Employee commitment safety management practices

This commitment, however, involves more than a cursory statement to promote safety at all costs. It involves committing the organization, its board of directors, managers, and employees to a long-term, ongoing, structured process aligned to the constant identification and elimination of workplace risks, which can only be achieved by the implementation and maintenance of a world s best-practice safety management system (SMS). 

One of the most effective methods of establishing a safety culture is to consult with employees over safety-related matters, and be seen to act on their suggestions, where reasonably practicable. This is the main difference between consulting with employees and merely informing them as required by current legislation. This statutory consultation raises the profile of safety among the workforce and ensures that the management team is seen to be committed to the partnership approach to safety. 

While the two may be closely related, it is important to note that this chapter is not focused on OSHA written safety and health plans, for example hazcom or bloodbome pathogens those are components of an overall program, but only a component. The chapter is also not referring to a gigantic document that was written by the safety manager and just sits on a bookshelf somewhere. Rather, in this chapter we re focusing on the way safety should be viewed and practiced in the workplace, from employee involvement to management commitment. 

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