Safety Management Systems & Its Elements

What is a Safety Management System?

A management system comprises those elements of an organization (including it’s resources, systems, planning, implementation and monitoring processes, culture, structure and tasks), that taken together support in the achievement of organization objectives. These objectives may fall into one of more of the following categories:

Effectiveness and efficiency of operations.
Reliability of internal and external reporting.
Compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

A Safety Management System identifies the specific elements that are necessary to achieve objectives in the area of occupational safety.

Safety Management System Framework and ISO 45001 / OHSAS 18001

Safety Management System is actually a series of management systems described as follows:

Safety Management System supporting the Board of Directors and President/CEO. This system defines the overall organization process for managing safety and the responsibilities of all parties, specifically at the corporate level. This system also describes requirements for the Businesses that cascade from the corporate Safety Management System.

The Businesses (Plants, Plant Groups or Corporate Groups) each develop and maintain safety management systems to support their Business line organization in fulfilling their due diligence responsibilities. This ensures that safety is being managed down through the organization to where the worker is exposed to workplace hazards.The safety management systems described above all conform to a number of internal and external specifications or standards.

The Safety Management System framework is consistent with organization policy on Management Systems and ISO 45001 / OHSAS 18001: "Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) Management System Requirements".

Organization Policy on "Management Systems" and the ISO 45001 / OHSAS 18001 are based on a "Plan DoCheckAct" cycle of management.

The ISO45001 or OHSAS 18001 specification is consistent with the ISO 14001 model for Environmental Management Systems. Development of the organization Safety Management System also considers our current organizational culture and business processes.

Organization have to implemented these safety management systems to result in:

Compliance with applicable legislative or corporate requirements to allow demonstration of due diligence.
The implementation of minimum corporate level operational control requirements which provide the necessary assurance to the OPG Board of Directors and President/CEO that significant safety risks are being mitigated. However, the Businesses are allowed the necessary flexibility to operational the requirements to meet their unique business environment.
The application of sound business management processes to the management of safety.
Continuous improvement of safety performance in organization through a regular cycle of PlanDOCheck and Act, resulting in improvement initiatives that are further developed throughout the cycle.

Scope :- The Corporate level Safety Management System applies to all workplaces under the control.

Will address the management of all safety risks associated with businesses.
The scope does include the management of "industrial health" or "industrial hygiene" issues, NOT the management of "wellness" types of health issues.

While the scope of the Safety Management System includes contractor safety, this risk area is also managed under the organization Contractor Management Program
Safety Management System also includes public safety in its scope, Public Safety is managed through Business and site level programs and governance.

Current Status :

Health and Safety Policy has been developed and maintained that is the foundation of the framework. An safety management system program document has been developed to explain the managed system and requirements.

Corporate level governing documents requires of the Health and Safety Policy. These documents have been developed and approved jointly:. They are:

The Work Protection Code - establishes the conditions which, when combined with appropriate work practices, procedures and works methods will provide employees with a Safe Work Area. It is applicable to all individuals required to perform work in orgNIation owned property, circuits or equipment and may be used by employees when working on customer-owned equipment.

The Corporate Safety Rules - apply to all employees across in the organisation. They provide a common set of safety requirements on both general safety subjects and specific high risk areas. Their purpose is to protect employees, contractors and members of the public from occupational health and safety risks associated with our operations. They are based upon two fundamental principles: the five Safety Basics and Safe Work Planning. All contractors must follow the Common Rules, and any Risk-based Rules deemed applicable to their work environment.

In addition, a number of minimum standards for high risk areas or critical processes have been developed. Safe work planning

Incident Management
Contractor Safety Management

Legal and other requirements

Using the Corporate level governance described above, the Businesses develop their own specific site procedures as required to align with the requirements. Also ensure, 3 rd party registrations for their safety management systems according to the OHSAS 18001 requirements.

Type of documents to be maintained or structured in Safety Management System:-

1. Policy and Procedures

Safety Policy

Safety Objectives

Roles and Responsibilities

Emergency Response Plan (ERP)

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

2. Risk Assessment and Management

Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA)

Risk Matrix

Control Measures

3. Training and Competence

Training Matrix

Training Records

Competence Assessment

4. Incident Reporting and Investigation

Incident Reporting Procedure

Investigation Report Template

5. Fire Safety

Fire Risk Assessment

Fire Safety Plan

Fire Drill Procedure

6. Emergency Preparedness

Emergency Contact List

Evacuation Plan

Assembly Point Procedure

7. Record Keeping

Safety Meeting Minutes

Safety Inspection Reports

Compliance Records

Elements Of Safety Management System

The elements of a safety management system are as follows:

A safety policy which states the commitment of the proprietor or contractor to safety and health at work
A structure to assure implementation of the commitment to safety and health at work
Training to equip personnel with knowledge to work safely and without risk to health
In-house safety rules to provide instruction for achieving safety management objectives
A programme of inspection to identify hazardous conditions and for the rectification of any such conditions at regular intervals or as appropriate
A programme to identify hazardous exposure or the risk of such exposure to the workers and to provide suitable personal protective equipment as a last resort where engineering control methods are not feasible
Investigation of accidents or incidents to find out the cause of any accident or incident and to develop prompt arrangements to prevent recurrence
Emergency preparedness to develop, communicate and execute plans prescribing the effective management of emergency situations
Evaluation, selection and control of sub-contractors to ensure that sub-contractors are fully aware of their safety obligations and are in fact meeting them
Safety committees
Evaluation of job related hazards or potential hazards and development of safety procedures
Promotion, development and maintenance of safety and health awareness in a workplace
A programme for accident control and elimination of hazards before exposing workers to any adverse work environment
A programme to protect workers from occupational health hazards

OHSAS 18001:2007

This Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series ( OHSAS) Standard specifies requirements for an occupational Health and Safety ( OH & S) management system, to enable an organization to control its OH & S Performance.

This is similar to Environmental Management System- ISO 14001 : 2004.

The OHSAS Standard is applicable to any organization that wishes to :

Establish an OH & S management system to eliminate or minimize risks to personnel and other interested parties who could be exposed to OH & S hazards associated with its activities.
Implement, maintain and continually improve an OH & S management system.
Assure itself of its conformity with its stated OH & S Policy.
Demonstrate conformity with this OHSAS Standard by:
Making a self determination and self – declaration, or
Seeking confirmation of its conformance by parties having an interest in the organization, such as customers,
Seeking confirmation of its self – declaration by a party external to the organization.
Seeking certification / registration in this OHSAS management system by an external organization.

All the requirements in this OHSAS standard are intended to be incorporated into any OH & S management System. The extent of the application will depend on such factors as the OH & S Policy of the organization, the nature of its activities and the risks and complexity of its operations.

In Factory, Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment has completed for each activity of all departments to find out the Hazards involved and the Severity of Risk. The control measures is being taken based on the Risk Prioritization in HIRA. This is proactive system of Accident Prevention.

Health & Safety Management

Health and safety management is an essential first step toward improving organization's health and safety culture.
There are two aspects of managing health and safety performance for continual improvement:

Managing an effective health and safety program
Developing and implementing initiatives for improving health and safety in your workplace

A health and safety management approach encompasses the health and safety program approach and builds upon it.

Standards for good health & safety management

The two aspects of actively managing health and safety, mentioned above, are combined in the framework of occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS).

OHSMS standards outline the principles and processes to follow for continual health and safety improvement.

OHSMS standards can be applied to any industry. They do not make reference to specific hazards, but they indicate the need for specific health and safety processes and proactive management processes.

Within these standards are components of an effective health and safety program, including:

Comprehensive site risk assessments
Compliance evaluations
Workplace inspections
Incident investigations
Legal requirement reviews
Worker consultation processes

These standards also provide guidance for good health and safety management processes, which must include these components:

Leadership and commitment
Robust annual health and safety planning
Measurement and tracking of goals and objectives
Ongoing organization-wide self evaluations

Adopting an OHSMS standard for your organization is voluntary, but it is very beneficial. Using these standards of active health and safety management can steer you towards best practice. Actively managing health and safety is a key step to improving your organization's health and safety culture.