A safety management system has four main components: structure, inputs, processes, and outputs. In this module, we’ll discuss important actions management can take to develop and
maintain these important components. The first critical need is for management to demonstrate a real commitment to safety, not just with words, but with serious action: spending serious
time and money on the safety function.
Demonstrate Commitment to Safety and Health
Establish policies and procedures: You will need to write a policy statement signed by top management describing
the organization's commitment to safety and health. The signed policy should also pledge to establish and maintain an effective safety and health program for all workers. Here are a
few things to remember:
- Communicate the policy to everyone.
- Consider safety and health in all business decisions.
- Be visible and set an example by following all safety procedures.
- Begin work meetings with a review of safety and health items on a "to do" list.
Define program goals and objectives: Safety goals and objectives should focus on specific actions that will improve workplace safety and health.
- Establish general safety goals and specific, realistic, measurable objectives for improving safety and health.
- Emphasize proactive injury and illness prevention rather than reactive injury and illness rates.
- Develop short-term tactics and long-term strategies to achieve the goals and objectives.
- Assign tasks and responsibilities to people, setting time frames, and determining resource needs.
Provide resources: Provide the resources needed to implement the safety and health program, pursue program goals, and address program shortcomings when they are identified.
- Estimate the resources needed to establish and implement the program.
- Allow time in workers' schedules for them to fully participate in the program.
- Integrate safety and health into planning and budgeting processes and align budgets with program needs.
- Provide and direct resources to operate and maintain the program, meet safety and health commitments, and pursue program goals.
Establish Worker Participation
Encourage workers to participate in the program. Encouraging involvement sends the message management values their input into safety and health decisions.
- Give workers the time and resources to participate in the program.
- Give positive recognition to those who participate in the program.
- Have an open-door policy that invites workers to talk to managers about safety and health.
- Make sure workers know participation will NEVER result in a negative action.
- Give workers the access to safety data sheets, injury and illness data, inspection results and other reports.
- Include workers at every step of program design and implementation.
Encourage workers to report safety and health concerns. By encouraging reporting and following up promptly on all reports, employers can address issues before someone gets hurt or becomes ill.
- Establish a process for workers to promptly report injuries, illnesses, close calls/near misses, hazards, and other safety and health concerns.
- Respond to reports promptly.
- Empower all workers to initiate or request a suspension or shut down of any work activity or operation they believe to be unsafe.
- Involve workers in finding solutions to reported issues.
Remove barriers to participation. Workers must believe their input is welcome, their voices will be heard, and they can access reporting mechanisms.
- Ensure workers from all levels of the organization can participate regardless of their skill level, education, or language.
- Provide frequent and regular feedback to show employees that their safety and health concerns are being heard and addressed.
- Ensure that the program protects workers from being retaliated against for any form of participation in the safety and health program.
Develop Hazard Identification and Assessment Methods
Collect existing information about workplace hazards. Collect, organize, and review information with workers. Information available in the workplace may include:
- safety data sheets (SDSs) provided by chemical manufacturers
- records of previous injuries and illnesses, such as OSHA 300 and 301 logs and reports of incident investigations
- exposure monitoring results, industrial hygiene assessments, and medical records (appropriately redacted to ensure patient/worker privacy)
- results of job hazard analyses, also known as job safety analyses
Develop Hazard Identification and Assessment Methods (Continued)
Inspect the workplace for safety and health hazards. Setting aside time to regularly inspect the workplace for hazards can help identify shortcomings so that they can be
addressed before an incident occurs.
- Conduct regular initial and follow-up inspections using checklists of all operations, equipment, work areas, and facilities with workers. Inspect before and after changing operations.
- Take photos or video of problem areas to facilitate later discussion and brainstorming about how to control them, and to use as learning aids.
- Regularly inspect both vehicles (e.g., forklifts and powered industrial trucks) and transportation vehicles (e.g. cars and trucks).
- Inspect the workplace and medical records for exposure to physical, biological, and ergonomic health hazards.
Conduct incident and accident investigations. Investigate all incidents (injury and non-injury), including historical reports to identify hazards that are likely to cause future harm.
- Focus on identifying root causes (there is often more than one) to uncover safety management system weaknesses.
- Develop a clear plan and procedure for conducting incident investigations, so an investigation can begin immediately when an incident occurs.
Develop Hazard Prevention and Control Methods
Identify control options. Collect, organize, and review information with workers to determine what types of hazards may be present and which workers may be exposed or potentially
exposed. Information available in the workplace may include:
- Review OSHA standards and guidance, industry consensus standards, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) publications, manufacturers' literature, and engineering reports to identify potential control measures.
- Get input from workers who can suggest and evaluate solutions based on their knowledge.
- For complex hazards, consult with OSHA's On-site Consultants and workers’ compensation insurers. (Note: Every state has their own workers’ compensation insurers.)
Develop Hazard Prevention and Control Methods (Continued)
Control hazards using the Hierarchy of Controls.
Select controls. Select the controls that are the most feasible, effective, and permanent.
- Select controls using the Hierarchy of Controls that emphasize elimination, substitution, and engineering solutions.
- Eliminate or control all serious hazards immediately.
- Use interim controls while you develop and implement longer-term solutions.
- Avoid selecting controls that may directly or indirectly introduce new hazards.
- Review and discuss control options with workers to ensure that controls are feasible and effective.
- Use a combination of control options when no single control option fully protects workers.
- Select controls to protect workers during non-routine operations and emergencies.
Implement selected controls in the workplace. Once hazard prevention and control measures have been identified, implement them per priorities in the written hazard control plan.
- When resources are limited, implement measures on a "worst-first" basis. Regardless of limited resources, employers have an obligation to protect workers from recognized serious hazards.
- Promptly implement any measures that are easy and inexpensive.
- Follow up to confirm that controls are effective. Inspect and track progress and results.
Educate Management and Employees
Provide program awareness-level training. Provide awareness and training to all managers, supervisors, workers, contractors and temporary workers on safety roles, policies, plans,
programs, processes, and procedures. Here are the necessary components to focus on:
- safety and health policies, goals, and procedures
- functions of the safety and health program
- whom to contact with questions or concerns about the program (including contact information)
- how to report hazards, injuries, illnesses, and close calls/near misses
- what to do in an emergency
- the employer’s responsibilities under the program
- workers’ rights under the OSH Act
- information on the safety and health hazards of the job site and the controls for those hazards
- training is provided in the language(s) and at a literacy level that all workers can understand
- The program can only work when everyone is involved and feels comfortable discussing concerns; making suggestions; and reporting injuries, incidents, and hazards.
- confirm, as part of the training, all workers have the right to report injuries, incidents, hazards, and concerns and to fully participate in the program without fear of retaliation.
Train workers on their specific roles in the safety and health program. Additional training is needed to ensure workers can accomplish assigned safety and health responsibilities.
- Instruct workers on how to report injuries, illnesses, incidents, and concerns.
- Instruct employers, managers, and supervisors on fundamental safety concepts and management techniques.
- Develop a formal process for determining the training needs of workers, supervisors and managers.
Train employers, managers, and supervisors on their roles in the program. Employers, managers, and supervisors are responsible for workers' safety, yet sometimes have little
training on safety-related concepts and techniques.
- Training employers, managers, and supervisors on procedures for responding positively to workers' reports.
- Instruct employers, managers, and supervisors on incident investigation techniques, including root cause analysis.
Evaluate and Improve the Safety and Health Program
Monitor performance and progress. The first step in monitoring is to define indicators that will help track performance and progress. Both lagging and leading indicators should be used.
Lagging indicators generally track worker exposures and injuries that have already occurred. Lagging indicators include:
- number and severity of injuries and illnesses
- results of worker exposure monitoring that show that exposures are hazardous
- workers' compensation data, including claim counts, rates, and cost
Leading indicators track how well various aspects of the program have been implemented and reflect steps taken to prevent injuries or illnesses before they occur. Leading indicators include:
- level of worker participation in program activities
- number of employee safety suggestions
- number of hazards, near misses and first aid cases reported
- amount of time taken to respond to reports
- number and frequency of management walkthroughs
- number of workers who have completed required safety and health training
- timely completion of preventive maintenance and corrective actions after a workplace hazard is identified or an incident occurs
Employers, managers, supervisors, and workers should establish and follow procedures to collect, analyze, and review performance data.
Evaluate and Improve the Safety and Health Program (Continued)
Correct program shortcomings and identify opportunities to improve. Whenever a problem is identified in any part of the safety and health program, take prompt action to correct the
problem and prevent its recurrence.
- Proactively seek input from managers, workers, supervisors, and other stakeholders on how you can improve the program.
- Determine whether changes in equipment, facilities, materials, key personnel, or work practices trigger any need for changes in the program.
Communicate and Coordinate the Safety and Health Program
It is important to communicate and develop a safety plan.
Establish effective communication. Develop and deploy a plan to ensure the exchange of information about hazards so all workers on the site are aware of worksite hazards and the
methods and procedures needed to control exposures to them.
- Information is communicated before on-site work starts and, as needed, if conditions change.
- Communicate with contractors and staffing agencies to determine who will implement and maintain the safety and health program before work begins and put it in contracts.
- Establish procedures to exchange information with contractors and staffing agencies about hazards, protective measures and emergency response.
- Host employers and contractors should distribute information to enable each employer to assess hazards encountered by its workers and to avoid creating hazards that affect workers on the site.
- Contractors and staffing agencies should regularly give the host employer information about injuries, illnesses, hazards, or concerns.
Establish effective coordination. Host employers, contractors, and staffing agencies coordinate on work planning, scheduling, and resolving program differences to identify and work
out any concerns or conflicts that could impact safety or health.
- Include in contracts and bid documents any safety-related specifications and qualifications and make sure contractors meet those requirements.
- Identify issues that may arise during on-site work and include procedures for resolving any conflicts before work starts.
Host employers coordinate with contractors and staffing agencies to:
- Ensure work is planned and scheduled to minimize impacts on safety.
- Ensure staffing agency workers are adequately trained and equipped before arriving on the worksite.
- Harmonize their safety and health policies and procedures to resolve important differences, so that all workers at the site have the same protection.
Host employers and staffing agencies:
- Work together to deal with unexpected staffing needs by ensuring adequate training and lead time is provided for workers.
- Make sure managers with decision-making authority are available and prepared to deal with day-to-day coordination issues.
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