NEBOSH International

Certificate

Day 2

Programme for Today

• Health and Safety Management Systems

• Policies
• Organising
• Culture and the Four-C ’s
• Training

HSG65 El ements
of Successful Policy
Health & Safety
Mana gement

Organising

Feedback loop –
Audit Planning & continual
Implementing improvement

Measuring
Performance

Reviewing
Performance
 NEBOSH International
Certificate

Setting Policy for

Health and Safety

Health and Safety Policies

The Safety Policy sets out the gener al appr oach
and commitment of an organisation to achieving
particular safety objectives.

A Health and Safety Policy:

• Contains compa ny aims and objectives.
• Shows company commitment.
• Is the cornerstone of the mana gement system.

What is a Health and Safety Policy?

• It is the first step in successful health and
safety management.
• It is a business plan for health a nd safety.
It states:

– The importance that the business

places on H&S.
– The business’s aims with respect
to H&S.
– How the business intends to
achieve those aims.
 The Three Elements of a H&S
Policy Document

1. S tatement of intent - what

is to be done.
2. O rganisation - who is
responsib le.
3. A rrangements - how it is to
be achiev ed.

In HSG65 – the Policy element is concerned with intent.

1. The Statement of Intent

• It communicates the importance of,

and commitment to, health and
safety.
• It is signed by the most senior
person in the compa ny, i.e. the
owner , MD or CEO.
• It is inspirational in tone.
• It recognises the roles played by
those at all levels within the
organisation.

2. The Organisation
Healt h and S afet y Responsibil ities

Fred B loggs
Managing Direct or
Ult imat e responsibil ity
f or all H&S

Dave Tom s Jo Sm ith Jane Jones

E ngineeeri ng Manager P ersonnel Ma nager Of fice M anager
P A T Testi ng A ccident Report ing M anual Handling
Pressure S ystem s Accident I nvestigat ion Compet ent P erson

The above shows both posts and postholde rs.

2. The Organisation - Who Does What?
• Who is responsibl e?
• What are they responsible for?
• Who is the person with ultimate responsibility?
• What are their specific responsibilities?
– Training.
– Compliance monitoring.
– Competent persons.
– Accident reporting.

3. Arrangements – How it’s Done

• Detailed description of p olicies an d

procedu res in place to en sure healt h
and safety .

• U sually a lengthy manual, therefore

it is often separate from t he policy
document.

3. Arrangements
Examples of topics:
• Procedures to identify haza rds a nd
assess risks .
• Advance notification of risks and
precautions (buil ding - contractors).
• Consultation procedures .
• Accident reporting and investigation.
• Use of PPE.
• Procedures to introduce new
machinery , substances and processes.
 Health and Safety Policies

Think abo ut the following:

• How can a policy be effectively

communicated?

• When should it be reviewed?

• What is the point of having one?

NEBOSH International
Certificate

Organis ing and

Culture

HSG65 El ements
of Successful
Policy
Health & Safety
Mana gement

Organ isin g
 The Organisation - Culture
HSG65 defines culture as:
“the product of individual or group values,
attitudes and competencies and patterns of
behaviour, that determine the commitment to
and style and proficiency of an organisation’s
health and safety progr ammes.”
• Competence
• Control
• Co-operation
• Communication

Advice: It is not recommended that you atte mpt to reme mber this!

Health and Safety Culture

Culture is made up of formal and
informal rul es, relationshi ps, values,
customs, etc. Together they make
up the feel of the organisation.

Some of the characteristics

to help you identify the
culture of an orga nisation,
follow.

Health and Safety Culture

Characteristics of an organ isation’ s cu lture:
• Goals and mission statement.
• Patterns of behaviour .
• Authority and decision-maki ng.
• Organisational structure.
• Leaders hip and openness.
• Drive for excellence.
• Open to cha nge (active or reactive) .

How can we identify these?

 Health and Safety Culture
These are v ery difficult issues to g rasp.

We need to hav e firm

indicators of health and
safety culture, w hich w e
can collect an d measure.

They can be:

• active indicators, or
• r eactive indicators.

Health and Safety Culture

• Active indicators – show
how plans are implemented
through comp lian ce with
systems and procedur es.

• Reactive indicators – show

outcomes of b reaches in
systems and procedur es, e.g.
accident statistics.

We expand on this later in the section on Monitoring.

Health and Safety Culture

Indicato rs:
• Compliance with rules and
procedures.
• Complaints about working
conditions.
• Accidents.
• Absenteeism and sickness rates.
• Staff turnover.
 Health and Safety Culture
Indicato rs:
• Accident data can be collected
easily and analysed statistically to
give information on trends.
• Absentees ism and sicknes s rates
indicate ill-health. It may be a long
‘lag-phase’.
• Staff turn over may indicate
workplace pr oblems, e.g. low pay ,
poor moral e and lack of direction,
training and opportunities.

Health and Safety Culture

Factors Pr omoting a Negative C ulture
A negative culture ca n be engendered by both
management and workforce thr ough negative
attitude and motivation.

• Organisational objectives.
• Management decision-maki ng.
• Organisational change.
• Uncertainty .

We will review each in turn.

Negative Culture
• Organ isational Objectives
The private secto r may be motivated by profit,
and the public se cto r by provi ding a service and
political objectives.
- Management may sacrifice safety at
expense of prime company objectives.
- The workforce may lose faith in safety policies
and pr actices, and view managem ent as
untrustworthy and unet hical. They may also
devel op a ‘pay first’ mentality in reflection of
management values.
 Negative Culture
• Management Decisio n-Making
Decision-maki ng by ma nagement a nd
subor dinates is vital.
Distrust and doubt about managem ent
arises when:
- There are no rules or precedents; decisions
are arbitrary and inconsistent.
- Refusal to delegate.
- Constant decision reversal.
- Decisions influenced by conflicting goals.
- Lack of consultation.
- Decisions motivated by personal ambitions.
- Inconsistency of message and action.

Negative Culture
• Organ isational Change
Accidents increase during periods of
change.
Probl ems arising during this time are:
- Resistance to change.
- Maintenanc e of operations during
change.
• Unce rtainty
May be lack of clear framework
for deciding course of action.
Individuals then make their
own, independent decisions.
(Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, follows).

Health and Safety Culture

P ositive C ulture
The four C s of a positive health
and safety culture are:

• C ompetence.
• C ontrol.
• C o-operation.
• C ommunication.
 Culture - the Four-Cs
Competence Control Co-operation Communication
Systematic Clear Employees are Providi ng
identificati on and demonstration of involved i n information a bout
development of commitment, an planni ng and risks, plans,
skills resulting i n organisatio nal developi ng safe objectives and
a workforce that structure in which systems of work feedback on
is well informe d responsibil ities as well as performance.
and are clear and monitori ng Also, an
knowled geable people are performance. An atmosphere in
about risks and accountable. atmosphere in which in divid uals
the precautions which everyone are encouraged to
and procedures is actively report hazards
that exist for involved i n and near misses
controlli ng risks. continuous as well as injuries.
improvement.

Organis ing - Control

C ontrol is brought about by :

• S etting standards.
• A llocating responsibil ities
and authority .
• C ommunicating standa rds.
• M eeting the standards.

Organis ing - Control

We w ill pick up the theme of w orkplace
control in the follow ing sections:

• Risk assessment
• Principles of prevention
• Safe systems of work
• Permits to work

In the Hazards section of the course, we will apply

the general and specific principles of control.
 The Exam
• Two written papers:
– Paper A1: The Mana gement of Safety and
Health.
– Paper A2: Controlling Workplace Hazards.
• Both 2 hours long.
• Both same format:
– Q.1 = 20 mark question.
– Q.2-11 = 8 mark questions.

Communication
Safety Signs and Signals
Signs are likely to fall into one of the following
groups and must comply with the approv ed styles:

• Prohi bition.

• Mandatory .

• Warni ng.

• Safe condition.

Safety Signs and Signals

• Prohi bition

• Mandatory

• Warni ng

• Safe condition
 Definitions of Communication
Communication is the process of conveying or
exchanging information to anot her indivi dual or
group and wher e necessary, triggering a response.

This process can be done

consciously or unconsciously.
The information may be
facts, feelings or ideas.

The Cycle of Communication

The ‘sender’ originat es the message.
It is encode d (words, gestures, symbols).
It is transmitted (written, oral, non-verbal).

The ‘receiver’ (target audience)

decodes the message.

It is interprete d by the receiver.

Feedback follows in two-way communication.

The Environment of Communication

The environmen t can be positive or
negative to effective communication:

• The context and culture may

affect the words and gestures used.

• Interfere nce - known as ‘noise’:

- Transmission affected by physical
interference.
- Fatigue and distractions affect
decoding.
 Forms of Communication
• Verbal communication, i.e. use of words:
- Written - informal or formal.
- Oral - face-to-face, phone and meetings .
• Non- verbal communication:
- Pictures and gra phic symbols.
- Body langua ge.

Don’t forget listening skills!

Methods of Communication
Some examples:
• Worker handbooks.
• Procedure ma nuals.
• Safety briefings.
• Toolbox talks.
• Memoranda.
• Notices, posters and films.
• Signs .

How effective are they?

Think of relative adva ntages and disa dvant ages.

Organis ing - Co-operation

• What is co -operatio n?

• Who needs to co -operate on health

and safety ?

• H ow is co-operation ach iev ed?

 Organis ing - Consultation
It is a legal duty to consult with
workers concerni ng health a nd safety
in many countries.
Standards found in:
• ILO-C155 - Article 20.
• ILO-R164 - Article 12.

Aim is to bring about co-opera tion .

It is good pr actice even though it
may not be legal requirement.

Organis ing - Consultation

Consultation shoul d take place on:

• New measures and technologies.

• Appoi ntment of competent people to give health
and safety advice.
• Devel opment of training programmes.
• Matters relating to workers’ health and safety.

Organis ing - Consultation

Non-fo rmal consu ltation:

• Safety circles – informal
discussion groups. Peopl e can
share ideas and suggest
solutions.
• Work and office committees.

• Weekly meetings of shop floor staff, supervisors

and managers.

Formal con sultatio n – includes formal committees.

 Functions of Safety Committees
• Study of accident and disease statistics.
• Examination of safety audit reports.
• Consider reports and information from enforcing
bodi es.
• Consider reports from safety representatives.
• Assist in development of procedures and policy.
• Monitor the effectiveness of training.
• Monitor and improve safety communications.
• Provide a link with enforcing a gency.

Organis ing - Consultation

What makes a committee effective?

• Right number and mixture of members.

• Adequate authority.
• Knowledge and expertise.
• Good communications.
• Suitable level of formality.
• More than half the members being proactive.
• Input from outside.
• Assigned specialists.
• Minutes – actionees and deadlines.
• Limit input of individuals.
• Identified and agreed priorities.

Consultation – a Typical Question

“In relation to work er involvement in healt h and
safety, explain the differences between info rming
and con sultin g.”

• Informing - providing workers with releva nt

important facts concerning work place safety.

• Consultation - taking account of the workers’

views before decisions are made.
 What is Competence?

Competence can be defined as:

“…a combination of knowledge,

ability, train ing and education,
to enabl e effective performance of
the work.”

‘Competent KATE’

Training

Training can be defined as:

“…a planned process to modify attitude,

knowledge or skill behaviour through lear ning
experience to achieve effective performanc e in
an activity or range of activities.”

Training
What is tra ining?

Training is:
“…. the systematic development
of attitudes, knowledge and skills
required to perform adequately, a
given task or job.”

The suitably and sufficiently

trained person will therefore be
competent.
 Training
Identifying T rain ing Needs

Stage 1 - Analyse job content and performance standards:

- Task and job analysis (e.g. JSA).
- Refer to risk assessments.
Stage 2 - Decide what knowledge, skills and experience
are needed.
Stage 3 - Assess existing competence, by:
- Past experience and qualifications.
- Performance appraisal and observations.

The difference between Stage 2 and 3 is the training nee d.

Training
Who Needs Tra ining and When?

• Induction - newly appointed

employee from outside the
organisation. What needs to
be covered, in what detail and
when?

• Job or process change -

newly promoted, transferred
or employees facing change.

• Changes i n legislati on.

Training
Train ing Techniques

1. Face-to-face:
- Classroom situation.
- Lecture situation.
- Demonstrations.
- Toolbox talks.
- On-the-job training.
- Role plays.

2. Distance or open learning.

 Training
Alte rnatives to Tra ining

• Discipline.
• Posters.
• Fear tactics.
• H&S videos.
• Interactive training and
discussion groups.

Syndicate Group Exercise

Design a health a nd safety induction training

progr amme for new starters. Consider the
following:

• What topics shoul d be included?

• In what order?
• What sort of timescale will your programme
run over?