Health
• Industrial Hygienist concentrates on health hazards.
• Sophisticated Instruments
• Scientific Expertise
• Safety Specialist concentrates on Safety hazards.
• Industrial Process experience
• practical on-the-job Knowledge
However, It is essential that a safety and health manager give
sufficient attention not only to safety hazards, but also to health
hazards.
Role in the Corporate Structure
• Responsibility may include:
• Security
• Personnel Management (or reporting to)
• Worker Training
• Statistics
• Job Placement
• Purchasing Department??
• When purchases of equipment at bargain prices, the equipment
may not be in compliance with current standards.
Role in the Corporate Structure
• Responsibility may include:
• Dealing with government agencies
• Compliance with environment protection
(inside and outside the plant)
• Energy consumption
• global warming
• green engineering
Resources at Hand
• Professional Certification:
• Board of Certified Safety Professionals of America (www.bcsp.org)
• CSP Certified Safety Professional
• American Board of Industrial Hygiene (www.abih.org)
• CIH Certified Industrial Hygiene
• American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) Certificate
Programs (https://www.assp.org/education/certificate-programs)
• The NEBOSH International General Certificate in Occupational
Health and Safety (IGC) (https://www.nebosh.org.uk/home/)
Resources at Hand
• Professional Societies:
• American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE)
(www.asse.org)
• American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)
(www.aiha.org)
Resources at Hand
• System Safety
• In the mid-1950s, safety received emphasis as a system to be planned for and
considered in every step in the production process.
• System Safety is considered essential in fields where an accident can be
catastrophic, such as airlines, aerospace, and hospitals.
• System Safety Society
(www.system-safety.org)
• National Safety Council
• Broad in scope than Occupational Safety
• Principle source for information about safety hazards
• Publishes comprehensive summaries of accident statistics (Injury Facts)
(www.nsc.org)
Resources at Hand
• Standards Institutes
• Top 4:
• American National Standards Institute (ANSI) www.ansi.org
• National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) www.nfpa.org
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) www.asme.org
• American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) www.astm.org
Resources at Hand
• Trade Associations
• Industry/Equipment Specific
• Provide Safety and Health Data and training.
• Sometimes accused of presenting biased data on safety and health to
promote the industry’s product
• Examples:
• American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI)
• American Metal Stamping Association (AMSA)
• American Petroleum Institute (API)
• American Welding Society (AWS)
Resources at Hand
• Government Agencies
The consultation function is kept separate from the enforcement function in
state agencies
• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
• The main source for occupational safety and health standards
• Can answer question without identifying the caller identity.
• OSHA maintains a training institute for training the general public in voluntary
compliance.
• The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Research data on the hazards of specific materials and processes. NIOSH uses
these data to write criteria for recommended new standards.
• Acts as a principal source of technical information for questions about
occupational safety and health.
• The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
• Ensures the safety of products going to the end consumer
Resources at Hand
• In KSA:
• Government standards:
• Saudi Labour law (Part 8 - page 51)
• هـ1439-8-10 وتاريخ161238 الئحة إدارة السالمة والصحة المهنية (قرار وزاري رقم
• Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO)
• Regional standards: e.g., GCC Standardization Organization (GSO)
• International standards, example: ISO 45000 FAMILY OCCUPATIONAL
HEALTH AND SAFETY
• Provides certifications for companies (e.g., SABIC is ISO 45000 certified).
