Safety practices quality management

The UK government enquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster in the North Sea in 1988 has had a significant impact on working practices and equipment and has helped to improve offshore safety around the world. One result has been the development of a Safety Management System (SMS) which is a method of integrating work practices, and is a form of quality management system. Major oil companies have each developed their own specific SMS, to suit local environments and modes of operation, but the SMS typically addresses the following areas (recommended by the Cullen Enquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster) ... 

Chemical Manufacturers Association, Improving Air Quality Guidance for Estimating Fugitive Emissions from Equipment, 2nd ed., CMA, Washington, D.C., 1989. Chemical Manufacturers Association, Responsible Care, Employee Health and Safety Code of Management Practices, CMA, Washington, D.C., 1992. 

The principles of Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) in conjunction with the principles of Total Quality Management (see chapter 6) ensure the quality and reliability of the laboratory results, which in turn help to ensure the protection of the environment and human health and safety. A step further is the accreditation of laboratories to ISO 17025 (see chapter 2) to perform specified activities. 

Good Laboratory Practice is a quality system that is tailored to the needs of the modem laboratories. Its principles are very close to the principles of the modem quality management systems like ISO 9000 and ISO 17025. However, GLP is specific to the non-clinical health and environmental safety studies, it covers physical and chemical test systems, and gives emphasis to biological test systems. It is of utmost importance to note that GLP principles were set out by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and after being modified they were adopted by the Emopean Union and are now the Commission Directive 1999/11/EC. 

Public authorities are pushing the food industry as well as the feed industry to develop all-inclusive quality management systems and to improve safety. This is essential in attempting to regain consumers trust in food (Rohr et al., 2005). Organic agriculture and food processes are widely practiced in developed countries, seeking the development of a... 

Best Management Practices Best management practice is a process, technique, or innovative use of resources that has a proven record of success in providing significant improvement in cost, schedule, quality, performance, safety, environment, or other measurable factors that impact the health of an organization. 

So here is an attempt at a definition. Clinical decision intelligence is the application of IT to help gather, understand, and act on all available data in clinical practice, healthcare management and administration, and medical research, and where appropriate the automatic utilization of data to control certain clinical and research processes. Its aims are to encourage best practices to improve the quality of patient care by enhancing speed and efficiency to reduce safety risks and needless costs in clinical treatment, diagnosis, management, and administration to monitor and log interactions for accountability, culpability, liability and repudiation and to facilitate biomedical research and pharmaceutical development where based on inclusion of clinical and related data. 

IPAC-RS Foreign Particles Working Group (March 2007) Best practices for managing quality and safety of foreign particles in orally inhaled and nasal drug products, and an evaluation of clinical relevance. Pharm Res 24 (3) 471 79... 

Effective investigation and analysis of hazards-related incidents is an important element in a quest to achieve superior results in safety. A high quality of incident investigation and analysis not only results in risk reduction, but also serves as a positive reinforcement for the safety policies and practices that management has established. 

There is a remarkable kinship between the principles of quality management and the principles for the practice of safety. Safety professionals involved in soundly based quality management initiatives have opportunities for professional growth and recognition beyond the usual, since that participation allows them to assist in solving problems that impact broadly on quality, productivity, and cost efQciency, as weU as safety. 

To establish the similarities between the principles of quality management and the principles for the practice of safety, this chapter will... 

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