Element 2: How Health & Safety Management

Systems Work and What They Look Like

Summary & Key Takeaways

Summary and Key Takeaways from this element are given below:

Element 2.1 - Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems

• Two widely recognised Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMSs)
exist for the systematic management of health and safety, ILO-OSH 2001, and ISO 45001;
both are based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act management cycle.
• The ILO-OSH 2001 OHSMS can be summarised as: Policy, Organising, Planning and
implementation, Evaluation, Action for improvement, and Audit.
• ISO 45001 is an externally verified OHSMS standard that can be summarised as: Context of
the organisation, Leadership and worker participation, Planning, Support, Operation,
Performance evaluation, and Improvement.

Element 2.2 - Making the Management System Work – The Health and Safety Policy
• An organisation’s occupational health and safety management system is
implemented through its health and safety policy. The health and safety policy of an
organisation is an important document that sets out the
• organisation’s aims regarding 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 other managers, who are required to implement it.
• A health and safety policy is usually presented in three parts:
o the General Statement of Intent
o the Organisation section &
o 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 must be reviewed to stay current and relevant.

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