NEBOSH International General Certificate in

Occupational Safety and Health

Unit IGC1

Element 2: Health and Safety

Management Systems 1 -
Policy

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 Learning Outcomes
On completion of this element, you should be able to
demonstrate understanding of the content through the
application of knowledge 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
• Describe the key features and appropriate content of an
effective health and safety policy

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 Unit IGC1
Element 2.1

Key Elements of a Health and Safety Management

System

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 ILO-OSH 2001 Safety & Health
Management System
Follows the PDCA Cycle
• Plan – what you’re going to do
• Do – it!
• Check – that what you’re doing is working
• Act – if what you’re doing isn’t working as well as
it should

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 Safety Management System

The ILO-OSH 2001 Safety Management System

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 Key Elements of ILO-OSH 2001
• We will cover this in more detail in a minute…
– Policy
– Organising
– Planning and Implementing
– Evaluation
– Action for Improvement
– Audit
• The system should develop over time to ensure
continual improvement

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 Key Elements of ILO-OSH 2001
• Policy
– clear statement of commitment to health and
safety

• Organising
– Roles and responsibilities for health and safety
– At all levels in the organisation

• Planning and Implementing

– Detailed arrangements to manage H&S
– Risk assessments!

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 Key Elements of ILO-OSH 2001
• Evaluation
– Methods to monitor and review the
effectiveness of the arrangements

• Action for Improvement

– Steps to correct issues found in the review

• Audit
– Independent, critical and systematic review of
the management system

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 End of Section Quiz
1. What are the key elements of the ILO-
OSH health and safety management
system?

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 Unit IGC1
Element 2.2

Purpose and Importance of Setting Policy for Health

and Safety

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 Health and Safety Policy
An important document:
• The foundation stone for good health and safety
management in an organisation
• Sets out the organisation’s aims
• Identifies who is responsible for achieving these aims
• States how the aims are to be achieved
• Specific to each organisation’s requirements
(Not to be confused with "Policy" in the H&S management
system model)

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 Group Discussion Point
• Why might the health and safety policy
of two organisations be different?
• Why isn’t there a prescribed, “one size
fits all” approach to developing a
policy?

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 Why Have a Written Policy?
• Legal Compliance
• Meet management systems standards
(ILO-OSH 2001, OHSAS 18001)
• Clear communication
• Continuous Improvement

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 End of Section Quiz
1. Why is an organisation’s policy so
important?
2. Why might two organisations have
different policies?

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 Unit IGC1
Element 2.3

Key Features and Content of a Health and Safety

Policy

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 Key Elements of a H&S Policy

Health and safety policy is usually found

in three parts:
1. Statement of Intent
What's going to be done
2. Organisation
Who's going to do it
3. Arrangements
How they're going to do it

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 General Statement of Intent
• Setting overall aims and
objectives
• Complying with law
• Achieving standards
• Reminds workers at all levels of
their responsibilities
• Signed and dated by the most
senior person
• Regular review
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 Group Discussion Point
• Targets may be included in the
statement of intent to show
commitment to improvement.

• What targets could be included?

(general examples only needed)

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 Organisation Section

Health and Safety Organisation Chart

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 Organisation Section
• Outlines the chain of
command for health and
safety management
• Identifies the roles and
responsibilities of staff
• Usually includes an
organisational chart
relating to health and
safety
• Shows lines of
communication and
feedback
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 Organisation Section
Defines responsibilities for:
• The CEO or MD - ultimately responsible and
accountable
• Management - responsible for day-to-day
management
• All employees - responsible for acting safely
• Competent persons - first aiders, fire marshals, etc.
• Specialist health and safety practitioners –
responsible for providing advice to support
management and employees
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 Arrangements Section

• Describes how things are done

• Detailed description of policies and

procedures

• Usually a long document

• Often separate from the policy document

• Unique to each organisation

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 Arrangements Section
Examples of topics:
• Carrying out risk assessments
• Information, instruction and
training
• Compliance monitoring, including
auditing
• Accident and near miss reporting,
recording and investigation
• Consultation with workers
• Developing safe systems of work
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 Individual Activity
Can you think of any other specific health
and safety hazards?

Write down as many as you can think of

which you believe should be included in
the Arrangements Section of a Health and
Safety Policy.

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 Arrangements Section
Specific Risks and Problems
• Lone working
• Housekeeping
• Noise
• Vibration
• Hazardous substances
• Fire procedures
• Control of contractors
• Transport risks

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 Reviewing the Policy
Some reasons for review
• Changes in:
 key personnel
 management structure
 ownership
 processes
 technology
 legislation
• Incident
• Enforcement action
• After audit
• After worker consultation
• Passage of time e.g. annually

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 International Standards for Policy
Article 14
ILO Recommendation R164

Requires employers to set down in writing,

policy and arrangements for health and
safety management:
• Where circumstances warrant it
• In a readily understood language or
medium

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 End of Section Quiz
1. What are the three key parts to a
health and safety policy?
2. What type of targets might be
referenced in the policy (and where)?

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