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2-HSMS Plan
2-HSMS Plan
SYSTEMS – PLAN 2
LEARNING OUTCOMES
On completion of this element, you should
be able to demonstrate understanding of
the content by applying what you have
learnt to familiar and unfamiliar situations.
In particular, you should be able to:
Outline the key elements of a health and safety
management system.
Explain the purpose and importance of setting policy
for health and safety.
the key features and appropriate content of
Describe
an effective health and safety policy.
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Key Elements of a Health and Safety Management System
KEY INFORMATION
• Two widely recognised Safety Management Systems (SMS) exists for the systematic management of health and
safety; ILO-OSH 2001 and OHSAS 18001; both based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act management cycle.
• The ILO-OSH 2001 Safety and Health Management System can be summarised as: Policy, Organising, Planning
and Implementation, Evaluation, Action for Improvement, and Audit.
• OHSAS 18001 is an externally verified management standard that can be summarised as: Policy, Planning,
Implementation and operation; Checking and corrective action. Management review, Continual improvement.
The management of workplace health and safety must This general approach has been used in many management
be considered systematically within any organisation of systems, including the ISO 9001 Quality Management
any significant size, in the same way as any other form of System and the ISO 14001 Environmental Management
management. A systematic approach to management of System mentioned earlier.
an organisation’s health and safety is referred to as a Safety
Management System (SMS). Two SMSs are commonly ILO-OSH 2001 SAFETY AND HEALTH
recognised internationally; ILO-OSH 2001 and OHSAS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
18001. ILO-OSH 2001 is the ILO’s own SMS published in a
The ILO’s Occupational Safety and Health Management
Guidance Note called “Guidelines on Occupational Safety
System, ILO-OSH 2001 can be summarised as: Policy,
and Health Management Systems”. OHSAS 18001 is the
Organising, Planning and Implementation, Evaluation,
Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems
Action for Improvement, and Audit.
standard published by British Standards Institute (BSI).
Both SMSs are based on what is known as the “PDCA
management cycle”:
• Plan - what you want to do.
• Do - implement your plan.
• Check - see if the plan works.
• Act - modify your actions accordingly.
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Key Elements of a Health and Safety Management System
TOPIC FOCUS
• Policy - A clear statement has to be made to establish health and safety as a prime commitment of management at
all levels of the organisation, but particularly at the top.
• Organising - A framework of roles and responsibilities for health and safety must be created within the organisation,
from senior management down to the front-line workers, including the appointment of specialist staff.
• Planning and implementing - Detailed arrangements must be made for the management of health and safety.
Central to this idea is the concept of risk assessment and the identification and implementation of safe systems of
work and protective measures.
• Evaluation - Methods must be devised to monitor and review the effectiveness of the arrangements put into
place. This might be done reactively, e.g. by reviewing accident and ill-health statistics, or actively, e.g. by reviewing
inspection reports.
• Action for improvement - Any shortcomings identified by the review process must be corrected as soon
as possible by making whatever adjustments are necessary to the policy, organisation and arrangements for
implementation.
• Audit - Arrangements must be made for the independent, systematic and critical examination of the safety
management system to ensure that all parts are working acceptably well.
• Continual improvement - The intention is that the safety management system will not remain static but will
develop over time to become increasingly appropriate and useful to the organisation that it exists to serve.
OHSAS 18001: THE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH Occupational Health and Safety Policy
AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM This should state the overall health and safety objectives
STANDARD of the organisation and it should commit the organisation
to compliance with legislation and continual improvement.
It should be communicated to all employees and other
interested parties and kept up to date by periodic review. It
should be authorised by top management and, of course,
be documented.
Planning
Procedures have to be established, implemented and
maintained for the effective:
• Identification of hazards and assessment and control of
risks. This will include change management procedures.
When controlling risk a standard hierarchy of risk
control will be used (see Element 3).
• Identification of any applicable law.
• Establishment of health and safety objectives and a
management programme to achieve those objectives.
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Purpose and Importance of Setting Policy for
Health and Safety
Implementation and Operation
• The necessary organisational structure and resources
need to be put in place to implement the plans, though
top management retain ultimate responsibility.
• People need to be competent to perform their
designated roles and this may mean training and
maintaining awareness.
• The organisation needs to have systems in place
to ensure that health and safety information is
communicated and that employees are consulted on
health and safety matters.
• The management system must be documented the
systems and exercise control over those documents.
• Management arrangements for control of risks arising
from operations must be documented.
• Plans and procedures must be made to cover potential
emergencies.
Management Review
Top management must periodically review the health and
safety management system to ensure it continues to be REVISION QUESTIONS
effective.
1. What are the organisational requirements for
effective health and safety management?
MORE… 2. What is the role of ‘evaluation’ in the ILO OSH-
www.ilo.org/safework/info/ 2001 safety management system?
standards-and-instruments (Suggested Answers are at the end.)
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Purpose and Importance of Setting Policy for
Health and Safety
KEY INFORMATION
• The health and safety policy of an organisation is an important document that sets out the organisation’s aims
with regard to health and safety, who is responsible for achieving these aims, and how the aims are to be achieved.
• The policy has a role in the decision-making of both senior management, who formulate it, and middle and junior
management, who are required to implement it.
ROLE OF THE HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY There is no one correct format or set of contents
IN DECISION-MAKING for a health and safety policy, but it must reflect the
particular circumstances of the individual organisation:
One foundation stone of good health and safety
the hazards and risks, the size, and the complexity of the
management in any organisation is the health and
organisation. The policy must therefore be developed and
safety policy. A good health and safety policy sets out
tailored to fit the particular organisation that it exists to
the organisation’s general approach and commitment
serve. For example, the safety policy of a small, low-risk
to achieving particular aims and objectives. It provides
manufacturing company may be very different from that of
a framework of general and specific health and safety
a large, high-risk oil and gas multinational.
responsibilities for staff, and guidance on the detailed
operational arrangements to be taken to protect
employees and others from harm as a result of workplace
activities.
In particular, the policy should influence decision-making
within the organisation. This will occur in two ways:
• Firstly, senior management have to decide what kind
of health and safety standards they are committing
the organisation to, and will have to allocate resources
accordingly.
• Secondly, other managers have to ensure that their
decision-making is in line with the policy and does
not work against the organisation’s stated aims and
objectives.
REVISION QUESTION
3. Why might the health and safety policy of two
organisations, both undertaking similar work, be
different?
(Suggested Answer is at the end.)
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Key Features and Content of a Health and Safety Policy
KEY INFORMATION
• A health and safety policy is usually presented in three parts: the General Statement of Intent, the Organisation
section, and the Arrangements section.
• The General Statement of Intent outlines the importance that the organisation places on health and safety and
the commitment that can be expected. It sets aims and objectives for the organisation to achieve. It is signed by
the person in overall control of the organisation.
• The Organisation section highlights the roles and responsibilities that exist at all levels within the organisation. It
shows the lines of responsibility and accountability.
• The Arrangements section provides the detail on how the organisation manages health and safety. It outlines the
general arrangements that relate to health and safety management and the specific arrangements that relate to
individual health and safety topics and issues.
• Health and safety policies have to be reviewed in order to stay current and relevant.
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Key Features and Content of a Health and Safety Policy
TOPIC FOCUS
Aims
The Statement of Intent may recognise some
general aims or objectives that have to be achieved
by the organisation, such as:
• Meeting legal obligations.
• Provision of a safe workplace, safe equipment
and safe systems of work, information,
instruction, training and supervision.
• Risk assessment of all relevant workplace The General Statement of Intent should be signed by the by the person at
activities. the top of the organisation
• Performance monitoring.
• Provision of adequate resources, such as expert Setting “SMART” Objectives/Targets
health and safety advice. When health and safety objectives are set for an
• Effective communication and consultation with organisation, those objectives should be “SMART”.
workers.
The acronym SMART refers to the idea that objectives
Targets/Objectives should be:
The Statement of Intent may also set quantifiable • Specific – a clearly defined, precise objective.
targets/objectives for the organisation to achieve. • Measurable – it is possible to measure achievement
Targets are useful, as they allow performance to be of (or towards) the target; usually by quantifying the
measured and provide a tangible goal for staff to objective.
aim for. They also help drive continual improvement. • Achievable – it can be done.
Possible targets might relate to: • Reasonable – within the timescale set and with the
• Accident rates: to achieve a reduction in the resources allocated.
accident or ill-health rate. • Time-bound – a deadline or timescale is set for
• Active monitoring: to complete successfully a completion of the objective.
number of active monitoring activities, such as: So, for example, the objective: “improve the safety culture
–– Successful completion of 90% of all of the organisation” is not smart because it fails to meet
supervisor safety inspections over a year. many of the criteria of a smart objectives. It is not specific,
–– Completion of key activities, such as carrying in that it does not identify a precise target to be achieved;
out risk assessments across the organisation. it is not easily measurable (as will be discussed in Element
3) and it does not have a deadline when success should
–– Delivery of training to all workers. have been achieved.
–– Development of a consultation process to
engage the workforce. However, the objective “Review all 48 risk assessments
within a 12-month period” is a smart objective. The
Targets may be set in relation to past performance, target it precisely defined, a number is given that allows
or the performance of other similar organisations, or easy measurement of success and a timescale has been
the industry as a whole. The process of comparing allocated.
performance in this way is known as ‘benchmarking’.
So, if fatal road-accident rates in an industry as a When setting health and safety objectives, consideration
whole are, for example, one for every 100,000 miles should be given to:
driven, the target for a particular organisation may • Who is going to set objectives – the involvement of
be to achieve that standard, or have a lower rate. senior management perhaps with guidance from health
and safety practitioners/advisers.
• How objectives will be set at each functional level
– objectives need to be set at different levels or
within different parts of the organisation to achieve
organisational goals. This can be achieved by setting
and agreeing personal targets with individuals through
the job appraisal and review process.
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- Policy © RRC International
Key Features and Content of a Health and Safety Policy
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Key Features and Content of a Health and Safety Policy
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Key Features and Content of a Health and Safety Policy
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Summary
SUMMARY
This element has dealt with the Policy element of health and safety management systems. In particular, this element
has:
• Overviewed the ILO-OSH 2001 health and safety management system, which can be summarised as: Policy,
Organising, Planning and Implementation, Evaluation, Action for Improvement, and Audit.
• Outlined the OHSAS 18001 SMS: Policy, Planning, Implementation and operation; Checking and corrective
action. Management review, Continual improvement.
• Identified the health and safety policy of an organisation as an important document, which sets out what the
organisation’s aims are with regard to health and safety, who is responsible for achieving those aims, and how
those aims are to be achieved.
• Explained that the policy is usually presented in three parts: the General Statement of Intent, the Organisation
section, and the Arrangements section:
–– The General Statement of Intent communicates the importance that the organisation places on health and
safety, the commitment that can be expected and the aims and objectives for the organisation to achieve. It is
signed by the person in overall control of the organisation.
–– The Organisation section deals with the roles and responsibilities that exist within all levels of the organisation
and indicates the lines of responsibility and accountability.
–– The Arrangements section provides the detail on how the organisation manages health and safety. It outlines
the general arrangements that relate to health and safety management and the specific arrangements that
relate to individual health and safety topics and issues.
• Noted that health and safety policies have to be reviewed in order to stay current and relevant, and that reviews
might be carried out periodically, or in response to changes, such as those to key personnel or management
structure.
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Exam Skills
QUESTION
(a) Identify a range of health and safety targets that may be included in the ’statement of intent’
section of a health and safety policy. (4)
(b) Describe the purpose of:
(i) the ’organisation’ section of a health and safety policy; (2)
(ii) the ’arrangements’ section of a health and safety policy. (2)
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Exam Skills
SUGGESTED ANSWER
Plan
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Exam Skills
(b) (i) The purpose of the organisation section of the policy is to establish the roles and responsibilities
for health and safety at all levels within the business, from director down to shop-floor and office
employees. The organisation section will also include specialist safety roles, such as fire wardens, first-
aiders and safety advisors. The organisation section identifies who is going to deliver the objectives in
the health and safety policy.
(ii) The purpose of the arrangements section of the policy is to establish how the safety policy is to be
achieved. This is done by producing procedures which detail how hazards in the organisation are to
be identified through risk assessment and controlled, e.g. fire, first aid, spill response, etc.
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