MANAGING SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK
Dr. Adalat Khan
August 08, 2007
The safety and health of people must be the number one priority of all organizations, but ironically it is not. The number of occupational related illnesses and accidents is high and even then the management of safety and health is not given the same importance as given to other corporate initiatives. Profit maximization, quality certification, cost reduction etc. are always considered priority while the critical job of ensuring safety is often ignored. Common sense and ethics will require that the safety and health of people at work must precede all other initiatives and a proper management system must be put in place which systematically ensures that people are free from occupational hazards. The International Labor Organization (ILO) has designed a comprehensive Occupation Safety and Health (OSH) management system which if adopted can provide a comprehensive mechanism of safeguarding people from accidents and illnesses.
The main elements of the OSH Management System are:
Policy
Organizing
Planning and implementing
Evaluation
Action for implement
Policy:
The starting point for implementing a safety and health management system is to come up with an appropriate safety and health policy statement that outlines the organization’s overall intent and philosophy towards the safety and health of its human resources. It is advisable that the employer in consultation with workers and their representatives should set out a concise and clearly written OSH policy. This document should be signed by the employer or the most senior position in the organization.
Organizing:
OSH organizing includes top management commitment by providing leadership, direction and the requisite resources. The employer and top management should allocate responsibility, accountability, and authority for the development, implementation and performance of OSH management system and its stated goals and objectives. Organizing will also involve providing adequate training and competencies and the compilation of proper documentation for this purpose. This will also require the setting up of a proper communication system, which should receive, document and respond to internal as well as external communication related to OSH. Additionally the organization should ensure that the concerns, ideas and inputs of workers and their representatives on OSH matters are received, considered and responded to.
Planning and implementation:
Like other elements the planning and implementation of the OSH program is one of the most important ingredient which should be given due importance. Good planning and its subsequent implementation will make or break these projects. These two elements will include initial review, system planning, development and implementation of OSH objectives and hazard prevention strategies.
Evaluation:
In order to ensure the effective implementation of an OSH Management System, a company must also put into place an evaluation system comprising of performance monitoring and measurement, accidents investigation, OSH audits and management reviews elements.
Action for Improvement
The final element of an OSH Management System is an inbuilt mechanism for continual improvement. Those at the helm must make arrangements involving both preventive as well as corrective actions resulting from Performance Reviews. Processes related to objectives, hazard and risk assessment, accidents reporting and health protection promotion should be continually improved. Moreover the overall safety and health processes and performance of the organization should be compared with others in order to improve one’s own situation.
The safety and health of its employees, customers, and other stakeholder is the key responsibility of all organizations. The law, ethics and humanity requires that people either working in or interacting with an organization must be protected from the health and safety hazards it poses them. This can only be ensured if organized and systematic efforts are adopted. The OSH management system and its implementation by companies will achieve the safety and health of its people and should thus be given top priority. Safety and health is the first program which every organization must implement and all other programs such as ISO 9000, TQM, reengineering etc. must also include the key elements of OSH management system.
Let us manage safety and health and work and save precious lives, valuable resources and the very reputations of the organizations we work for
Dr Adalat Khan can be reached via email dradalat@gmail.com
The main elements of the OSH Management System are:
Policy
Organizing
Planning and implementing
Evaluation
Action for implement
Policy:
The starting point for implementing a safety and health management system is to come up with an appropriate safety and health policy statement that outlines the organization’s overall intent and philosophy towards the safety and health of its human resources. It is advisable that the employer in consultation with workers and their representatives should set out a concise and clearly written OSH policy. This document should be signed by the employer or the most senior position in the organization.
Organizing:
OSH organizing includes top management commitment by providing leadership, direction and the requisite resources. The employer and top management should allocate responsibility, accountability, and authority for the development, implementation and performance of OSH management system and its stated goals and objectives. Organizing will also involve providing adequate training and competencies and the compilation of proper documentation for this purpose. This will also require the setting up of a proper communication system, which should receive, document and respond to internal as well as external communication related to OSH. Additionally the organization should ensure that the concerns, ideas and inputs of workers and their representatives on OSH matters are received, considered and responded to.
Planning and implementation:
Like other elements the planning and implementation of the OSH program is one of the most important ingredient which should be given due importance. Good planning and its subsequent implementation will make or break these projects. These two elements will include initial review, system planning, development and implementation of OSH objectives and hazard prevention strategies.
Evaluation:
In order to ensure the effective implementation of an OSH Management System, a company must also put into place an evaluation system comprising of performance monitoring and measurement, accidents investigation, OSH audits and management reviews elements.
Action for Improvement
The final element of an OSH Management System is an inbuilt mechanism for continual improvement. Those at the helm must make arrangements involving both preventive as well as corrective actions resulting from Performance Reviews. Processes related to objectives, hazard and risk assessment, accidents reporting and health protection promotion should be continually improved. Moreover the overall safety and health processes and performance of the organization should be compared with others in order to improve one’s own situation.
The safety and health of its employees, customers, and other stakeholder is the key responsibility of all organizations. The law, ethics and humanity requires that people either working in or interacting with an organization must be protected from the health and safety hazards it poses them. This can only be ensured if organized and systematic efforts are adopted. The OSH management system and its implementation by companies will achieve the safety and health of its people and should thus be given top priority. Safety and health is the first program which every organization must implement and all other programs such as ISO 9000, TQM, reengineering etc. must also include the key elements of OSH management system.
Let us manage safety and health and work and save precious lives, valuable resources and the very reputations of the organizations we work for
Dr Adalat Khan can be reached via email dradalat@gmail.com
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