Elements of a Safety Management System

A safety audit provides the means for a systematic analysis of each element of a safety management system (SMS) to determine the extent and quality of the controls. 

Deserves a much higher place within all the elements of a safety management system. Because—The quality of incident investigation emerges as one of the primary markers in evaluating an organization s safety culture. 

Table 2.5 Elements of a Safety Management System—Kielland...

The introduction of a new safety and health system or element of a safety management system, such as near miss incident reporting, will inevitably be met with resistance from various levels and individuals within the organization. This is normal and expected as with any new safety idea, program, or drive. 

Discuss each of the six basic core safety process elements of a safety management system in detail. 

According to OSHA, management leadership and employee involvement are the most important elements of a safety management system. Review the descriptions of each role and provide your opinion as to which roles would be the most important. Support your opinion with some examples from your personal experience and/or research. 

The elements of a Safety management system (SMS). A number of important elements are specifed that have to do with the settingofpolicy and creation of plans and organizational capacity to realize that policy (PLAN), the analysis of hazards and effects leading to planningand implementation of those plans in order to manage the risks (DO), and the control on the effective performance of those steps (CHECK). A number of feedback loops are specified to see where the information gained should be sent (FEEDBACK)... 

Discuss the elements of a safety management system assessment. 

This section of the policy is quite often confused with the organising for safety element of a safety management system. This is due to a large number of similarities between the two. 

The elements of a safety-management system, and the positive impact of the various processes in the system can have on corporate objectives. 

This is meaty stuff. All elements in a safety management system, while necessary, do not equally impact on those hazards that present the greatest potential for harm, whether measured by incident frequency or severity of injury. Obviously, the safety management elements included, and those emphasized, in an audit system should relate to the hazards that an entity... 

The courses that I presented started off with the basic philosophy of safety management and the roles of management concerning anthority, responsibility, and accountability, and how they were the building blocks of a safety management system. An introduction to the system followed as well as an in-depth description of the 73 elements that comprised a comprehensive safety system. 

Risk assessment procedures in health and safety are legal requirements in most countries and also essential elements of the safety management systems, being they certified or not. In formal risk assessments, the risks are fisted based on their priority in terms of severity and likelihood of the possible accident. In spite of the fact that there is a subjective element involved in such estimation, the process will yield a rational basis for decisions to act on hazards encountered. Further, the follow-up assessments are giving estimates of residual risks for those risks counteracted, to complete the prevention with additional measures where needed. 

In addition, just as employee participation is the key element of process safety management systems, worker involvement is crucial to the effective application of Safety Cases. Unfortunately, the perception among many that a Safety Case is a lengthy, highly technical document that can only be understood by specialists, mitigates effective employee participation. For example the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique used to model explosion over-pressure uses very sophisticated mathematics. This sophistication makes communication with nonspecialists a challenge. In addition the sheer size and complexity of a Safety Case may serve as a barrier to the involvement of nontechnical personnel. 

That the risk assessment has been carried out, reviewed at appropriate intervals and adequately documented. This is, in effect, a check on the operation of the risk assessment element of the Safety Management System and, where weaknesses are identified, suitable corrective action should be instigated. 

That the estimates of likelihood and severity on which the risk calculation was based were realistic, given the information available at the time. Again, this is a check on the risk assessment element of the Safety Management System but it is checking how well the risk assessment was carried out, not just whether it was carried out. 

Although the system is not specifically mentioned in the overall safety and health policy, in most cases, its function and responsibilities are spelled out in a safety management standard on near miss incident reporting, which is a stand-alone document. A safety standard is defined as a measurable management performance. Each element of the safety management system should have a written standard that describes the actions, duties, goals, objectives, and responsibilities for each element. 

While the fundamental concepts of a safety management system can be the same, we will discuss in Chapter 5, Overview of Basic Safety Management Systems , how it is deployed and sustained will vary based on the organization s culture. Program elements, safety-related... 

Step 12 Define the Y=J x) and recommend changes to the process. Yis the outcome of doing X. This is one of several Six Sigma tools that can be used to look at the relationships between elements of the safety management system process. If a risk guidance tool is used, does it impact the avoidance, reduction, and control of hazards If no relationships can be defined, then the system must be further reviewed. Refer to Chapter 14, Assessing Your Safety Management System . 

The JHA is a core process element of the safety management system and offers benefits in multiple areas. As mentioned above, if you have a JHA process, it becomes part of the network of communications that spreads job information and influences safe behaviors through the organization. It covers both the job design for potential latent, built-in errors that are hidden and for potential active errors by the employee (Job Safety Analysis A Fundamental Tool for Safety, n.d. Volume 1 Concepts and principles, human performance, improvement Handbook, 2009). 

The premise is that the JHA should be considered the centerpiece for a safety system to operate effectively. JHA provides the critical linkage between all aspects of a safety management system. The following are examples using several ANSI/AIHA/ASSE, ZIO elements ... 

After this expensive incident, the company developed and implemented a safety management system (which has elements of todays U.S. OSHA PSM Mechanical Integrity program) to ... 

Periodic management review is a specific risk-based process safety (RBPS) element Providing regular checkups on the health of process safety management systems—including the metrics—will identify and correct any current or incipient deficiencies before they are revealed by an audit or incident. Such management reviews also demonstrate management interest and commitment to process safety and the metrics that describe the system. 

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