Safety Management System elements

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. 

To be effective, the review process should ensure that the necessary information is available for top management to evaluate the continuing suitability, adequacy, and effectiveness of the [safety management system],. .. Reviews should present results (for example, a scorecard) to focus top management on the [safety management system] elements most in need [of] their attention.. .. 

There are remarkable similarities and differences between the provisions in ZIO and the requirements to achieve Star status in the VPP program. The major differences relate to safety management system elements that are now given greater significance because of what has been learned in the past several years and that are more specifically defined in ZIO. Although substantial similarities exist, only the differences are highlighted here. 

Sustaining a system is sometimes an overlooked aspect of planning. A safety plan must take into consideration all of the safety management system elements that are in place and identify essential areas that may require change and improvement. 

As issues with the current safety culture and the safety management system are identified, the PDCA/DMAIC concepts provide a framework for administration of the safety management system elements. Refer to Figure 6.2 for an Overview of the DMAIC and the PDCA Processes Relationship . 

Once the basic safety management system elements as discussed in Chapter 5, Overview of Basic Safety Management Systems , are implemented and deemed successful, your organization has reached a maturity that will allow you to move to the next level. The intent is to ensure that the organization has the initial fundamentals in place before taking on an advanced safety management system. 

Safety performance metrics and safety management system elements are of no benefit unless they are clearly and routinely communicated throughout the organization. 

Docear is an academic literature suite , which allowed us to increase our structuring and sharing of information. This mind map based tool greatly aided in managing our book content. We feel that if used properly, Docear can provide an excellent framework to tie the safety management system elements and their information together so that they can be tracked and accessed effectively and efficiently (Docear, n.d.). 

It is incumbent upon the toller to develop and follow internal management systems as appropriate to support business needs, production needs, process safety, environmental responsibility, and worker health. The selection process should have considered whether or not satisfactory systems are in place. Nevertheless, the contract or auxiliary documents may be the vehicle used to help ensure that the system reviewed is the system actually used for completing the toll in question. Within the process safety management system, the management of change and training elements are essential subsystems. 

The CCPS model describes process safety management systems in terms of 12 elements and 68 components. The elements and components appear as Table 1.1 on pages 2 and 3 of this book. 

To expand process safety management to these activities, you should first identify how each PSM element relates to the new activity, as shown in Figure 9-1. You can then determine how the existing PSM systems must be modified. For example, you may find that most elements of PSM should be installed in R D, so that pilot plant activities employ the same safety management systems as production. 

Accountability is the obligation to answer for one s performance with respect to expectations, goals, and objectives. It is an important element of an effective process safety management system. To improve safety, the risk associated with human errors must be reduced. The work situation is the predominant cause of human errors and management has control over the work situation. 

The number of initial ineffective control elements on each hierarchical control level (=where) and the corresponding latent conditions leading to these ineffective control elements (=why) will be discussed. The results of the discussion will be reflected on the number of affected safety barriers (=consequences). Furthermore, the individual affected safety barriers will be combined, to find possible alignments of affected safety barriers that enable accidents (=risks). Finally, the weaknesses of the current safety management system are indicated by the previous findings. 

In the previous Chapter it was shown that the developed protocol for analysis identified the ineffective control elements causing the precursors prior to accidents. However, due to the lack of detailed accident information the conclusions were limited. To perform the analysis, using the developed 7-stage protocol pro-actively (before any accident occurs), cases have to be selected on which the analysis can be performed and from which reliable and generic conclusions about safety indicators and the performance of current safety management systems can be obtained. The next sub-Section will discuss the selection criteria to select suitable cases. 

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 ... 

OSHA Process A U.S. regulatory standard that requires use of a 14-element Safety management system to help prevent or mitigate the effects of... 

Collecting the correct information to monitor and understand performance of the process safety management system, and its separate elements, can provide an unbiased and comprehensive view of system performance. This will alert the appropriate personnel to weaknesses in the process safety system. A companywide versus a site-specific approach to process safety auditing, evaluation, and improvement not only deals with better prioritization of identified improvement work but potentially provides better auditing and evaluation against those conditions that one site may accept as normal/acceptable over time. 

Process safety metrics are critical indicators for evaluating a process safety management system s performance. Tracking the number of process safety incidents is one common measure of performance, but merely tracking the number of incidents after the fact is insufficient to understand the system failure that allowed the incident to occur and what can be done to prevent a recurrence. More than one metric and more than one type of metric are needed to monitor performance of a process safety management system. A comprehensive process safety management system should contain a variety of different metrics that monitor different dimensions of the system and the performance of all critical elements. 

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. 

---