Have you implemented your health and safety system effectively?
At Intesafety, we regularly undertake reviews of PCBU Health and Safety Systems and Processes. This isn’t only for compliance purposes, but also as a measure of whether it “fits” the organisation and is relative to their risk profile.
It’s not surprising that while health and safety systems are developed with the resources and maturity of the organisation in mind, they often lack clarity around how it should be implemented – and more importantly, the functional requirements of the system.
In other words – they’re strong on the what is required, but short on the how, who, when and what tools to assist with!
As Safety Consultants (we prefer the term Safety Partners), providing health and safety plans to organisations that have the internal health and safety expertise and resources to develop the required processes is fine.
However, it would not be appropriate to deliver off-the-shelf systems to (in some cases) naive clients and then provide little or no implementation support or guidance.
We recognise that in some cases the client does not wish to expend additional resources on implementation support for their plans. If this is the case, then we should be questioning the purpose of the plan request in the first place.
If Safety Consultants are delivering plans without assisting clients with the application/implementation of the plan requirements, we should be asking: how is this improving the client’s safety programme and management of risk?
I know – this sounds like a Safety Consultant with a conscience!
At Intesafety, we can provide plans enabling organisations to fast track their health and safety system to ISO 45001 standards. Or, we can provide a small business plan enabling smaller PCBUs to effectively communicate, implement, and monitor their safety systems.
We provide ongoing guidance and support at a level requested by the client, but also highlight the drawbacks where a plan or systems application falls short.
Intesafety is the New Zealand partner for INX InControl. This scalable HSEQ Management software solution enables you to:
The right health and safety software fits easily and conveniently with your management plan requirements.
We offer a free initial discussion around your existing systems and can offer assistance with any development and implementation required.
With the right management system in place, you can drive the correct attitudes and behaviours – we’re here to partner with you to achieve that.
Here at Intesafety, we believe that having an effective health and safety system positively influences organisational performance. We base our systems on the OHSAS 18001 format and tailor these elements to suit the organisation size, activities, and associated risk profile.
The health and safety system documents set out the expectations for the management of health and safety. By working with a common system across all its operations, we achieve a standardised and consistent approach between the operating activities.
Each element of the system documentation links to the specific section of the Company Health and Safety Management System (HSMS) Plan – Do – Check – Act (PDCA) continual improvement cycle.
For each of these elements, a section is detailed within the main Health and Safety Management Plan to outline the objectives and key requirements as to how this will be achieved.
The ‘Plan’ stage is directed at establishing a platform describing how we will establish our systems meeting legal and stakeholder requirements. To ensure this occurs, we also assign responsibilities during the ‘Plan’ stage.
‘Do’ is the operational control platform. It details our risk management responsibilities along with specific guidance for operation issues and contractor management.
‘Check’ details the measurement requirements to ensure that the HSMS is operating as intended. This allows routine review and an opportunity to address any non-conformant or undesired trending.
The ‘Act’ stage is the systems sense check and review platform. It requires the organisation to review its application of the HSMS and build improvements into short and long-term planning.
This process enables Intesafety to maintain a compliant system while tailoring bespoke health and safety plans to meet our client needs.
Article by Ken Rees – Intesafety Health and Safety Partner
We often get asked, “What is a health and safety management system?”
And then, “How can you tell if it’s effective?”
They aren’t silly questions, and that’s what we are here for at Intesafety.
It is important to be mindful that every business is different. A good practice health and safety management system may have many different elements, each interlinked to achieve the business objectives for workplace safety. There is no one stop off-the-shelf package.
Here at Intesafety, our process is simple.
Firstly, we take the time to understand your business and your risks. We review your existing health and safety systems and processes against good practice and industry standards.
We look at a combination of both the systems and people elements, i.e. how informed are your workers, are your leaders walking the talk, are you monitoring the workplace, etc.
When we’ve completed this assessment, we can measure where your maturity in workplace systems and culture sit. This helps to develop standards, shape the strategy, and then tailor health and safety solutions that fit your business – to ensure it’s usable.
Typical elements may include any or all of the following, depending of the size and complexity of your business:
These are all important elements of typical health and safety management systems.
However, without buy in from workers, they can often fail. Effective leadership is essential – ownership from the top down, an understanding of requirements by all workers, including contractors and other stakeholders involved in your activities.
Further flaws in workplace safety can be the failure to implement systems and workers not following company requirements – i.e. their practices and behaviours are not aligned to where they should be.
How do you monitor these aspects of your business? Is your existing system fit for purpose?
We welcome the opportunity to discuss how your business operates and advise on what you need to do, to ensure you are taking all reasonably practicable steps in relation to workplace health and safety management.
Give us a call today – let’s think safe, work safe and ensure everyone goes home safe.
Written by Aaron Neighbours, Intesafety Principal Health & Safety Partner and General Manager
