Element 2:

How Health and Safety Management Systems Work and What They Look Like

2.1 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems

Explain the PDCA cycle:

• Plan – set your aims and objectives and then plan how to achieve them.
• Do – put your plans into effect; implement them.
• Check – monitor your performance towards the aims and objectives that you set yourself.
• Act – routinely review progress and change what you are doing if it looks like you are missing
your targets.

What are the elements of ILO-OSH 2001: The ILO Occupational Safety and Health Management
System?
ILO-OSH 2001: The ILO Safety and Health Management System:
• Policy (Plan) – A clear statement has to be made to establish health and safety as a prime
commitment of management at all levels of the organisation, but particularly at the top.
• Organising (Plan) – A framework of roles and responsibilities for health and safety must be
created within the organisation, from senior management down to the front-line workers,
including the appointment of specialist staff.
• Planning and implementing (Do) – Detailed arrangements must be made for the management of
health and safety. Central to this idea is the concept of risk assessment and the identification
and implementation of safe systems of work and protective measures.
• Evaluation (Check) – Methods must be devised to monitor and review the effectiveness of the
arrangements put into place. This might be done reactively (e.g. by reviewing accident and ill-
health statistics), or actively (e.g. by reviewing inspection reports).
• Audit (Check) – Arrangements must be made for the independent, systematic and critical
examination of the SMS to ensure that all parts are working acceptably well.
• Action for improvement (Act) – Any shortcomings identified by the review process must be
corrected as soon as possible by making whatever adjustments are necessary to the policy,
organisation and arrangements for implementation.
• Continual improvement – The intention is that the SMS will not remain static but will develop
over time to become increasingly appropriate and useful to the organisation that it exists to
serve.
What are the elements of ISO 45001: The Occupational Health and Safety Management System
Standard?
• Context of the organisation (management system framework) – requires that the OHSMS is
designed and operated so as to be appropriate to the organisation and its operational
environment.
• Leadership and worker participation (management system framework) – requires that the
OHSMS is driven by those at the top of the organisation with the active engagement and
participation of workers at all levels.
• Planning (Plan) – requires that an ongoing planning process forms a part of the OHSMS so that
hazards, risks and opportunities (for improvement) are identified and that appropriate action is
identified and planned.
• Support (Do) – is concerned with the provision of support for the OHSMS so that it can be
established, implemented, maintained and continually improved.
• Operation (Do) – requires that hazard and risk are operationally managed.
• Performance evaluation (Check) – requires the systematic internal monitoring and reviewing of
OHS performance with a view to driving continual improvement.
• Improvement (Act) – embeds the principle of learning lessons and implementing the learning
from those lessons into the OHSMS.

What are the benefits of achieving ISO certification to an organisation?

• Improve employee safety – The most obvious benefit of ISO 45001 is the potential to reduce
workplace illnesses and injuries.
• Boost stakeholder confidence – Beyond the obvious benefits, complying with the ISO 45001
standard is a way to show customers, investors, and regulators that you’re serious about
keeping people safe.
• Increase productivity – Proper implementation of ISO 45001 will aid the organisation in the
reduction of accidents at work. Anytime a worker is injured and can’t return to work,
productivity suffers. You lose time hiring and training a replacement.
• Lower insurance costs – Employers who implement a successful ISO 45001 management system
may enjoy lower out-of-pocket expenses and premiums, including worker’s compensation.
• Reduce risk – ISO 45001 offers a framework for organizations to identify potential safety hazards
before they contribute to an accident.
• Identify opportunities – ISO 45001 isn’t just focused on risk, though. By identifying potential
hazards, employers are also able to uncover opportunities to increase safety and productivity.
• Stand out as an industry leader and gain a competitive advantage – Being able to achieve
compliance with the standard is a way for organizations to set themselves apart. If you’re
bidding for work or contracts, using the ISO 45001 standard may give your business an edge
over others.
2.2 Making the Management System Work – The Health and Safety Policy

Explain the three parts of a health and safety policy

A policy is normally presented in three parts (sections or elements):
• General Statement of Intent/ Statement of General Policy – The organisation’s philosophy in
relation to the management of health and safety. Has a statement of commitment towards HS,
sets the organisations HS aims and objectives, must be signed by the most senior manager.
• Organisation section – Indicates the chain of command for health and safety management and
identifies roles and responsibilities. It includes and organisation chart which also shows the lines
of communication.
• Arrangements section – Outlines the arrangements that exist for the effective management of
health and safety in general terms (e.g. how risk assessments are to be carried out) and also
deals with the management of specific issues (e.g. arrangements for ensuring the safety of
visitors).

Give examples of health and safety aims in an organisation

The Statement of Intent may recognise some general aims that have to be achieved by the organisation,
such as:
• Meeting legal obligations.
• Provision of a safe workplace, safe equipment and safe systems of work, as well as information,
instruction, training and supervision.
• Risk assessment of all relevant workplace activities.
• Performance monitoring.
• Provision of adequate resources, such as expert health and safety advice.
• Effective communication and consultation with workers.
Aims can sometimes be very aspirational in nature; they do not have to reflect exactly where the
organisation's current performance is. They reflect where the organisation would like to be.

Give examples of objectives and targets

Possible targets might relate to:
• Accident rates: to achieve a reduction in the accident or ill-health rate.
• Active monitoring: to complete successfully a number of active monitoring activities, such as:
✓ Successful completion of all supervisor safety inspections over a year.
✓ Completion of key activities, such as carrying out risk assessments across the organisation.
✓ Delivery of training to all workers.
✓ Development of a consultation process to engage the workforce.
Targets may be set in relation to past performance, or the performance of other similar organisations, or
the industry as a whole. The process of comparing performance in this way is known as ‘benchmarking’.
What factors should be considered when setting an organisations health and safety
objectives/targets?
When setting health and safety objectives, consideration should be given to:
• Who is going to set objectives – the involvement of senior management, perhaps with guidance
from health and safety practitioners/advisers.
• How objectives will be set at each functional level – objectives need to be set at different levels
or within different parts of the organisation to achieve organisational goals.
• Legal and other requirements – objectives must recognise legal standards and other
requirements set by, for example, corporate policy, or insurance companies.
• Hazards and risks – the hazards inherent in the workplace and the risks created must be taken
into account when setting objectives.
• Technological options – as technology changes, organisations should take advantage of new
technology and set objectives accordingly.
• Financial, operational, and business requirements – health and safety objectives should
integrate with financial, operational and business objectives so that there is no conflict of goals.
• Views of interested parties – for objectives to be achievable it is important that some element of
consultation occurs and that the views of interested parties are considered.

Identify examples of general arrangements that can be included in the organisations health and safety
policy.
General health and safety management arrangements:
• Carrying out risk assessments.
• Identifying and supplying health and safety information, instruction and training.
• Accident and near-miss reporting, recording and investigation.
• Consultation with workers on health and safety matters.
• Developing safe systems of work and permit-to-work systems to control hazards.
• Welfare and first-aid provision.
• Housekeeping.
• Fire safety and prevention.
• Emergency procedures.
• Communication of health and safety matters, including hazards and control measures.
• Compliance monitoring, including auditing of systems but also measuring workplace parameters
(e.g. noise, to assess the effectiveness of the arrangements).
Identify examples of specific arrangements that can be included in the organisations health and safety
policy.
• Lone working.
• Noise-exposure control.
• Vibration-exposure control.
• Control of exposure to toxic materials.
• Control of crowds.
• Control of transport risks.
• Specific health surveillance requirements.
• Waste disposal.

Give reasons why a health and safety policy should be reviewed?

Circumstances that might require a review of policy:
• Technological changes (e.g. introduction of new plant or processes).
• Organisational changes (e.g. changes to key personnel, such as a new CEO or MD, or changes to
the management structure of the organisation).
• Legal changes, such as the introduction of new legislation applicable to the organisation.
• Changes to the type of work that the organisation does (e.g. when work arrangements change).
• Where an audit, investigation or risk assessment suggests the policy is no longer effective.
• When requested by a third party, such as an insurance company or client.
• Following enforcement action.
• Following consultation with the workforce.
• A change of buildings, workplace or worksite.
• After a certain amount of time has passed since the last review (e.g. an annual review is a
common practice).