Health and Safety Management Systems

A colliety in South Africa addressed the human factor in safety systems. It was an underground bord and pillar mine with a workforce of 510 people. There were eleven home languages spoken and education levels were low. 

The challenge the company faced waste unite management, the unions, employees and government in tackling safety. 

The objectives for the next year were zero fatalities, reportable injuries less than two and lost-time injuries less than five. 

Among other things the company initiated Simunye (Zulu for we are one ) employee participation, and a core driver was the daily safety bulletin issue by senior management at 5.30 am each morning. Another initiative was flashing traffic lights with a safety reminder at strategic points around the mine site. 

The company also instituted shock awareness meetings where senior management added energy to the first ten minutes of each of the three shifts by spontaneously addressing their department on a current topic requiring urgent attention. There was also a phone hotline for anonymous reporting on a safety and security matter. 

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Parallel to the development of ISO 14001 1996 - Environmental Management Systems - several organizations developed guides, draft specifications, and requirements for occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMSs). Most of this development has been done by management system registrars with the expectation that an OHSMS be accepted and issued by a national or internationally accredited standards body, that is, International Organization for Standardization (ISO), British Standards, and so on. 

M Fleming R Lardner 2002. Strategies to promote safe behavior as part of a health and safety management system [M]. Edinburgh the Keil Centre. 

Evalnate the health and safety management system adopted by a construction... 

The occupational safety and health community uses various names to describe systematic approaches to reducing injuries and illnesses in the workplace. Consensus and international standards use the term Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems OSHA currently uses the term Injury and Illness Prevention Programs and others use Safety and Health Programs to describe these types of systems. Regardless of the title, they all systematically address workplace safety and health hazards on an ongoing basis to reduce the extent and severity of work-related injuries and illnesses. 

There are at least two industry consensus standards for injury and illness prevention programs. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) have published a voluntary consensus standard, ANSI/AIHA ZIO—2005 Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems (ANSI/AIHA 2005). The Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) Project Group, a consortium of selected Registrars, national standards bodies, professional associations and research institutes, has produced a similar document, OHSAS 18001—2007 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSAS Project Group 2007). These consensus-based standards have been widely accepted in the world of commerce and adopted by many businesses on a voluntary basis. 

ANSI/AIHA (2005). American National Standard-Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. ANSI/AIHA ZlO-2005. 

OHSAS Project Group. (2007). Occupational health and safety management systems— Requirements. OHSAS 18001 2007. Published as a British Standards Institute... 

A good guideline for what elements a safety management system should contain is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), ANSI/AIHA ZlO-2005 American National Standard Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. A similar standard exists for the construction and demolition industry ANSI/ASSE AlO.38-2000 (R2007) Basic Elements of an Employer s Program to Provide a Safe and Healthful Work Environment. 

Providing the practices, tools, and resources via the company health and safety management system... 

An audit objectively, and in detail, evaluates an organization s occupational health and safety management system, identifying areas of strength and weakness, and supports a structured continuous improvement approach going forward. (McKinnon, 2012a, p. 89)... 

Standards in safety are referred to as measurable management performances. Standards are set for the level of work to be done to maintain a safe and healthy environment free from actual and potential accidental loss. Standards are established in writing for all the health and safety management system elements. 

National Occupational Safety Association (NOSA) Five-Star Safety System Safety Projects International (SPI) Five-Star Health and Safety Management System... 

This South African Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) standard was approved by National Committee SABS TC 177, Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems, in accordance with procednres of the SABS Standards Division in compliance with international agreements. This South African National Standards (SANS) docnment was published in April 2011. It is the same as the British Standards Institnte s (BSI) version and has been adopted with permission. 

This standard, entitled Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems— Guidelines for the Implementation of OHSAS 18001 2007, is an ideal guideline for the implementation of an SMS that will meet world s best practice. 

This Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) guideline, and OHSAS 18001 2007, Occupational health and safety management systems— Requirements, have been developed in response to customer demand for a recognizable occupational health and safety management system standard against which their management systems can be assessed and certified, and for guidance on the implementation of such a standard. (British Standards Institute, BSI-OHSAS 18002 2008, p. 3)... 

Level 1—the key elements of the health and safety management system the management arrangements (including plans and objectives) necessary to organize, plan, control and monitor the design and implementation of RCSs. 

The health and safety culture of an organization is an important factor in ensuring the effectiveness of risk control. The health and safety management system is an important influence on the safety culture, which in turn impacts on the effectiveness of the health and safety management system. Measuring aspects of the safety culture therefore forms part of the overall process of measuring health and safety performance. (P-14)... 

The health and safety management system is the process which turns uncontrolled hazards to controlled risks. The key elements are ... 

British Standards Institute (BSI). 2008. Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. OHS AS 18001. (Permission to reproduce extracts from BSI-OHSAS 18001 is granted by BSI. British Standards can be obtained in PDF or hard copy formats from the BSI online shop, www.bsigroup.com/Shop, or by contacting BSI customer service for hard copies only, tel +44 (0)20 8996 9001, email cservices bsigroup.com.)... 

OHSAS 18001 2007. Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. 

Gallagher, C. (1997) Health and Safety Management Systems An Analysis of System Effectiveness. A Report to the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission National Key Centre in Industrial Relations. 

Makin, A.-M., Winder, C. (2008) A new conceptual framework to improve the application of occupational health and safety management systems. Safety Science. 46(6) 935-948... 

Redinger, C. F. (1998) Occupational Health and Safety Management System Conformity Assessment Development and Evaluation of a Universal Assessment Instrument, PhD. University Of Michigan. 

Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 2007, Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems— Requirements, July 2007 ... 

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