Effective prevention and loss control has to focus on the causes of incidents because outcomes may be random and uncontrollable. For instance, if a person slips on a patch of split oil they may be unhurt, damage clothing or equipment, break an arm, or fracture their skull and die. Examining the causes of all such outcomes can provide valuable insights into inadequacies in risk control and point toward action which can prevent future injuries and losses. A key feature of an effective health and safety policy is to examine all unsafe events and the behaviours which give rise to them. This is a way of controlling risk and measuring performance. Cheapo Oil’s policy will aim to exploit the strengths of our employees. It will aim to minimise the contribution of human limitations and fallibilities by examining how the organisation is structured and how jobs and systems are designed.
Organisations that are good at managing health and safety create an effective framework to maximise the contribution of individuals and groups. That is what Cheapo Oil will be striving for. Health and Safety objectives are to be regarded in the same way as other business objectives. They will become part of the culture and this is recognised explicitly by making health and safety a management responsibility. The approach has to, and will start at the top. Visible support and commitment of our managers and director are fundamental to the success of health and safety management. The whole organisation shares management perception and beliefs about the importance of health and safety and the need to achieve the policy objectives3.
Organising for Health and Safety
The policy sets the direction for health and safety but Cheapo Oil needs to create a robust framework for management activity and to detail the responsibilities and relationships, which will deliver, improved performance3. To achieve high standards in H&S Cheapo Oil must create and sustain a ‘culture’ which motivates and involves all members of the organisation in the control of risks.
The activities necessary to promote positive H&S culture are split into:
Control
Establishing and maintaining control is central to all management functions. We must secure control by ensuring our managers lead by example. Everyone should know and believe that Cheapo Oil is committed to continuous improvement in H&S performance4.
Control arrangements are very important and should form part of our organisations written statement on health and safety. A key part of the process of establishing control is to set performance standards which link responsibilities to outputs, recognising that the achievement of goals is based on specific defined work with measurable outputs. “What gets measured gets done”
Setting performance standards is essential if policies are to be translated from good intentions into a series of co-ordinated activities and tasks. Good performance standards link responsibilities to specific outputs. These should specify:
- Who is Responsible – gives the name or position of employee. They should meet suitable competence criteria and be held accountable.
- What are they responsible for – explain what is to be done and how.
- When should the work be done – set a time frame.
- What is the expected result – legal requirements or specified procedure.
To motivate employee we will reward group rather than individual effort and will support a collaborative approach to H&S management.
Co-operation
Participation by employees supports risk control by encouraging their ‘ownership’ of health and safety policies3. The operators who have ‘hands on’ experience of the business can pool their knowledge and experience.
It is a legal requirement for all employees in Great Britain to be consulted, not just informed, about those H&S issues in the workplace that affect them. Employees at all levels should be involved in setting performance standards, procedures for risk control, and monitoring and auditing.
Communication
Communication can always be improved. As a company we need to monitor:
- Legal developments to ensure we comply with the law
- Technical developments relevant to risk control
- Developments in H&S management practice
In our H&S policy it is understood that the following information needs to be communicated to our employees:
The meaning and purpose of the policy
The commitment of management to its implementation
Plans, standards, procedures relating to measurement of performance
Lessons learned from accidents and incidents.
Written communication in the form of H&S policy statements, organisation statements and displaying significant findings from risk assessments will demonstrate Cheapo Oil’s commitment.
Team briefings and toolbox talks enable employees to have face-to-face discussions with management about H&S issues3.
Competence
If employees are to make maximum contribution to health and safety, we must make proper arrangements to ensure their competence. This means more than training; we must ensure they have acquired the appropriate skills and experience. There is also the need to enhance and maintain competence by refresher training. There are three main types of training need:
- Organisational - the H&S Policy and the structure and systems for delivering it.
- Job related – management and non-management needs
- Individual - generally identifies through performance appraisal
Planning
Effective planning is concerned with prevention through identifying, eliminating and controlling hazards and risks.
Risk control systems are the basis for ensuring that adequate workplace precautions are provided and maintained.
The three components of Workplace Precautions, RCS’s and Management Arrangements form the H&S Management System and are the basis for a framework for planning and implementing. Planning how to create and operate an H&S Management system ought to be a collaborative effort involving people throughout the organisation.
Cheapo Oil’s planning process will comprise of three elements:
- Acquire accurate information about the current situation
- Determine suitable benchmarks against which to make comparisons
- Designate competent people to carry out the analysis and make judgements
H&S objectives need to be specific, measurable, agreed with those who deliver them, realistic and set against a suitable timescale (SMART).
The control of risks is necessary to secure compliance with the requirements of the HSW Act and the relevant statutory provisions. There are three basic stages in establishing workplace precautions:
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Hazard identification – identifying hazards which could cause harm.
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Risk Assessment – assessing the risk which may arise from hazards
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Risk Control – deciding on suitable measures to eliminate or control risk3.
As an organisation if we plan and control in this way we can expect fewer injuries and claims resulting from them, reduced insurance costs, less absenteeism, higher productivity and lower operating costs2.
Measuring Performance
Measuring performance is essential to monitor the success of the H&S Plan. Cheapo Oil needs to measure what we are doing to implement our H&S policy, to assess how effectively we are controlling the risks and how we well we are developing a positive H&S culture. Like planning, monitoring H&S performance against pre-determined plans and standards should be a management responsibility. Two types of system are required:
- Active systems which monitor the design, development, installation and operation of management arrangements, RCS’s and workplace precautions. Active monitoring with give us feedback on our performance before an accident, incident or ill health. It measures success and reinforces positive achievement by rewarding good work. The various forms and levels of active monitoring include:
- Routine procedure to monitor specific objectives, e.g. quarterly or monthly reports or returns.
- Periodic examination of documents to check that systems relating to the promotion of the health and safety culture are complied with.
- The systematic inspection of premises, plant and equipment.
Active monitoring should be proportional to the hazard profile. Activity should concentrate on areas where it is likely to produce the greatest benefit and lead to the greatest control of risk.
- Reactive systems which monitor accidents, ill health, incidents and other evidence of deficient health and safety performance. . They are triggered after an event and include identifying and reporting:
- Injuries and cases of ill health
- Other losses, e.g. damage to property
- Hazards
Each of the above provides opportunities for us to check performance, learn from mistakes, and improve the health and safety management system and risk control3.
Cheapo Oil will use the following safety monitoring techniques –
- Safety Sampling: designed to measure by random sampling the accident potential in a specific work area or activity by identifying safety deficiencies or omissions. The area or activity will be divided into sections and a trained observer (from a consultancy) appointed to each section.
- Damage Control: emphasise the fact that non-injury accidents are as important as injury accidents. The elimination of non-injury accidents will, in many cases, remove the potential for other forms of accident.
- Job Safety Analysis: can do much to eliminate the hazards of a job. The analysis will identify every single operation in a job, examine the specific hazards and indicate remedial measures necessary.
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Safety Inspections: this will be general and broad in its application, covering maintenance standards, safe systems of work and housekeeping1.
Urgent action will be taken if immediate risks become apparent during active monitoring. Regulation 8 of the MHSW Regulations requires every employer to have appropriate procedures to deal with events involving serious and imminent danger to people at work. If an accident or incident occurs, immediate action my be necessary before any investigation begins, to:
- Help treat and if necessary rescue the injured;
- Make the situation safe and prevent further damage or injury.
If an investigation is required it should –
- Identify reasons for substandard performance;
- Learn from events
- Prevent recurrences
- Satisfy legal and reporting requirements
A good investigation will identify both immediate and underlying causes, including human factors. Immediate causes include the job being done and the people involved. Underlying causes are the management and organisational factors which explain why the event occurred.
We must ensure that any recommendations are given priorities and turned into objectives for our people to implement. This forms the basis for a review process. To set our priorities we need to apply a simplified process for prioritising, i.e. risk assessments3.
Auditing
Auditing enables management to ensure that their policy is being carried out and that it is having the desired effect. Auditing complements the monitoring programme. The audit can assess our organisations ability to meet its own standards on a wide front, rather than providing a ‘snap-shot’ of a particular site or premises.
The two main objectives of an audit are:
- To ensure that standards achieved conform as closely as possible to the objectives set out in the organisation’s safety policy.
- To provide information to justify continuation of the same strategy, or a change of course
The best health and safety audit systems are capable of identifying deviations from agreed standards, analysing events leading to these deviations and highlighting good practice.
Cheapo Oil will endeavour to audit our H&S Management System as and when required using external consultants.
Without active support, any attempt at organised accident prevention will be useless, since there may be an illusion that H&S matters are under control, resulting in complacency. Avoidance of accidents requires sustained, integrated effort from the managers, and workers in our organisation. Only management can provide the authority to ensure this activity is co-ordinated, directed and funded. Its influence will be seen in the policy made, the amounts of scrutiny given to it, and the ways in which violations are handled2.
References
1 Stranks J, Management Systems for Safety, Pitman Publishing, First Edition
2 Allan St John Holt, Principals of Health and Safety at Work, IOSH Services, Fifth Edition
3 HSE, Successful Health and Safety Management, HSE Books, Third Edition
4 HSC, Directors Responsibilities for Health and Safety, HSE Books, First Edition