Safety policies resource management

The description at the end of Chapter 1 makes it clear that not all human resource management (HRM) changes necessarily improve safety. HRM policies implemented to eliminate all cost sharing associated with injuries, while they do remove income risk for woikers, also lessen their safety incentive. An example would be policies that ensured that employees on workers compensation elaims made as much money as they would at work. Profit sharing, on the other hand, might increase employees safety awareness. In this ehapter, we review prior analyses of how various HRM practices affeet safety to get a better idea of whieh practices improve safety and which do not. 

Organizational issues include the management of human resources, financial allocations, equipment and facilities. Organizational process contains safety culture strategy, procedures and safety policy in relation to economic profit. 

Top management establishes and provides the leadership and resources for carrying out the stated company safety policy. Table 8-1 shows sample responsibilities of top management. 

Establish a policy to make sure that the worksite stays in compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements and best management practices Provide a safe work environment and working conditions for ah employees Provide the leadership and resources to accomplish safety policies and procedures... 

Control over safety management starts by allocating clear and unequivocal roles and responsibilities throughout an organisation. The roles and responsibilities will be formalised in the safety policy (see Chapter 2) and will enable all those with responsibilities to be clear as to what is expected of them, together with the level of resources at their disposal and the degree of authority they have to act and/or make decisions. 

The Safety Management Strategy defines how safety and health is resourced, organized, measured, and monitored. The production of the Safety Policy and the Safety Plan is a key point to ensure that the strategies and procedures are implemented at all levels. High-level strategy must incorporate the implementation and regular review. 

Management responsible for the development of a safety culture in their organisations by defining safety policies and allocating resources in the development thereof. 

The other global dimension of the systems approach is the need for the existence of policies which address human factors issues at senior levels in the company. This implies that senior management realizes that resources spent on programs to reduce error will be as cost-effective as investments in engineered safety systems. 

Management policies are the source of many of the preconditions that give rise to systems failures. For example, if no explicit policy exists or if resources are not made available for safety critical areas such as procedures design, the effective presentation of process information, or for ensuring that effective communication systems exist, then human error leading to an accident is, at some stage, inevitable. Such policy failures can be regarded as another form of latent human error, and will be discussed in more detail in Section 2.7. 

Since the resources for data collection systems will be provided by senior management it is essential that information from the system is fed back to policy makers at this level. It is also important that the system indicates the problem areas as well as the successes. Many organizations have drifted to a state where safety standards have fallen to below acceptable levels over time as a result of suppression of information feedback to senior managers. This may be carried out with good intentions, but its long-term effect can be disastrous. 

A safety management system for implementing the prevention policy has been put into effect. The policy should include the organizational structure, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes, and resources for determining and implementing the policy. 

The keystone of managing chemical reactivity hazards is line responsibility. The "line" referred to here is the chain of command and authority that extends from the operator to the chief executive officer of the company. When all the advice and consultation is gathered relative to an issue, such as from relevant area experts and safety personnel, it is the business responsibility to provide leadership. It does so by communicating values, setting policy, making appropriate decisions, allocating the necessary resources, and following up to ensure implementation. 

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