The Safety and Health Policy

The leading document in the safety system is the official safety and health policy issued by the executive management. This policy forms the commitment to implement a structured safety management system, which in turn will bring about a change in the safety culture. The policy should be prominently displayed in the office foyer, on the company website, in the employees safety handbook, and on safety notice boards. 

---

These committees can recommend policy changes, but they are not accountable for the safety and health policies and standards of the organization. The committees do not replace the single-point accountabilities for the company safety system, which remains with line management. 

The chief executive officer is responsible for the issuance of the safety and health policy and will demonstrate and accept safety accountability by ... 

The safety, health, and environmental executive committee was formed, which was chaired by the CEO and attended by the nine general managers. This committee approved the introduction of safety standards and issued the safety and health policy. This committee met monthly, and attendance was requested by the CEO and nonattendance frowned upon. The safety department arranged the meetings, sent out the caU for agenda itans and provided input information, requested support for projects, and functioned as a secretariat to the committee. 

Each of the aforementioned entities must understand both their responsibilities and accountabilities regarding the safety and health policies and procedures of the company. 

It is advantageous to have a copy of the safety and health policy of the organization reproduced in the safety rule book. This helps during the safety induction process and also serves as an ongoing reminder of the safety cnltnre of the organization. 

Safety and health policies must be dynamic, be realistic, and the objectives set must be tangible. Both management and worker representation shonld agree on the policies. This joint policy should be extensively pnblicized. The safety and health policy should cover all aspects of safety including ... 

Ongoing review and modification of the safety and health policy must take place on a regular basis and this must be committed to in the policy. 

The safety and health policy should be drawn up with considerable care and once agreed to, must be signed, issued, and publicized. Management and worker representatives normally draft the policy and, in some instances, the management team as well as the worker representation team sign the policy. 

The safety and health policy should be posted at prominent positions throughout the organization. To give credibility to safety, the policy preferably should be attractively printed and suitably framed. The display positions must be carefully selected and workers must constantly be briefed and raninded of the policy. 

The safety and health policy means that we are committed to ... 

Not all the safety and health policies given as examples meet the criteria of naming each aspect of safety and health, such as disease prevention, environmental control, etc. It is generally accepted that when the organizations quote safety, they include all aspects and do not necessarily list them individually. For a successful near miss system to be incorporated, it is advisable to include it as a special line item in the policy and essential for a written standard to be drafted to guide the system. 

Reproduction of the safety and health policy in the organization s annual report also indicates to the shareholders and directors the importance that the company places on its most vital assets employees, machinery, materials, and the environment. 

Distributing the organization s statement of the safety and health policy as outlined in its organizational manual. 

All management personnel are expected to follow and enforce the safety and health policies and procedures the company has set forth. They should be held both physically and financially accountable for their safety and health practice performance as well as the performance of those they supervise. Figure 2.5 shows a management accountability statement. 

Provide the leadership and direction essential to maintain the safety and health policy as the fundamental priority in all operations. 

The audit includes a review of the process safety information, inspection of the physical facilities, and interviews with all levels of plant personnel. Using the procedures and checklist, the team systematically analyzes compliance with the PSM Rule and any other relevant corporate policies. The training program is reviewed for adequacy of content, frequency and effectiveness of training. Interviews determine employee knowledge and awareness ofthe safety procedures, duties, rules, and emergency response assignments. The team identifies deficiencies in the application of safety and health policies, procedures, and work authorization practices to determine live actions. 

Priorities and Strategies in Occupational Safety and Health Policy in the Member States of the European Union,... 

Policy the CER includes an environmental policy statement that begins The Company intends to guarantee the safety and health of employees, populations, contractors and customers, as well as to safeguard the environment and protect public welfare. . . It then continues by identifying seven guiding principles it considers mandatory. 

CEO s foreword a yes has been awarded for chairman s foreword, since although the introduction is unsigned, high-level commitment is shown by placing the Environment, Safety and Health Policy inside the front cover, and endorsing it by the Chairman of Solutia UK. 

As long as workers rely on wages to maintain their standard of living, and as long as work remains a dangerous activity, we will need a system that guarantees all of us adequate compensation in the event of injury or illness. Properly devised, this system can even make a modest contribution to providing incentives for safety. But the main components of occupational safety and health policy will have to be found elsewhere. 

Although the party and the state has established a safety first, prevention first, comprehensive management of safe production approach to the development of the Mine Safety Act, (Lin 2008) Coal Act, Coal Mine Safety Supervision Ordinance until a series of policies, laws, management departments and business units have done a lot of practical work, have a lot to improve and enhance China s labor protection and production conditions, in order to protect the safety and health of workers in production and construction, safety culture theory, and promoting social production and construction development. However, China s coal enterprises overall understanding of safety culture and the arts and corporate safety culture in construction due to inadequate attention to work-... 

Disability-related policies Given the responsibilities of the safety and health function, it is imperative that the safety and health professional possess, at a minimum, an awareness of the company s requirements regarding disability, accommodation, short-term disability, and long-term disability policies. 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)— The administrative arm for the Occupational Safety and Health Act responsible for regulating and enforcing safety and health policies for the United States. 

Intel s Environmental, Health, and Safety Policy follows. It appears in the 2001 report under the signature of the CEO. The combined environmental, health, and safety policy was prepared in 1991 and was last revised in March 1998. Individual environmental, safety, and health policies predate 1991. From their inception, application of the policy statements has significantly affected the culture at Intel. 

Occupational safety and health policies are systems of codified decisions established by an organization to support the safety and health functions within the organization. Setting safety policies is when a manager develops standing safety decisions applicable to repetitive problems that may affect the safety of the organization. These are also referred to as safety and health standards to distinguish them from the safety policy statement. 

The most important step in the culture change process is the declaration of management s commitment to safety by declaring, issuing, and publicizing the company safety and health policy statement. As Jim Montanaro (2007) put it ... 

The safety policy statement should be posted at prominent positions throughout the organization. To give credibility to safety the policy should preferably be attractively printed and suitably framed and displayed. The display positions must be carefully selected, and employees should constantly be briefed and reminded of the policy. This policy should be extensively publicized and displayed on aU notice boards, on the company website, in the employee safety handbook, and in every prominent position throughout the workplace. When asked to tender for contracts, the tendering organization often requires the responding company to present its safety case, which includes a copy of the firm s safety and health policy. 

Management at all levels is responsible for implementation of the company safety and health policy an example states that The company is committed to achieving the highest performance in occupational safety and health with the aim of creating and maintaining a safe, risk-free, and healthy working environment throughout its business. 

Management must develop a written safety and health policy statement. The policy dociunent must be issued and signed by the safety leadership team and should be communicated to all employees in the following manner ... 

---