Health ad Safety Successful health ad safety maagemet This is a free-to-dowload, web-friedly versio of HSG65 (Secod editio, published 1997). This versio has bee adapted for olie use from HSE s curret prited versio. You ca buy the book at www.hsebooks.co.uk ad most good bookshops. ISBN 978 0 7176 1276 5 Price 12.50 Successful health ad safety maagemet was prepared by HSE as a practical guide for directors, maagers, health ad safety professioals ad employee represetatives who wat to improve health ad safety i their orgaisatio. Its simple message is that orgaisatios eed to maage health ad safety with the same degree of expertise ad to the same stadards as other core busiess activities, if they are to effectively cotrol risks ad prevet harm to people. This book describes the priciples ad maagemet practices which provide the basis of effective health ad safety maagemet. It sets out the issues which eed to be addressed, ad ca be used for developig improvemet programmes, self-audit or self-assessmet. HSE Books Page 1 of 98
Health ad Safety Crow copyright 1997 First published 1991 Reprited 1992 (twice), 1993, 1994, 1995 Secod editio 1997 Reprited 1998 (twice) Reprited (with amedmets) 2000 (twice), 2003, 2006 Reprited 2008 ISBN 978 0 7176 1276 5 All rights reserved. No part of this publicatio may be reproduced, stored i a retrieval system, or trasmitted i ay form or by ay meas (electroic, mechaical, photocopyig, recordig or otherwise) without the prior writte permissio of the copyright ower. Applicatios for reproductio should be made i writig to: The Office of Public Sector Iformatio, Iformatio Policy Team, Kew, Richmod, Surrey TW9 4DU or e-mail: licesig@opsi.gov.uk This guidace is issued by the Health ad Safety. Followig the guidace is ot compulsory ad you are free to take other actio. But if you do follow the guidace you will ormally be doig eough to comply with the law. Health ad safety ispectors seek to secure compliace with the law ad may refer to this guidace as illustratig good practice. Page 2 of 98
Health ad Safety Cotets Foreword 5 Itroductio 6 Chapter 1 Summary 7 Policy 7 Orgaisig 7 Plaig 7 Measurig performace 8 Auditig ad reviewig performace 8 Chapter 2 Effective health ad safety policies 10 The importace of people to a orgaisatio 11 Avoidig loss - the total loss approach 12 Iset 1 Accidet ratio studies 13 Prime resposibility for accidet ad ill health prevetio rests with maagemet 14 The importace of orgaisatioal factors 14 Iset 2 Huma factors i idustrial health ad safety 15 Iset 3 Examples of health ad safety philosophy 16 A systematic approach 17 Iset 4 The impact of effective health ad safety policies o busiess thikig 18 Quality, eviromet ad health ad safety maagemet 19 Chapter 3 Orgaisig for health ad safety 21 Cotrol 23 Iset 5 Performace stadards 24 Iset 6 Supervisio 26 Co-operatio 28 Commuicatio 29 Iformatio iputs 29 Iformatio flows withi the orgaisatio 29 Visible behaviour 29 Writte commuicatio 30 Iset 7 A outlie for statemets of health ad safety policy 30 Face-to-face discussio 31 Iformatio flow from the orgaisatio 31 Competece 31 Iset 8 Traiig for health ad safety 33 Iset 9 Role ad fuctios of safety advisers 37 Chapter 4 Plaig ad implemetig 38 Plaig for health ad safety 39 Workplace precautios 39 Risk cotrol systems (RCSs) 41 Maagemet arragemets 42 Plaig the overall health ad safety maagemet system 44 Settig objectives 46 Devisig workplace precautios 46 Iset 10 Cotrollig health risks 47 Hazard idetificatio 49 Risk assessmet 49 Risk cotrol 50 Iset 11 So far as is reasoably practicable, So far as is practicable ad Best practicable meas 50 Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 3 of 98
Health ad Safety Cotets Policy 52 Devisig risk cotrol systems (RCSs) 51 Orgaisig 52 Implemetig 52 Measurig performace 52 Reviewig performace 52 Auditig 52 Iset 12 Framework for settig risk cotrol systems 53 Devisig maagemet arragemets 54 Settig performace stadards 55 Prioritisig health ad safety activities 55 Simple risk estimatio 56 Implemetig the health ad safety maagemet system 57 Chapter 5 Measurig performace 58 Active moitorig systems 59 Iset 13 Ispectio 61 Reactive moitorig systems 61 Ivestigatio ad respose systems for active ad reactive moitorig 63 Actios ecessary to deal with immediate risks 64 Level ad ature of ivestigatio 64 The form of ivestigatio 64 Collectig evidece 65 Assemblig ad cosiderig the evidece 66 Comparig coditios with relevat specificatios ad stadards 67 Implemetig fidigs ad trackig progress 67 Outputs ad aalysis 67 Iset 1 Key data to be covered i accidet, ill health ad icidet reports 68 Chapter 6 Auditig ad reviewig performace 69 Auditig performace 70 Collectig iformatio 71 Preparatio 71 O-site 71 Coclusio 72 Makig judgemets 72 Audit cotrols 72 Iset 15 Effective health ad safety audit systems 73 Reviewig performace 74 Appedices 76 Appedix 1 Termiology 76 Appedix 2 Orgaisig for health ad safety 78 Appedix 3 Reorgaisatio 80 Appedix 4 Implemetatio of health ad safety maagemet systems 83 Appedix 5 Aalysig the causes of accidets ad icidets 87 Appedix 6 Accidet icidece ad frequecy rates 94 Refereces 96 Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 43 of 97 98
Health ad Safety Foreword Successful health ad safety maagemet (HSG65) was first prepared by HSE s Accidet Prevetio Advisory Uit (ow Operatios Uit) i 1991 as a practical guide for directors, maagers, health ad safety professioals ad employee represetatives who wated to improve health ad safety i their orgaisatios. The message it coveys is a simple oe: orgaisatios eed to maage health ad safety with the same degree of expertise ad to the same stadards as other core busiess activities, if they are effectively to cotrol risks ad prevet harm to people. The publicatio has bee a best-seller for HSE, ad has bee well received as providig soud guidace o good practice i health ad safety maagemet. Some of the actios it advocates go beyod what is strictly required by legislatio. For example, although some specific health ad safety legislatio requires auditig, there is o geeral legal requiremet to audit. Similarly there is o legal requiremet to give tool-box talks. A cotiuig priority for HSE is to secure more effective maagemet of health ad safety by duty holders. Safety represetatives ad employees as well as maagers ca make key cotributios. Together with legal requiremets, the framework described here provides the basis for the approach which HSE ispectors take whe auditig a orgaisatio s arragemets for maagig health ad safety. I commed this guidace to you as a tried ad tested basis o which to build your health ad safety maagemet system. Justi McCracke, Deputy Director Geeral (Operatios), Health ad Safety Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 5 of 98
Health ad Safety Itroductio The Health ad Safety Commissio s iitiative to review HSE guidace has provided the opportuity to revise ad update this publicatio. The revisio does ot alter the basic framework for maagig health ad safety set out i earlier editios, which received widespread acceptace. The guidace is aimed at directors, maagers with health ad safety resposibilities, as well as health ad safety professioals. Employees represetatives should also fid it helpful. It: describes the priciples ad maagemet practices which provide the basis of effective health ad safety maagemet; sets out the issues which eed to be addressed; ad ca be used for developig improvemet programmes, self-audit or selfassessmet. The priciples are uiversal but how far actio is eeded will deped o the size of the orgaisatio, the hazards preseted by its activities, products or services, ad the adequacy of its existig arragemets. The format follows that of previous editios. Chapter 1 provides a overview, while other chapters cover each key elemet i detail. Chapter 4, o plaig ad implemetig, has bee extesively revised ad ew material preseted. Chapter 5, o measurig performace, icorporates ew material o accidet ad icidet ivestigatio. Chapter 6 has bee amplified to add more guidace o auditig. Withi each chapter, isets deal with a particular topic i more detail to avoid iterruptig the flow of the mai text. A short set of refereces is give at the ed. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 6 of 98
Health ad Safety Chapter oe: Summary The key elemets of successful health ad safety maagemet are set out i this summary. Diagram 1 outlies the relatioship betwee them. Policy Effective health ad safety policies set a clear directio for the orgaisatio to follow. They cotribute to all aspects of busiess performace as part of a demostrable commitmet to cotiuous improvemet. Resposibilities to people ad the eviromet are met i ways which fulfil the spirit ad letter of the law. Stakeholders expectatios i the activity (whether they are shareholders, employees, or their represetatives, customers or society at large) are satisfied. There are cost-effective approaches to preservig ad developig physical ad huma resources, which reduce fiacial losses ad liabilities. Orgaisig A effective maagemet structure ad arragemets are i place for deliverig the policy. All staff are motivated ad empowered to work safely ad to protect their log-term health, ot simply to avoid accidets. The arragemets are: uderpied by effective staff ivolvemet ad participatio; ad sustaied by effective commuicatio ad the promotio of competece which allows all employees ad their represetatives to make a resposible ad iformed cotributio to the health ad safety effort. There is a shared commo uderstadig of the orgaisatio s visio, values ad beliefs. A positive health ad safety culture is fostered by the visible ad active leadership of seior maagers. Plaig There is a plaed ad systematic approach to implemetig the health ad safety policy through a effective health ad safety maagemet system. The aim is to miimise risks. Risk assessmet methods are used to decide o priorities ad to set objectives for elimiatig hazards ad reducig risks. Wherever possible, risks are elimiated through selectio ad desig of facilities, equipmet ad processes. If risks caot be elimiated, they are miimised by the use of physical cotrols or, as a last resort, through systems of work ad persoal protective equipmet. Performace stadards are established ad used for measurig achievemet. Specific actios to promote a positive health ad safety culture are idetified. Measurig performace Performace is measured agaist agreed stadards to reveal whe ad where improvemet is eeded. Active self-moitorig reveals how effectively the health ad safety maagemet system is fuctioig. This looks at both hardware Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 7 of 98
Health ad Safety (premises, plat ad substaces) ad software (people, procedures ad systems) icludig idividual behaviour ad performace. If cotrols fail, reactive moitorig discovers why by ivestigatig accidets, ill health or icidets which could cause harm or loss. The objectives of active ad reactive moitorig are: to determie the immediate causes of sub-stadard performace; ad to idetify the uderlyig causes ad the implicatios for the desig ad operatio of the health ad safety maagemet system. Loger-term objectives are also moitored. Auditig ad reviewig performace The orgaisatio lears from all relevat experiece ad applies the lessos. There is a systematic review of performace based o data from moitorig ad from idepedet audits of the whole health ad safety maagemet system. These form the basis of self-regulatio ad of complyig with sectios 2 to 6 of the Health ad Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) ad other relevat statutory provisios. There is a strog commitmet to cotiuous improvemet ivolvig the costat developmet of policies, systems ad techiques of risk cotrol. Performace is assessed by: iteral referece to key performace idicators; ad exteral compariso with the performace of busiess competitors ad best practice, irrespective of employmet sector. Performace is also ofte recorded i aual reports. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 8 of 98
Health ad Safety Diagram 1 Key elemets of successful health ad safety maagemet Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 9 of 98
Health ad Safety Chapter two: Effective health ad safety policies Policy Orgaisig Auditig Plaig ad implemetig Measurig performace Reviewig performace Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 10 of 98
Health ad Safety KEY MESSAGES Effective health ad safety policies cotribute to busiess performace by: supportig huma resource developmet; miimisig the fiacial losses which arise from avoidable uplaed evets; recogisig that accidets, ill health ad icidets result from failigs i maagemet cotrol ad are ot ecessarily the fault of idividual employees; recogisig that the developmet of a culture supportive of health ad safety is ecessary to achieve adequate cotrol over risks; esurig a systematic approach to the idetificatio of risks ad the allocatio of resources to cotrol them; supportig quality iitiatives aimed at cotiuous improvemet. This chapter idetifies the mai characteristics of successful policies for health ad safety. A commo characteristic is that they accurately reflect the values ad beliefs of those who devise ad implemet them. Effective policies are ot simply examples of maagemet payig lip service to improved health ad safety performace but a geuie commitmet to actio. I this guidace, policy meas the geeral itetios, approach ad objectives the visio of a orgaisatio ad the criteria ad priciples upo which it bases its actio. These form the basis for maagig health ad safety which shape the writte statemet of policy required by sectio 2 of the HSW Act. The importace of people to a orgaisatio Work ca make a positive or egative cotributio to idividual health. Both physical ad metal health may be affected if people are exposed to harm (eg through the use of chemicals, by a risk of fallig, by carryig out repetitive tasks or beig exposed to violet behaviour). But if the workplace is safe ad if people are iterested ad ivolved i their work, job satisfactio ca icrease ad improvemets i health ad well-beig ca result. Orgaisatios that successfully maage health ad safety recogise the relatioship betwee the cotrol of risks, geeral health ad the very core of the busiess itself. Their health ad safety policies alig with other huma resource maagemet policies desiged to secure commitmet ad ivolvemet ad to promote the well-beig of employees. I the workplace, this may lead to iitiatives such as job restructurig to reduce mootoy ad icrease flexibility or to health promotio campaigs. I some cases, orgaisatios educate their employees about dagers outside the workplace (eg i the home) as part of a off-the-job accidet prevetio policy. The importat cotributio which employees ad their represetatives ca make to improve health ad safety is recogised ad ecouraged. So the best health ad safety policies do ot separate health ad safety ad huma resource maagemet, because they ackowledge that people are the key resource. Orgaisatios that wat to behave ethically ad resposibly: recogise the beefits of a fit, ethusiastic, competet ad committed workforce; realise that progressive huma resource maagemet policies ca be udermied by weak health ad safety policies; ad show that they are cocered ot simply with prevetig accidets ad ill health (as required by health ad safety legislatio) but also with positive health promotio. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 11 of 98
Health ad Safety The ultimate goal is a orgaisatio aimig to improve its health ad safety performace, so that accidets ad ill health are elimiated ad work forms part of a satisfyig life to the beefit of both the idividual ad the orgaisatio. This itegrated approach exteds to people outside the orgaisatio i policies for the cotrol of off-site risks, evirometal pollutio ad product safety. Avoidig loss the total loss approach Ijuries ad ill health cost moey but are oly oe compoet of fiacial loss. Accidetal damage to property, plat, products or the eviromet as well as productio losses or liabilities also impose costs. The total loss approach is based o research ito the causes of accidets which is summarised i Iset 1. This illustrates a importat relatioship. There are may more icidets or earmisses tha those which cause ijury or property damage. Effective prevetio ad loss cotrol has to focus o the causes of icidets because outcomes may be radom ad ucotrollable. For istace, if a perso slips o a patch of spilt oil they may be uhurt, damage clothig or equipmet, break a arm or fracture their skull ad die. Examiig the causes of all such outcomes ca provide valuable isights ito iadequacies i risk cotrol ad poit toward actio which ca prevet future ijuries or losses (see Chapter 5). The total loss approach emphasises that orgaisatios eed to lear from both accidets ad icidets to achieve effective cotrol. They should also look beyod their ow orgaisatio to draw lessos from elsewhere. Ivestmet i loss reductio cotributes directly to profits ad may prove to be particularly cost effective at times of high competitio it may yield a better retur tha a similar ivestmet to improve sales ad market share. Results from HSE studies 1 of the costs of accidetal loss cofirm their commercial sigificace. Reducig the fiacial costs of accidets ad ill health is importat i busiess terms, but there are other busiess imperatives for maagig health ad safety effectively. Employees beefit from workig i a orgaisatio committed to high stadards of health ad safety, but orgaisatios should also recogise that there are other stakeholders with a legitimate iterest i how they maage health ad safety. These ca iclude shareholders, customers, suppliers, isurace compaies, the eighbourig commuity, the public ad regulators. Orgaisatios that are successful at maagig health ad safety recogise the busiess case for health ad safety ad meet the differet, ad sometimes competig demads ad expectatios of their stakeholders i a balaced way. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 12 of 98
Health ad Safety Iset 1 Accidet ratio studies Several studies have tried to establish the relatioship betwee serious ad mior accidets ad other dagerous evets. The results of a study by HSE s Accidet Prevetio Advisory Uit (APAU) 1 are summarised here. The study cofirmed the geeral validity of earlier work by Bird (1969) ad Tye ad Pearso (1974/75). The most sigificat coclusios which ca be draw from this ad other research 2 are that: the detailed fidigs were differet because of the defiitios ad accidets data used, but there is a cosistet relatioship betwee the differet kids of evet; there are cosistetly greater umbers of less serious evets compared to more serious oes; it is ofte a matter of chace whether dagerous evets cause ill health, ijury or damage. However, o-ijury icidets or ear-misses could become evets with more serious cosequeces. Not all ear-misses, however, ivolve risks which might have caused fatal or serious ijury; all the evets (ot just those causig ijuries) represet failures i cotrol ad are therefore potetial learig opportuities. A key feature of a effective health ad safety policy is to examie all usafe evets ad the behaviours which give rise to them. This is a way of cotrollig risk ad measurig performace. From studies i five orgaisatios i the oil, food, costructio, health ad trasport sectors, APAU established the followig ratio: 1 major or over-3-day lost-time ijury 1 for every 7 mior ijuries 7 for every 189 o-ijury accidets 189 HSE is curretly (1997) coductig research to lik the costs of accidets with the model for health ad safety maagemet outlied i this guidace. The research aims to measure the cost of differet maagemet failures, so that orgaisatios may better target their effort ad moey. The research is based o a root-cause aalysis tool which matches icidet causes with elemets of the health ad safety maagemet structure i this guidace. The tool, ad fidigs from the research, are scheduled for publicatio. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 13 of 98
Health ad Safety Prime resposibility for accidet ad ill health prevetio rests with maagemet Accidets, ill health ad icidets are seldom radom evets. They geerally arise from failures of cotrol ad ivolve multiple cotributory elemets. The immediate cause may be a huma or techical failure, but they usually arise from orgaisatioal failigs which are the resposibility of maagemet. Successful policies aim to exploit the stregths of employees. They aim to miimise the cotributio of huma limitatios ad fallibilities by examiig how the orgaisatio is structured ad how jobs ad systems are desiged. Orgaisatios eed to uderstad how huma factors affect health ad safety performace. These are explaied i more detail i the HSE publicatio HSG48 Reducig error ad ifluecig behaviour 3 which also cotais guidace o how to develop suitable cotrol strategies i a systematic way (see Iset 2). The importace of orgaisatioal factors Orgaisatios that are good at maagig health ad safety create a effective framework to maximise the cotributio of idividuals ad groups. Health ad safety objectives are regarded i the same way as other busiess objectives. They become part of the culture ad this is recogised explicitly by makig health ad safety a lie maagemet resposibility. The approach has to start at the top. Visible ad active support, strog leadership ad commitmet of seior maagers ad directors are fudametal to the success of health ad safety maagemet. Seior maagers commuicate the beliefs which uderlie the policy through their idividual behaviour ad maagemet practice. Health ad safety is a boardroom issue ad a board member takes direct resposibility for the co-ordiatio of effort. The whole orgaisatio shares the maagemet perceptio ad beliefs about the importace of health ad safety ad the eed to achieve the policy objectives. Examples of statemets of health ad safety philosophy are show i Iset 3. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 14 of 98
Health ad Safety Iset 2 Huma factors i idustrial health ad safety Diagram 2 shows the relatioship betwee the three factors that ifluece behaviour i orgaisatios. Diagram 2 Orgaisatioal factors have the major ifluece o idividual ad group behaviour, yet it is commo for them to be overlooked durig the desig of work ad whe ivestigatig accidets ad icidets. Orgaisatios eed to establish their ow positive health ad safety culture which promotes employee ivolvemet ad commitmet at all levels. This culture should emphasise that deviatio from established health ad safety stadards is uacceptable. Job factors directly ifluece idividual performace ad the cotrol of risks. Tasks should be desiged accordig to ergoomic priciples to take accout of the limitatios of huma performace. Mismatches betwee job requiremets ad idividuals capabilities icrease the potetial for huma error. Matchig the job to the idividual esures that people are ot overloaded; this cotributes to cosistet performace. Physical matchig icludes how the whole workplace ad the workig eviromet are desiged. Metal matchig ivolves takig ito accout the idividual s iformatio ad decisio-makig requiremets as well as his or her perceptio of the task. Mismatches betwee job requiremets ad a idividual s capabilities icrease the potetial for huma error. Persoal factors the attributes which employees brig to their jobs may be stregths or weakesses i relatio to the demads of a particular task. They iclude both physical attributes, such as stregth ad limitatios arisig from disability or illess, ad metal attributes, such as habits, attitudes, skills ad persoality, which ifluece behaviour i complex ways. Negative effects o task performace caot always be mitigated by job desig solutios. Some characteristics, such as skills ad attitudes, ca be modified by traiig ad experiece; others, such as persoality, are relatively permaet ad caot be modified withi the work cotext. People may therefore eed to be matched to their jobs through appropriate selectio techiques. For more iformatio, see HSG48 Reducig error ad ifluecig behaviour. 3 Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 15 of 98
Health ad Safety Iset 3 Examples of health ad safety philosophy A good safety record goes had i had with high productivity ad quality stadards We believe that a excellet compay is by defiitio a safe compay. Sice we are committed to excellece, it follows that miimisig risk to people, plat ad products is iseparable from all other compay objectives Prevetio is ot oly better, but cheaper tha cure. There is o ecessary coflict betwee humaitariaism ad commercial cosideratios. Profits ad safety are ot i competitio. O the cotrary, safety is good busiess Health ad safety is a maagemet resposibility of equal importace to productio ad quality Experiece shows that a successful safety orgaisatio also produces the right quality goods at miimum costs Competece i maagig health ad safety is a essetial part of professioal maagemet I the field of health ad safety [we] seek to achieve the highest stadards. We do ot pursue this aim simply to achieve compliace with curret legislatio, but because it is i our best iterests. The effective maagemet of health ad safety, leadig to fewer accidets ivolvig ijury ad time take off work, is a ivestmet which helps us to achieve our purposes People are our most importat asset Total safety is the ogoig itegratio of safety ito all activities with the objective of attaiig idustry leadership i safety performace. We believe othig is more importat tha safety... ot productio, ot sales, ot profits Effective cotrol of health ad safety is achieved through co-operative effort at all levels i the orgaisatio The compay believes that excellece i the maagemet of health ad safety is a essetial elemet withi its overall busiess pla All accidets ad ill health are prevetable The idetificatio, assessmet ad cotrol of health ad safety ad other risks is a maagerial resposibility ad of equal importace to productio ad quality The preservatio of huma ad physical resources is a importat meas of miimisig costs Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 16 of 98
Health ad Safety A systematic approach The key to effective policy implemetatio is good busiess plaig. The logic ad rigour of busiess plaig are applied to the cotrol of risks, ad resources are allocated accordig to risk priorities. The orgaisatio is able to measure performace agaist plas by settig up suitable moitorig arragemets. A outlie of how effective health ad safety policies ca affect differet areas of busiess thikig is give i Iset 4. Successful orgaisatios ca demostrate effective cotrol i terms of improved performace. Health ad safety thikig is reflected i busiess activity. The practical implicatios of health ad safety policies are thought through to avoid coflict betwee the demads of policy ad other operatioal requiremets. Disasters such as the sikig of the Herald of Free Eterprise, the trai crash at Clapham Juctio ad the fire ad explosio o Piper Alpha provide vivid examples of the effect of givig isufficiet attetio or weight to health ad safety. I these cases, maagemet decisios led to: urealistic timescales for implemetig plas, which put pressure o people to cut corers ad reduce supervisio; work schedulig ad rosters which failed to take accout of the problems of fatigue; iadequate resources allocated to traiig; orgaisatioal restructurig which placed people i positios for which they had isufficiet experiece; jobs ad cotrol systems which failed to recogise or allow for the fact that people would be likely to make mistakes ad might have difficulties commuicatig with each other. The systematic approach also emphasises a commitmet to cotiuous improvemet. Learig from experiece is essetial. I may serious accidets, previous icidets foreshadowed the potetial for serious ijury. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 17 of 98
Health ad Safety Iset 4 The impact of effective health ad safety policies o busiess thikig The followig areas of busiess thikig are amog those iflueced by effective health ad safety policies: Corporate strategy ad social resposibility busiess missio, philosophy ad codes of ethics; compay image i the commuity; policy o evirometal impact; maagemet professioalism (for example, the applicatio of the Maagemet Charter Iitiative (MCI) competeces). Fiace loss-cotrol ad cost-reductio strategies; aspects of o-speculative risk maagemet, such as product liability, security, property damage, ad the cosequet potetial for fiacial loss ad legal liability; decisios o loss reductio, risk retetio or trasfer, risk fudig ad isurace; ivestmet decisios cocerig busiess acquisitios ad ew premises, plat ad processes; geeral fiacial plaig ad budgetary cotrol. Huma resources recruitmet, selectio, placemet, trasfer, traiig, developmet ad learig; structurig the orgaisatio to promote a positive health ad safety culture; work ad job structurig to achieve participatio ad ivolvemet; health promotio activities; commuicatios; Ivestors i People. Marketig, product desig ad product liability specificatio of product ad service health ad safety stadards; atioal legal requiremets, for example, sectio 6 of the HSW Act; iteratioal requiremets such as EC directives; atioal ad iteratioal cosesus stadards, for example, British Stadards, ANSI ad ISO Stadards; the Cosumer Protectio Act i the case of products for domestic use. Maufacturig ad operatig policy desig, selectio, costructio ad maiteace of premises, plat, equipmet ad substaces; procuremet policies icludig selectio of cotractors; desig of jobs ad the applicatio of ergoomic priciples ad appropriate strategies for risk elimiatio, reductio ad cotrol; quality maagemet; evirometal maagemet ad waste disposal. Iformatio maagemet ad systems the idetificatio of data critical to the maagemet of health ad safety; the selectio of appropriate performace idicators; the use of iformatio techology i the collectio ad aalysis of essetial data. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 18 of 98
Health ad Safety Quality, eviromet ad health ad safety maagemet The priciples ad approach to maagig health ad safety described i this ad the followig chapters are the same as those advocated for maagig quality or the eviromet. A well-developed approach to quality is icreasigly see as a essetial activity for the successful orgaisatio rather tha a optioal extra. Orgaisatios ofte fail to maage health ad safety effectively because they see it as somethig distict from other maagemet tasks. They coclude that it is too difficult. They do ot brig the same rigour to it as they do for quality or the eviromet. The traditioal approach to esurig quality emphasised quality cotrol at the ed of the maufacturig process: products were ispected ad sorted for defects before they reached the customer. This was costly ad iefficiet. The moder approach is process-based quality assurace - maagig quality i ot ispectig defects out. A similar case ca be made for health ad safety. May orgaisatios traditioally oly react to accidets ad ill health ( defects ) oce they have occurred. There is little emphasis o prevetio. If the desired output of the health ad safety effort is to be achieved - to cotrol risks - the the process to deliver it has to be properly assured through desigig ad implemetig a effective health ad safety maagemet system. I other words it is proactive ot reactive. This approach is applied i this guidace. It is also the basis for the ISO 14001 Evirometal Maagemet stadards, 4 BS 8800 Guide to occupatioal health ad safety maagemet systems 5 ad the volutary eco-maagemet auditig schemes. 6 A word of cautio is ecessary though. Adoptig ISO 9000 Quality Systems stadards 7 will ot automatically lead to appropriate attetio to health ad safety i the workplace. The stadards focus o quality of the goods or services that the orgaisatio produces or delivers - ot o health ad safety i the productio or delivery process. Diagram 3 Pla-Do-Check-Act for health ad safety Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 19 of 98
Health ad Safety Total quality maagemet (TQM) promotes cotiuous improvemet i all aspects of a orgaisatio s activities. It emphasises idetifyig the key processes, settig performace stadards, measurig achievemet agaist these stadards ad the takig corrective actio ad idetifyig opportuities for improvemet - all i a cotiuous cycle. This is ofte depicted as Pla-Do-Check-Act ad ca equally be applied to health ad safety (see Diagram 3). Other areas where there is crossover betwee TQM methods ad health ad safety iclude: the tools ad techiques of TQM (eg process flowcharts, Pareto aalysis, cause-ad-effect diagrams) which ca be applied to health ad safety; the developmet of a supportive orgaisatioal culture. The TQM philosophy stresses the importace of actively ivolvig all employees i the quality process. It also recogises the crucial importace of visible leadership ad the eed for cosistet emphasis o quality improvemet throughout the orgaisatio. The busiess excellece model produced by the Europea Foudatio for Quality Maagemet (EFQM) 8 is oe bechmark which orgaisatios ca use to assess their progress towards busiess excellece. Health ad safety is recogised i this model but may orgaisatios have yet to realise that they ca use it to iform ad improve their approach to the maagemet of health ad safety. HSE fuded a research study 9 which examied health ad safety activities i several orgaisatios that were at various stages i implemetatio of TQM. Oe of the key fidigs was that visible leadership ad emphasis o cotiual improvemet with respect to health ad safety lagged behid that for quality of a product or service. Oe reaso for this fidig was that seior people lacked appreciatio of the busiess case for health ad safety. Successful orgaisatios ca establish ad maitai a culture which supports health ad safety. Practical ways i which they ca desig, build, operate ad maitai the appropriate systems are examied i the followig chapters. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 20 of 98
Health ad Safety Chapter three: Orgaisig for health ad safety Policy Orgaisig Auditig Plaig ad implemetig Measurig performace Reviewig performace Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 21 of 98
Health ad Safety KEY MESSAGES Orgaisatios eed to defie the resposibilities ad relatioships which promote a positive health ad safety culture, ad secure the implemetatio ad cotiued developmet of the health ad safety policy. Structures ad processes are eeded which: establish ad maitai maagemet cotrol withi a orgaisatio; promote co-operatio betwee idividuals, safety represetatives ad groups so that health ad safety becomes a collaborative effort; esure the commuicatio of ecessary iformatio throughout the orgaisatio; ad secure the competece of employees. The policy sets the directio for health ad safety, but orgaisatios eed to create a robust framework for maagemet activity ad to detail the resposibilities ad relatioships which will deliver improved performace. A core elemet to cosider is the culture of the orgaisatio itself. There is a limit to the level of performace which ca be achieved by addressig the techological ad system elemets of health ad safety i isolatio. The shared commo kowledge or culture uique to each orgaisatio shapes the way it deals with health ad safety issues. This culture may take years to mature but it bears o all aspects of work, affectig idividual ad group behaviour, job desig ad the plaig ad executio of work activities. Evidece idicates that successful compaies have developed positive cultures which promote safe ad healthy workig. 10,11 Oe defiitio of health ad safety culture is: The safety culture of a orgaisatio is the product of idividual ad group values, attitudes, perceptios, competecies ad patters of behaviour that determie the commitmet to, ad the style ad proficiecy of, a orgaisatio s health ad safety maagemet. Orgaisatios with a positive safety culture are characterised by commuicatios fouded o mutual trust, by shared perceptios of the importace of safety ad by cofidece i the efficacy of prevetive measures. (ACSNI 3rd report) 11 Aother defiitio is the way we do thigs aroud here. By explicitly recogisig the advatages i lookig at their activities i this way, orgaisatios ca ofte achieve a step chage i their approach to the maagemet of health ad safety. I this chapter, the activities ecessary to promote a positive health ad safety culture are split ito: methods of cotrol withi the orgaisatio; meas of securig co-operatio betwee idividuals, safety represetatives ad groups; methods of commuicatio throughout the orgaisatio; competece of idividuals. Cotrol is the foudatio of a positive health ad safety culture. The maagemet techiques for exercisig cotrol are cosidered i more detail i Chapters 4 to 6. The four compoets are, however, iterrelated ad iterdepedet so Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 22 of 98
Health ad Safety that cosistet activity i each area is eeded to promote a climate i which a positive health ad safety culture ca develop. Take together, they provide the orgaisatioal framework eeded to maage health ad safety effectively. Cotrol Establishig ad maitaiig cotrol is cetral to all maagemet fuctios. Cotrol is achieved by gettig the commitmet of employees to clear health ad safety objectives. It begis with maagers takig full resposibility for cotrollig factors that could lead to ill health, ijury or loss. The arragemets start with omiatig a seior figure at the top of the orgaisatio to co-ordiate ad moitor policy implemetatio. Health ad safety resposibilities are allocated to lie maagers, with specialists appoited to act as advisers. If maagers provide clear directio ad take resposibility for the workig eviromet, it helps create a positive atmosphere ad ecourages a creative ad learig culture. Safety represetatives ca also make a importat cotributio. The emphasis is o a collective effort to develop ad maitai systems of cotrol before the evet - ot o blamig idividuals for failures afterwards. Key fuctios for successful health ad safety maagemet ca be classified ito three broad areas: Formulatig ad developig policy. This icludes idetifyig key objectives ad reviewig of progress agaist them. Plaig, measurig, reviewig ad auditig health ad safety activities to meet legal requiremets ad miimise risks. Esurig effective implemetatio of plas ad reportig o performace. Further details about these fuctios are give i Appedix 2. These fuctios may ot ecessarily be exclusive to specific idividuals or groups, so the boudaries of discretio should be established. Clear resposibilities ad co-ordiatio are particularly importat whe two or more orgaisatios work together, for example, whe cotractors are employed to provide goods or services withi a existig establishmet. If orgaisatios are forced, or choose, to alter their iteral structure i a fudametal way, there are potetial effects o health ad safety. HSE has carried out research 12 i this area ad the results are summarised i Appedix 3. Cotrol arragemets are very importat ad should form part of the orgaisatio s writte statemet o health ad safety. A key part of the process of establishig cotrol is to set performace stadards which lik resposibilities to outputs, recogisig that the achievemet of goals is based o specific, defied work with measurable outputs. It may be ecessary to draw up writte systems, rules or procedures to clarify the way jobs or tasks should be doe to achieve the desired results. Guidelies o drawig up performace stadards are give i Iset 5 with more detail i Chapter 4. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 23 of 98
Health ad Safety Iset 5 Performace stadards Performace stadards are the basis of plaig ad measurig health ad safety achievemet. The maxim what gets measured gets doe applies. If orgaisatios are to be efficiet ad effective i cotrollig risks, they eed to co-ordiate their activities to esure everyoe is clear about what they are expected to achieve. They eed to uderstad ad specify what has to be doe, both to cotrol the directio of the orgaisatio as a whole ad to deal with specific risks. Settig performace stadards is essetial if policies are to be traslated from good itetios ito a series of co-ordiated activities ad tasks. Stadards should: set out clearly what people eed to do to cotribute to a eviromet which is free of ijuries, ill health ad loss; help idetify the competeces which idividuals eed to fulfil their resposibilities; form the basis for measurig idividual, group ad orgaisatioal performace. Good performace stadards lik resposibilities to specific outputs. They should specify: Who is resposible? This will give a ame or positio. Nobody should be made resposible for a task uless they meet suitable competece criteria (ie, they have bee traied ad possess the ecessary skills ad kowledge). What are they resposible for? This should explai what is to be doe ad how. It may ivolve applyig specific procedures or systems of work ad the use of specific documets or equipmet because of legal duties. Some examples might be: preparig plas to implemet the health ad safety policy; carryig out risk assessmets i accordace with specific regulatios; periodic moitorig of health ad safety performace; checkig cotractors health ad safety performace before awardig cotracts; supervisor s weekly tool-box talks which may iclude, for example, a remider of importat health ad safety procedures or lessos from a recet accidet; providig traiig; providig first aid after a accidet. Whe should the work be doe? Some work occurs regularly (eg mothly ispectios) or oly whe particular tasks or jobs are beig doe (for example whe usig a particular chemical). A time frame should be set. What is the expected result? Some outputs may refer to legal requiremets (eg achievemet of a certai air quality stadard). Alteratively, the output may be a satisfactory completio of a specified procedure (eg traiig). Output stadards ca be used to specify how idividuals will be held accoutable for their health ad safety resposibilities. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 24 of 98
Health ad Safety People with specific resposibilities for health ad safety should be held accoutable. This may ivolve the use of existig persoel systems such as: idividual job descriptios cotaiig refereces to health ad safety resposibilities; performace review ad appraisal systems measurig ad rewardig idividual performace i health ad safety activities; procedures idetifyig ad actig upo failures by ay employee (icludig maagers) to achieve adequate health ad safety performace. These ca be itegrated with ormal discipliary arragemets ad be ivoked whe justified by the seriousess of the failure to comply. These cotrol arragemets are oly effective if health ad safety objectives get the same importace as other busiess aims, ad if good performace by supervisors ad maagers is see as vital i career progressio ad persoal developmet assessmets. A combiatio of rewards ad sactios is required to motivate all employees. There eeds to be emphasis o the reiforcemet of the positive behaviour which cotributes to risk cotrol ad the promotio of a positive health ad safety culture. The geeral paymet ad reward systems should support the achievemet of health ad safety objectives ad avoid coflict with output ad other commercial objectives. If safety award schemes are used, they eed to emphasise the attaimet of specific stadards of performace rather tha arbitrary targets or oes based solely o avoidig accidets or ill health. The better schemes reward group rather tha idividual effort ad support a collaborative approach to health ad safety maagemet. Effective supervisio is of critical importace ad further guidace is cotaied i Iset 6. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 25 of 98
Health ad Safety Iset 6 Supervisio I orgaisatios which emphasise effective teamworkig, the term supervisor may ot be used because it has commad ad cotrol overtoes. Here the term is used to iclude team leader, or ay other equivalet compay desigatio. Adequate supervisio complemets the provisio of iformatio, istructio ad traiig to esure that the health ad safety policy of a orgaisatio is effectively implemeted ad developed. Good supervisio regimes ca form a powerful part of a proper system of maagemet cotrol. There are two key aspects: Task maagemet Supervisors, by example ad disciplie, are uiquely placed to ifluece how well orgaisatios achieve health ad safety objectives ad what stadards of performace are maitaied. They ca pla, direct, help, trai, coach ad guide staff to develop idividual competece. They ca also moitor performace by formal (eg assessmet) ad iformal (spot checks) meas. Team buildig Supervisors ca ecourage idividuals to work together i pursuit of team objectives. This role ca iclude leadig team activities such as tool-box talks, team briefigs ad problem-solvig exercises. It ca also ivolve coachig ad cousellig to ecourage ad support the participatio ad ivolvemet of employees ad safety represetatives. A particularly importat objective is to improve uderstadig of the risks ivolved i the work ad how they ca be elimiated or better cotrolled. It is maagemet s job to decide o the appropriate level of supervisio for particular tasks. The level depeds o the risks ivolved as well as the competece of employees to idetify ad hadle them. I some cases, legal requiremets state miimum supervisio levels. I others, more supervisio may be eeded, for example employees ew to a job, employees udergoig traiig or doig jobs which preset special risks, eg workig aloe or at shift chageovers. But some supervisio of fully competet idividuals will always be eeded to esure that stadards are beig met cosistetly. Supervisors ad employees should exercise judgemet ad discretio, for example whe makig decisios o whe to seek help or guidace or whe to halt work because they cosider it too dagerous to cotiue. But they should exercise this discretio withi the framework of cotrol established at the top of the orgaisatio. Although authority to act ca be delegated to supervisors ad employees, the ultimate resposibility for complyig with the employer s legal duties caot be delegated. It follows that maagemet must esure that those exercisig discretio ad judgemet are competet to do so ad have clear guidelies. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 26 of 98
Health ad Safety Iset 6 (cotiued) New methods of team workig - ofte liked to wideig job cotet ad to more flexible workig arragemets - ca mea, for istace, that: some maiteace tasks become the resposibilities of the work group ad the maiteace workers will joi the productio team; there is icreased job variety for idividuals ad they have to become competet i ew tasks; supervisors become resposible for areas of work which are outside their established expertise or experiece. Team ad flexible workig arragemets ca icrease the discretio available to supervisors ad others. But where supervisors acquire wider resposibilities, they eed to become familiar with ew risks ad with how these relate to activities of the whole group ad to other groups. Diagram 4 Levels of supervisio Levels of supervisio are determied by the risk of the job ad the competece of the perso. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 27 of 98
Health ad Safety Co-operatio Participatio by employees supports risk cotrol by ecouragig their owership of health ad safety policies. It establishes a uderstadig that the orgaisatio as a whole, ad people workig i it, beefit from good health ad safety performace. Poolig kowledge ad experiece through participatio, commitmet ad ivolvemet meas that health ad safety really becomes everybody s busiess. It is a legal requiremet for all employees i Great Britai to be cosulted, ot just iformed, about those health ad safety issues i the workplace that affect them. Where trade uios are recogised, cosultatio must occur via the safety represetatives they appoit uder the Safety Represetatives ad Safety Committees Regulatios 1977 13 ad the Offshore Istallatios (Safety Represetatives ad Safety Committees) Regulatios 1989. 14 All other employees ot represeted i this way must be cosulted, either directly or via represetatives elected by those employees that they represet, uder the Health ad Safety (Cosultatio with Employees) Regulatios 1996. 15 All represetatives must be provided with paid time off to carry out their duties ad to udertake appropriate traiig; they must also be give adequate facilities o site. However, successful orgaisatios ofte go further tha strictly required by law ad actively ecourage ad support cosultatio i differet ways. Safety represetatives are traied which, i commo with all employees, eables them to make a iformed cotributio o health ad safety issues. They also ejoy the positive beefits of a ope commuicatios policy ad are closely ivolved i directig the health ad safety effort through the issues discussed at health ad safety committees. Effective cosultative bodies are ivolved i plaig, measurig ad reviewig performace as well as i their more traditioal reactive role of cosiderig the results of accidet, ill health ad icidet ivestigatios ad other cocers of the momet. Employees at all levels are also ivolved idividually or i groups i a rage of activities. They may, for example, help set performace stadards, devise operatig systems, procedures ad istructios for risk cotrol ad help i moitorig ad auditig. Supervisors ad others with direct kowledge of how work is doe ca make importat cotributios to the preparatio of procedures which will work i practice. Other examples of good co-operatio iclude formig ad hoc problemsolvig teams from differet parts of the orgaisatio to help solve specific problems - such as issues arisig from a accidet or a case of ill health. Such iitiatives are supported by maagemet ad there is access to advice from health ad safety specialists. Opportuities to promote ivolvemet also arise through the use of hazard report books, suggestio schemes or safety circles (similar to quality circles) where health ad safety problems ca be idetified ad solved. These too ca develop ethusiasm ad draw o worker expertise. Yet orgaisatios should recogise that ivolvig employees may iitially icrease the potetial for short-term coflict ad disagreemet about what costitutes safe ad healthy workig. They eed to aticipate such coflict by supportig the activities of supervisors ad maagers with procedures which establish whe ad how specialist advice ca be obtaied to resolve problems ad disputes. It may also be appropriate to idetify whe specific ivestigatios are appropriate ad ay circumstaces i which work should be suspeded. The potetial for coflict is likely to reduce i the loger term as participats develop more costructive workig relatioships ad shared objectives. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 28 of 98
Health ad Safety Commuicatio Commuicatio challeges orgaisatios geerally - ot just o health ad safety issues. It is ofte see as the sigle most importat area requirig improvemet. The messages seior maagemet wish to commuicate are ofte ot the oes employees receive. Two cetral elemets are clear visible leadership ad a commo appreciatio of how ad why the orgaisatio is tryig to improve health ad safety. Effective commuicatio about health ad safety relies o iformatio: comig ito the orgaisatio; flowig withi the orgaisatio; goig out from the orgaisatio. Iformatio iputs Good sources of health ad safety itelligece are as importat i developig health ad safety policy ad performace as market iformatio is for busiess developmet. Orgaisatios eed to moitor: legal developmets to esure they ca comply with the law; techical developmets relevat to risk cotrol; developmets i health ad safety maagemet practice. Iformatio flows withi the orgaisatio If the health ad safety policy is to be uderstood ad cosistetly implemeted, the followig key iformatio eeds to be commuicated effectively: the meaig ad purpose of the policy; the visio, values ad beliefs which uderlie it; the commitmet of seior maagemet to its implemetatio; plas, stadards, procedures ad systems relatig to implemetatio ad measuremet of performace; factual iformatio to help secure the ivolvemet ad commitmet of employees; commets ad ideas for improvemet; performace reports; lessos leared from accidets ad other icidets. Three iterrelated methods ca be used to provide a adequate flow of iformatio up, dow ad across the orgaisatio. They use both formal ad iformal meas, but they eed to be cosistet with each other, especially where key messages ca be reiforced by more tha oe method. Visible behaviour Maagers, particularly seior maagers, ca commuicate powerful sigals about the importace ad sigificace of health ad safety objectives if they lead by example. Equally, they ca udermie the developmet of a positive health ad safety culture through egative behaviour. Subordiates soo recogise what their superiors regard as importat ad act accordigly. Successful methods which sigal commitmet iclude: regular health ad safety tours. These are ot detailed ispectios but a way of demostratig maagemet commitmet ad iterest ad to see obvious examples of good or bad performace. They ca be plaed to cover the whole site or operatio progressively or to focus attetio o curret priorities i the overall safety effort; chairig meetigs of the cetral health ad safety committee or joit Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 29 of 98
Health ad Safety cosultative body; active ivolvemet i ivestigatios of accidets, ill health ad icidets. The level of seiority ca be determied by the potetial severity of the evet. Writte commuicatio Amog the most importat writte commuicatios are: health ad safety policy statemets; orgaisatio statemets showig health ad safety roles ad resposibilities; documeted performace stadards; supportig orgaisatioal ad risk cotrol iformatio ad procedures; sigificat fidigs from risk assessmets. I Chapter 2, examples were give of statemets of philosophy. They showed how orgaisatios try to make their values ad beliefs explicit. The formal health ad safety policy statemet is a key writte commuicatio i ay orgaisatio. Specific details are required ad a outlie is show i Iset 7. Iset 7 A outlie for statemets of health ad safety policy Writte statemets of health ad safety policy should at the very least: 1 Set the directio for the orgaisatio by: demostratig seior maagemet commitmet; settig health ad safety i cotext with other busiess objectives; makig a commitmet to cotiuous improvemet i health ad safety performace. 2 Outlie the details of the policy framework, showig how implemetatio will take place by: idetifyig the Director or key Seior Maager with overall resposibility for formulatig ad implemetig the policy; havig the documet siged ad dated by the Director or Chief ; explaiig the resposibilities of maagers ad staff; recogisig ad ecouragig the ivolvemet of employees ad safety represetatives; outliig the basis for effective commuicatios; showig how adequate resources will be allocated; committig the leaders to plaig ad regularly reviewig ad developig the policy; securig the competece of all employees ad the provisio of ay ecessary specialist advice. The policy provides the framework. Depedig o the type of orgaisatio ad the risks ivolved, it may eed to be supplemeted by more detailed statemets of orgaisatio ad the arragemets ecessary to implemet it. Health ad safety documetatio eeds to be tailored to the orgaisatio s busiess eeds, bearig i mid the requiremets of specific legislatio. I geeral the degree of detail should be proportioate to the level of complexity ad the hazards ad risks. The greater the risk, the more specific istructios eed to be. I some cases, formal systems may be eeded to keep track of key documetatio but material should always be writte accordig to the eeds of the user. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 30 of 98
Health ad Safety Orgaisatios ca use otices, posters, hadbills or health ad safety ewsletters to iform employees about particular issues or about progress i achievig objectives. These might iclude results of ispectios, compliace with stadards or the outcome of ivestigatios. Well-directed use of otices or posters ca support the achievemet of specific targets or improve kowledge of particular risks. For this reaso these thigs are likely to be more effective tha geeral poster campaigs. Face-to-face discussio Opportuities for employees to have face-to-face discussio support other commuicatio activities ad eable them to make a more persoal cotributio. Tours ad formal cosultatio meetigs are optios but others iclude: plaed meetigs (or team briefigs) at which iformatio ca be cascaded. These ca iclude targetig particular groups of workers for safety critical tasks; health ad safety issues o the ageda at all routie maagemet meetigs (possibly as the first item); mothly or weekly tool-box talks or tailgate meetigs at which supervisors ca discuss health ad safety issues with their teams, remid them of critical risks ad precautios ad supplemet the orgaisatio s traiig effort. These also provide opportuities for employees to make their ow suggestios (perhaps by braistormig ) about improvig health ad safety arragemets. Iformatio flow from the orgaisatio Orgaisatios may eed to pass health ad safety iformatio to others, icludig: accidet or ill health iformatio to eforcig authorities; iformatio about the safety of articles ad substaces supplied for use at work; emergecy plaig iformatio. The format for such iformatio is sometimes specified i, for istace, a accidet report form, a data sheet or a prescribed layout. It may be appropriate to seek professioal advice o how to preset less formal iformatio so that it ca be uderstood by the audiece to whom it is addressed. Special arragemets may also be ecessary for maitaiig lies of commuicatio wheever emergecies arise. Competece If all employees are to make a maximum cotributio to health ad safety, there must be proper arragemets i place to esure that they are competet. This meas more tha simply traiig them. Experiece of applyig skills ad kowledge is aother importat igrediet ad eeds to be gaied uder adequate supervisio. Maagers eed to be aware of relevat legislatio ad how to maage health ad safety effectively. All employees eed to be able to work i a safe ad healthy maer. It may also be ecessary to examie the abilities of cotractors where they work close to, or i collaboratio with, direct employees. Good arragemets will iclude: recruitmet ad placemet procedures which esure that employees (icludig maagers) have the ecessary physical ad metal abilities to do their jobs or ca acquire them through traiig ad experiece. This may require assessmets of idividual fitess by medical examiatio ad tests of physical fitess or aptitudes ad abilities; Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 31 of 98
Health ad Safety systems to idetify health ad safety traiig eeds arisig from recruitmet, chages i staff, plat, substaces, techology, processes or workig practices; the eed to maitai or ehace competece by refresher traiig; ad the presece of cotractors employees, self-employed people or temporary workers; systems ad resources to provide the iformatio, istructio, traiig ad supportig commuicatios effort to meet these eeds; arragemets to esure competet cover for staff abseces, particularly those with critical health ad safety resposibilities; geeral health promotio ad surveillace schemes which cotribute to the maiteace of geeral health ad fitess (this may iclude assessmets of fitess for work, rehabilitatio, job adaptatio followig ijury or ill health or a policy o drugs or alcohol). Iset 8 provides further guidace o traiig. Proper supervisio helps to esure the developmet ad maiteace of competece ad is particularly ecessary for those ew to a job or udergoig traiig. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 32 of 98
Health ad Safety Iset 8 Traiig for health ad safety Traiig helps people acquire the skills, kowledge ad attitudes to make them competet i the health ad safety aspects of their work. It icludes formal offthe-job traiig, istructio to idividuals ad groups, ad o-the-job coachig ad cousellig. But traiig is oly oe way of esurig satisfactory health ad safety performace. It is also helpful to itegrate health ad safety requiremets ito job specificatios. A typical traiig cycle is show here. Diagram 5 A typical traiig cycle cotiued overleaf Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 33 of 98
Health ad Safety Isert 8 (cotiued) Decide if traiig is ecessary Traiig should ot be a substitute for proper risk cotrol, for example to compesate for poorly desiged plat or iadequate workstatios. But it may be appropriate as a temporary meas of cotrol util improvemets ca be made. The key to effective traiig is to uderstad job requiremets ad idividual abilities. Idetify traiig eeds Traiig eeds ca be idetified by lookig explicitly at the health ad safety elemets i idividual jobs or tasks. For ew jobs, a little imagiatio may be eeded to compare them with existig jobs or to lear from other orgaisatios doig similar work. For existig jobs, you ca do the followig thigs: cosult job-specific accidet, ill health ad icidet records to see what caused losses of cotrol ad how you ca prevet them; gather iformatio from employees about how the work is doe; observe ad questio employees whe they are workig, to uderstad what they are doig ad why. This may be particularly relevat i complex process plat where ay aalysis has to take accout of all the possible cosequeces of huma error, some of which may be remote from the particular task i had. It could iclude formal task or error aalysis; cosult risk assessmets for the work. Whe you examie maagemet jobs, your aalysis also eeds to cosider the health ad safety supervisory elemets. You ca apply your aalysis to complete jobs or subsidiary tasks. Complete aalysis is essetial for ew starters but existig workers may eed to improve performace o particular tasks. These aalyses eed to be detailed ad thorough. They may be resource itesive. But the beefits go beyod just traiig. They ca ifluece other elemets of the health ad safety maagemet system icludig: recruitmet, selectio ad placemet; the idetificatio of critical tasks which eed careful plaig ad moitorig; idividual performace assessmet; assessmet of the suitability of a idividual for promotio or substitutio to a job where health ad safety factors are importat. There are three mai types of traiig eed: orgaisatioal, job related ad idividual. cotiued overleaf Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 34 of 98
Health ad Safety Isert 8 (cotiued) Orgaisatioal eeds Everyoe i the orgaisatio eeds to kow about: the orgaisatio s health ad safety policy ad the philosophy uderlyig it; the structure ad systems for deliverig the policy. People will also eed to kow which parts of the systems are relevat to them, to uderstad the major risks i the orgaisatio s activities ad how they are cotrolled. Job eeds These fall ito two mai types, maagemet eeds ad o-maagemet eeds. Maagemet eeds iclude: leadership skills; commuicatio skills; techiques of health ad safety maagemet; traiig, istructio, coachig ad problem-solvig skills relevat to health ad safety; uderstadig of the risks withi a maager s area of resposibility; kowledge of relevat legislatio ad appropriate methods of cotrol icludig risk assessmet; kowledge of the orgaisatio s plaig, measurig, reviewig ad auditig arragemets. Some maagers i key positios may have particular eeds. This would apply to those who devise ad develop the health ad safety maagemet system, ivestigate accidets or icidets, take part i review ad audit activity or have to implemet emergecy procedures. No-maagemet eeds iclude: a overview of health ad safety priciples; detailed kowledge of the health ad safety arragemets relevat to a idividual s job; commuicatio ad problem-solvig skills to ecourage effective participatio i health ad safety activities. Idividual eeds Idividual eeds are geerally idetified through performace appraisal. They may also arise because a idividual has ot absorbed formal job traiig or iformatio provided as part of their iductio. Traiig eeds vary over time, ad assessmets should cover: iductio of ew starters, icludig part-time ad temporary workers; maitaiig or updatig the performace of established employees (especially if they may be ivolved i critical emergecy procedures); cotiued overleaf Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 35 of 98
Health ad Safety Iset 8 (cotiued) job chages, promotio or whe someoe has to deputise; itroductio of ew equipmet or techology; follow-up actio after a icidet ivestigatio. Idetify objectives ad methods Based o job aalysis ad risk assessmet, you ca set objectives ad priorities. These ca be used as the basis for measurig the effectiveess of traiig. You will eed to devise traiig methods to suit the objectives. Some traiig eeds may have to be met through closely supervised o-the-job experiece. For some high-risk jobs ad tasks the traiig may iclude simulatio exercises. Distacelearig or computer-based iteractive material may also be available. Deliver traiig Traiig ca take place iterally or exterally, i either case usig iteral resources or cosultats. Timig, cost ad expertise geerally determie the fial choice. Evaluatio ad feedback You should formally evaluate traiig to see if it has led to the desired improvemet i work performace ad to help i targetig future traiig. Compaies achievig high stadards give high priority to systematic health ad safety traiig. Natioal ad Scottish Vocatioal Qualificatios Natioal Vocatioal Qualificatios (NVQs) ad Scottish Vocatioal Qualificatios (SVQs) are based o stadards developed by Lead Bodies (LBs) (made up of represetatives of employers, trade uios ad professioal groups). They idetify stadards of competece for particular occupatios ad the level of performace required to achieve them. NVQs ad SVQs reflect ot just the traiig give to idividuals, but their ability to perform activities i a occupatio to the stadard expected at work. For further guidace, see the HSE leaflet INDG345, Health ad safety traiig: What you eed to kow. 16 Competet employees ad their represetatives ca make far more effective cotributios to health ad safety, whether as idividuals or i groups, by participatig actively i iitiatives such as hazard spottig, problem solvig ad stadards improvemet. But, eve though maagers, supervisors ad other employees ca achieve high levels of competece, there may still be a eed for professioal health ad safety advice from withi the orgaisatio or outside. The roles ad fuctios of health ad safety advisers are outlied i Iset 9. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 36 of 98
Health ad Safety Iset 9 Role ad fuctios of health ad safety advisers Health ad safety advisers eed to have the status ad competece to advise maagemet ad employees or their represetatives with authority ad idepedece. They are well placed to advise o: formulatig ad developig health ad safety policies, ot just for existig activities but also with respect to ew acquisitios or processes; how orgaisatios ca promote a positive health ad safety culture ad secure the effective implemetatio of health ad safety policy; plaig for health ad safety icludig the settig of realistic short- ad log-term objectives, decidig priorities ad establishig adequate systems ad performace stadards; day-to-day implemetatio ad moitorig of policy ad plas icludig accidet ad icidet ivestigatio, reportig ad aalysis; review of performace ad audit of the whole health ad safety maagemet system. To do this properly, health ad safety advisers eed to: be properly traied ad suitably qualified; (the Health ad Safety Natioal Occupatioal stadards 17 offer oe route to demostratig competece); maitai adequate iformatio systems o topics icludig civil ad crimial law, health ad safety maagemet ad techical advaces; iterpret the law i the cotext of their ow orgaisatio; be ivolved i establishig orgaisatioal arragemets, systems ad risk cotrol stadards relatig to hardware ad huma performace, by advisig lie maagemet o matters such as legal ad techical stadards; establish ad maitai procedures for reportig, ivestigatig, recordig ad aalysig accidets ad icidets; establish ad maitai procedures, icludig moitorig ad other meas such as review ad auditig, to esure seior maagers get a true picture of how well health ad safety is beig maaged (where a bechmarkig role may be especially valuable); preset their advice idepedetly ad effectively. Relatioships withi the orgaisatio Health ad safety advisers: support the provisio of authoritative ad idepedet advice; have a direct reportig lie to directors o matters of policy ad the authority to stop work if it cotravees agreed stadards ad puts people at risk of ijury; have resposibility for professioal stadards ad systems. O large sites or i a group of compaies, they may also have lie maagemet resposibility for other health ad safety professioals. Relatioships outside the orgaisatio Health ad safety advisers liaise with a wide rage of bodies ad idividuals icludig: local authority evirometal health officers ad licesig officials, architects ad cosultats, the Fire Service, cotractors, isurace compaies, cliets ad customers, HSE, the public, equipmet suppliers, HM Coroer or the Procurator Fiscal, the media, the police, geeral practitioers, ad occupatioal health specialists ad services. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 37 of 98
Health ad Safety Chapter four: Plaig ad implemetig Policy Orgaisig Auditig Plaig ad implemetig Measurig performace Reviewig performace Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 38 of 98
Health ad Safety KEY MESSAGES Plaig is essetial for the implemetatio of health ad safety policies. Adequate cotrol of risks ca oly be achieved through co-ordiated actio by all members of the orgaisatio. A effective plaig system for health ad safety requires orgaisatios to establish ad operate a health ad safety maagemet system which: cotrols risks; reacts to chagig demads; sustais a positive health ad safety culture. Plaig for health ad safety The results of successful health ad safety maagemet are ofte expressed as a series of egative outcomes, such as a absece of ijuries, ill health, icidets or losses. But it is ofte a matter of chace whether dagerous evets cause ijury or loss (see Iset 1). Effective plaig is cocered with prevetio through idetifyig, elimiatig ad cotrollig hazards ad risks. This is especially importat whe dealig with health risks which may oly become apparet after a log latecy period. Prevetio ca oly stem from a effective health ad safety maagemet system, ad orgaisatios eed a framework or bechmark agaist which to judge the adequacy of the curret situatio. Although health ad safety maagemet systems vary i detail they have some geeral characteristics described here. Workplace precautios The ultimate goal of ay health ad safety maagemet system is to prevet ijury ad ill health i the workplace. Adequate workplace precautios have to be provided ad maitaied to prevet harm to people at the poit of risk. Risks are created i the busiess process as resources ad iformatio are used to create products ad services (see Diagram 6). Workplace precautios to match the hazards ad risks are eeded at each stage of busiess activity. They ca iclude machie guards, local exhaust vetilatio, safety istructios ad systems of work. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 39 of 98
Health ad Safety Diagram 6 The busiess process (Workplace precautios are eeded at each stage) This shows a maufacturig uit but the model also applies to other idustries icludig costructio, mies, uiversities, hospitals ad local authorities. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 40 of 98
Health ad Safety Risk cotrol systems (RCSs) Risk cotrol systems are the basis for esurig that adequate workplace precautios are provided ad maitaied. Diagram 7 shows a typical rage of activities for which risk cotrol systems may be eeded. Diagram 7 Risk cotrol systems At the iput stage, the aim is to miimise hazards ad risks eterig the orgaisatio. At the process stage, the focus is o cotaiig risks associated with the process. At the output stage, the RCSs should prevet the export of risks off-site, or i the products ad services geerated by the busiess. The activities i Diagram 7 are typical of those foud i may orgaisatios but this is ot a defiitive list. RCSs are eeded for them. The ature ad relative importace of RCSs will vary accordig to the ature ad hazard profile of the busiess ad the workplace precautios. For istace: Orgaisatios relyig o sigificat umbers of cotractors will eed a effective RCS to select ad cotrol cotractors. Wherever the cotaimet of hazardous materials is importat (eg where flammables or toxics are used), maiteace ad process chage procedures are ecessary to esure plat itegrity. Orgaisatios supplyig materials or substaces for others to use will focus o specific output issues such as storage, trasport, packagig ad labellig. Orgaisatios eed RCSs which are appropriate to the hazards arisig from their activities ad sufficiet to cover all hazards. The desig, reliability ad complexity of each RCS eeds to be proportioate to the particular hazards ad risks. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 41 of 98
Health ad Safety Maagemet arragemets A set of maagemet processes is ecessary to orgaise, pla, cotrol ad moitor the desig ad implemetatio of the RCSs. These are the key elemets of health ad safety maagemet which are described i this guidace. Here they are summarised as maagemet arragemets (see Diagram 8). Diagram 8 Maagemet arragemets The three compoets ca be assembled ito a sigle picture of a health ad safety maagemet system (see Diagram 9) which ca form a framework for plaig ad auditig. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 42 of 98
Health ad Safety Diagram 9 Health ad safety maagemet system Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 43 of 98
Health ad Safety This three-compoet framework ca be applied to ay orgaisatio. I multi-site busiesses, there eed to be sufficiet maagemet arragemets at the cetre to cotrol ad esure that a adequate health ad safety maagemet system is provided at each busiess uit ad site. The cetre may wish to establish miimum expectatios for maagemet arragemets, RCSs ad workplace precautios at each busiess uit ad site. Plaig the overall health ad safety maagemet system Orgaisatios have to build a effective health ad safety maagemet system. They eed to pla how to deal with each of the three compoets i Diagram 9 ad to co-ordiate the differet activities at each level. Plaig how to create ad operate a health ad safety maagemet system ought to be a collaborative effort ivolvig people throughout the orgaisatio. It ca also be a good way of demostratig ad gaiig commitmet to cotiuous improvemet ad promotig a health ad safety culture. Plaig a health ad safety maagemet system ivolves: desigig, developig ad istallig suitable maagemet arragemets, RCSs ad workplace precautios which are proportioate to the eeds, hazards ad risks of the orgaisatio; ad operatig, maitaiig ad improvig the system to suit chagig eeds ad process hazards/risks. A systematic approach is ecessary to aswer three key questios: Where are we ow? Where do we wat to be? How do we get there? These questios may eed to be asked at all levels or parts of a orgaisatio, depedig o the size ad complexity of the busiess. For istace, the aswers will be differet at the cetre of a large multi-site orgaisatio from those at a idividual site. Plaig has to be co-ordiated to esure cosistet implemetatio of policy, avoid duplicatio of effort ad avoid critical omissios. A effective plaig process (see Diagram 10) comprises three elemets: accurate iformatio about the curret situatio; suitable bechmarks agaist which to make comparisos; competet people to carry out the aalysis ad make judgemets. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 44 of 98
Health ad Safety Diagram 10 Summary of the plaig process To aswer the questio Where are we ow?, a orgaisatio has to compare the curret situatio agaist both the health ad safety maagemet framework described earlier (Diagram 9) ad specific legal requiremets. This aalysis provides a view of the curret state of the health ad safety maagemet system. Further judgemet may be ecessary to establish if the system is: adequate for the orgaisatio ad the rage of hazards/risks; workig as iteded ad achievig the right objectives; ad deliverig cost-effective ad proportioate risk cotrol i the workplace. Decidig where we wat to be? is partly determied by the law. The simplest objective will always be to achieve legal compliace. Some orgaisatios may, however, strive for higher stadards ad this will shape the way they build their maagemet system. They may wish, for example, to be a idustry leader i health ad safety ad its maagemet. Decidig how do we get there? ivolves practical decisios about how to move forward. For example, orgaisatios might decide to devise ew compoets of the health ad safety maagemet system or to improve existig oes. They may use risk assessmet to help them make decisios about improvig workplace precautios. They also have to make decisios about the desig of RCSs ad maagemet arragemets. Advice o devisig RCSs ad risk assessmet is provided later i this chapter. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 45 of 98
Health ad Safety It may ot be feasible to do all these jobs at oce. A overall pla is usually ecessary, settig out what is to be achieved i what timescale. This will deped o what resources are available ad the startig poit. To achieve world-class performace may take some time. Careful decisios over priorities will be eeded. I geeral, emphasis should be give to providig comprehesive ad adequate workplace precautios ad RCSs which meet miimum legal requiremets. Withi this framework the emphasis should be o high hazard/risk activities. If fudametal chages caot be made right away or withi a reasoable time, the short-term measures should be take to miimise risks. There are three complemetary outputs from the plaig process: health ad safety plas with objectives for developig, maitaiig ad improvig the health ad safety maagemet system, such as: requirig each site of a multi-site firm to have a aual health ad safety pla ad a accidet ad icidet ivestigatio system (to meet specific stadards); establishig a reliable risk assessmet process for COSHH; ivolvig employees i preparig workplace precautios; completig all maual hadlig assessmets by the ed of the curret year; providig a ew guard for a particular machie; specificatios for maagemet arragemets, RCSs ad workplace precautios; ad performace stadards for implemetig the health ad safety maagemet system, idetifyig the cotributio of idividuals to implemetig the system (this is essetial to buildig a positive health ad safety culture). Settig objectives Health ad safety objectives eed to be specific, measurable, agreed with those who deliver them, realistic ad set agaist a suitable timescale (SMART). Both short- ad log-term objectives should be set ad prioritised agaist busiess eeds (advice o prioritisig is give later i this chapter). Objectives at differet levels or withi differet parts of a orgaisatio should be aliged so they support the overall policy objectives. Persoal targets ca also be agreed with idividuals to secure the attaimet of objectives. If iitial diagosis reveals a poorly developed system, the early emphasis will probably be o traiig people so that a improved health ad safety plaig process ca be established as a basis for further developmet. Early decisios about the adequacy of workplace precautios ad compliace with the law will also be ecessary. As a foudatio of competece is established, a soud health ad safety plaig ad risk assessmet process should emerge which will lead to improved cotrol over sigificat risks. As improved cotrol is established, the emphasis ca shift to devisig more comprehesive risk cotrol systems ad more effective maagemet arragemets to establish a complete health ad safety maagemet system. As the specific compoets of the system are established ad embedded, the emphasis ca shift agai to maitaiig ad developig the system to esure there are o gaps or weakesses ad to cosolidate the health ad safety culture. The foudatio has ow bee laid for a programme of cotiuous improvemet. Devisig workplace precautios The cotrol of risks is ecessary to secure compliace with the requiremets of the HSW Act ad the relevat statutory provisios. There are three basic stages i establishig workplace precautios: hazard idetificatio - idetifyig hazards which could cause harm; risk assessmet - assessig the risk which may arise from hazards; Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 46 of 98
Health ad Safety risk cotrol - decidig o suitable measures to elimiate or cotrol risk. This approach applies both to the cotrol of health risks ad safety risks. Health risks do, however, preset distictive features which require a particular approach. Iset 10 provides further details. The approach uderpis legislatio which aims to improve the maagemet of health ad safety, eg the Maagemet of Health ad Safety at Work Regulatios 1999 (MHSW Regulatios), 18 ad the Cotrol of Substaces Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulatios 2002. 19 Iset 10 Cotrollig health risks Health ad safety at work law places a duty o employers to esure the health as well as the safety of their employees. The priciples for cotrollig health through risk assessmet are the same as those for safety. However, the ature of health risks ca make the lik betwee work activities ad employee ill health less apparet tha i the case of ijury from a accidet. Ulike safety risks, which ca lead to immediate ijury, the results of daily exposure to health risks may ot become apparet for moths, years ad i some cases, decades. Health may be irreversibly damaged before the risk is apparet. It is therefore essetial to develop a prevetive strategy to idetify ad cotrol risks before ayoe is exposed to them. Failure to do so ca lead to workers disability ad loss of livelihood. It ca also mea fiacial losses for the orgaisatio through sickess absece, lost productio, compesatio ad icreased isurace premiums. Risks to health from work activities iclude: ski cotact with irritat substaces, leadig to dermatitis etc; ihalatio of respiratory sesitisers, triggerig immue resposes such as asthma; badly desiged workstatios requirig awkward body postures or repetitive movemets, resultig i upper limb disorders, repetitive strai ijury ad other musculoskeletal coditios; oise levels which are too high, causig deafess ad coditios such as tiitus; too much vibratio, eg from had-held tools leadig to had-arm vibratio sydrome ad circulatory problems; exposure to ioisig ad o-ioisig radiatio icludig ultraviolet i the su s rays, causig burs, sickess ad ski cacer; ifectios ragig from mior sickess to life-threateig coditios, caused by ihalig or beig cotamiated by micro-biological orgaisms; stress causig metal ad physical disorders. Some illesses or coditios such as asthma ad back pai have both occupatioal ad o-occupatioal causes ad it may be difficult to establish a defiite lik with a work activity or exposure to particular agets or substaces. But, if there is iformatio which shows that the illess or coditio is prevalet amog the occupatioal group to which the sufferers belog or amog workers exposed to similar agets or substaces, it is likely that their work is at least a cotributory factor. cotiued overleaf Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 47 of 98
Health ad Safety Iset 10 (cotiued) Some aspects of maagig risks to health will eed iput from specialist or professioal advisers such as techical staff or occupatioal health hygieists, urses ad doctors. There is much that ca be doe to prevet or cotrol risks to health by takig straightforward measures such as: cosultig the workforce o the desig of workstatios; talkig to suppliers of substaces, plat ad equipmet about miimisig exposure; eclosig machiery to cut dow oise; researchig the use of less hazardous materials; esurig that employees are traied i the safe hadlig of all the substaces ad materials with which they come ito cotact. To assess health risks ad to make sure that cotrol measures are workig properly, you may eed for example to measure the cocetratio of substaces i air to make sure that exposures remai withi relevat maximum exposure limits or occupatioal exposure stadards. Sometimes surveillace of workers at risk of exposure will be eeded. This will eable data to be collected for the evaluatio of cotrols ad for early detectio of adverse chages to health. Health surveillace procedures available iclude biological moitorig for bodily uptake of substaces, examiatio for symptoms ad medical surveillace - which may etail cliical examiatios ad physiological or psychological measuremets. The procedure chose should be suitable for the case cocered. Sometimes a method of surveillace is specified for a particular substace, for example, i the COSHH Approved Code of Practice. Wheever surveillace is udertake, a health record has to be kept for the perso cocered. Health surveillace should be supervised by a registered medical practitioer or, where appropriate, it should be doe by a suitably qualified perso (eg a occupatioal urse). I the case of ispectios for easily detectable symptoms like chrome ulceratio or early sigs of dermatitis, health surveillace should be doe by a suitably traied resposible perso. If workers could be exposed to substaces listed i Schedule 6 of COSHH, medical surveillace uder the supervisio of a HSE employmet medical adviser or a doctor appoited by HSE is required. Although, as described, specialist help may be eeded to cotrol risks to health, employers themselves remai resposible for maagig work activities i a way that will prevet employees beig made ill by their work. For more iformatio, see Health risk maagemet: A practical guide for maagers i small ad medium-sized eterprises. 20 I practice may decisios at these three stages are simple ad straightforward ad are take together. Wherever the idetificatio stage reveals a well-kow hazard with a kow risk, the methods of cotrol ad cosequet maiteace may be well tried ad tested. For example, stairs preset a established risk of slippig, trippig ad fallig. They require traditioal methods of cotrol such as good costructio, the use of hadrails ad the provisio of o-slip surfaces alog with the eed to keep stairs free of obstructios. I other more complex situatios decisios are ecessary at each stage. These are outlied below. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 48 of 98
Health ad Safety Hazard idetificatio The essetial first step i risk cotrol is to seek out ad idetify hazards. Relevat sources of iformatio iclude: legislatio ad supportig Approved Codes of Practice which give practical guidace ad iclude basic miimum requiremets; HSE guidace; process iformatio; product iformatio provided uder sectio 6 of the HSW Act; relevat British ad iteratioal stadards; idustry or trade associatio guidace; the persoal kowledge ad experiece of maagers ad employees; accidet, ill health ad icidet data from withi the orgaisatio, from other orgaisatios or from cetral sources; expert advice ad opiio ad relevat research. There should be a critical appraisal of all routie ad o-routie busiess activities. People exposed may iclude ot just employees, but also others such as members of the public, cotractors ad users of the products ad services. Employees ad safety represetatives ca make a useful cotributio i idetifyig hazards. I the simplest cases, hazards ca be idetified by observatio ad by comparig the circumstaces with the relevat iformatio (eg sigle-storey premises will ot preset ay hazards associated with stairs). I more complex cases, measuremets such as air samplig or examiig the methods of machie operatio may be ecessary to idetify the presece of hazards from chemicals or machiery. I the most complex or high-risk cases (for example, i the chemical or uclear idustry) special techiques ad systems may be eeded such as hazard ad operability studies (HAZOPS) ad hazard aalysis techiques such as evet or fault-tree aalysis. Specialist advice may be eeded to choose ad apply the most appropriate method. Risk assessmet There is a geeral requiremet to carry out risk assessmet uder the MHSW Regulatios 1999. (Guidace is give i the HSE leaflet 5 steps to risk assessmet INDG163. 21 ) Assessig risks to help determie workplace precautios ca be qualitative or quatitative. I the simplest cases, you ca refer to specific legal limits; for example, people are liable to fall a distace of 2 m from a ope edge or they are ot. I more complex situatios, you may eed to make qualitative judgemets withi a framework set by legal stadards ad guidace. The Cotrol of Substaces Hazardous to Health Regulatios 2002 (COSHH) ad the accompayig Approved Code of Practice establish a decisio-makig framework if hazardous substaces are used. Quatitative risk assessmet (QRA) techiques may be used as a basis for makig decisios i more complex idustries. QRA is specifically referred to i the Offshore Istallatios (Safety Case) Regulatios 1992. 22 To assess risks, you eed a similar kowledge of activities ad workig practices as to coduct hazard idetificatio. Agai, the kowledge of employees ad safety represetatives ca prove valuable. Risk assessmets should be doe by competet people. Professioal health ad safety advice may be eeded i some cases, especially whe choosig appropriate QRA techiques ad iterpretig results. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 49 of 98
Health ad Safety Risk cotrol Whe risks have bee aalysed ad assessed, you ca make decisios about workplace precautios. All fial decisios about risk cotrol methods must take ito accout the relevat legal requiremets which establish miimum levels of risk prevetio or cotrol. Some of the duties imposed by the HSW Act ad the relevat statutory provisios are absolute ad must be complied with. May requiremets are, however, qualified by the words, so far as is reasoably practicable, or so far as is practicable. These require a assessmet of cost, alog with iformatio about relative costs, effectiveess ad reliability of differet cotrol measures. Other duties require the use of best practicable meas - ofte used i the cotext of cotrollig sources of evirometal pollutio such as emissios to the atmosphere. Further guidace o the meaig of these three expressios is provided i Iset 11. Iset 11 So far as is reasoably practicable, So far as is practicable, ad Best practicable meas Although oe of these expressios are defied i the HSW Act, they have acquired meaigs through may iterpretatios by the courts ad it is the courts which, i the fial aalysis, decide their applicatio i particular cases. To carry out a duty so far as is reasoably practicable meas that the degree of risk i a particular activity or eviromet ca be balaced agaist the time, trouble, cost ad physical difficulty of takig measures to avoid the risk. If these are so disproportioate to the risk that it would be ureasoable for the people cocered to have to icur them to prevet it, they are ot obliged to do so. The greater the risk, the more likely it is that it is reasoable to go to very substatial expese, trouble ad ivetio to reduce it. But if the cosequeces ad the extet of a risk are small, isistece o great expese would ot be cosidered reasoable. It is importat to remember that the judgemet is a objective oe ad the size or fiacial positio of the employer are immaterial. So far as is practicable, without the qualifyig word reasoably, implies a stricter stadard. This term geerally embraces whatever is techically possible i the light of curret kowledge, which the perso cocered had or ought to have had at the time. The cost, time ad trouble ivolved are ot to be take ito accout. The meaig of best practicable meas ca vary depedig o its cotext ad ultimately it is for the courts to decide. Where the law prescribes that best practicable meas should be employed, it is usual for the regulatig authority to idicate its view of what is practicable i otes or eve agreemets with particular firms or idustries. Both these otes or agreemets ad the views likely to be take by a court will be iflueced by cosideratios of cost ad techical practicability. But the view geerally adopted by HSE ispectors is that a elemet of reasoableess is ivolved i cosiderig whether the best practicable meas had bee used i a particular situatio. Where legal requiremets demad a assessmet of cost, iformatio about the relative costs, effectiveess ad reliability of differet cotrol measures will be eeded to make decisios about acceptable levels of cotrol. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 50 of 98
Health ad Safety Decisios about the reliability of cotrols ca be guided by referece to the preferred hierarchy of cotrol which has ow bee icorporated ito regulatios such as MHSW ad COSHH. The followig is a summary of the preferred hierarchy of risk cotrol priciples: Elimiate risks by substitutig the dagerous by the iheretly less dagerous, eg: use less hazardous substaces; substitute a type of machie which is better guarded to make the same product; avoid the use of certai processes, eg by buyig from subcotractors. Combat risks at source by egieerig cotrols ad givig collective protective measures priority, eg: separate the operator from the risk of exposure to a kow hazardous substace by eclosig the process; protect the dagerous parts of a machie by guardig; desig process machiery ad work activities to miimise the release, or to suppress or cotai airbore hazards; desig machiery which is remotely operated ad to which materials are fed automatically, thus separatig the operator from dager areas. Miimise risk by: desigig suitable systems of workig; usig persoal protective clothig ad equipmet; this should oly be used as a last resort. The hierarchy reflects the fact that elimiatig ad cotrollig risk by usig physical egieerig cotrols ad safeguards is more reliable tha relyig solely o people. If a rage of precautios is available, the relative costs eed to be weighed agaist the degree of cotrol provided, both i the short ad log term. Some cotrol measures, such as elimiatig a risk by choosig a safer alterative substace or machie, provide a high degree of cotrol ad are reliable. However, physical safeguards such as guardig a machie or eclosig a hazardous process eed to be maitaied ad this imposes a extra loger-term cost. The desig of all workplace precautios should cosider the huma factors outlied i Iset 2. I successful orgaisatios the desig of precautios is fully itegrated ito plat ad work desig procedures so that specificatios simultaeously satisfy output, quality, ad health ad safety requiremets. Employee ivolvemet ecourages solutios which are relevat ad practical for those who have to implemet them. Devisig risk cotrol systems (RCSs) The purpose of RCSs is to make sure that appropriate workplace precautios are implemeted ad kept i place. HSE experiece suggests that orgaisatios ofte place isufficiet emphasis o this aspect of their health ad safety system. The cotrol systems should reflect the hazard profile of the orgaisatio; the greater the hazard or risk, the more robust ad reliable the cotrol systems eed to be. Iset 12 provides a framework for decidig which RCSs are ecessary. The plaig of RCSs requires decisios o what cotrol systems are ecessary, ad their desig. The basic elemets of policy, orgaisig, implemetig, measurig, reviewig ad auditig ca be used as a framework for desigig the systems. This defies a maagemet cotrol loop (Pla-Do-Check-Act). A practical example of how this ca be applied is show below for a permit-to-work system: Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 51 of 98
Health ad Safety Policy What is the purpose ad objective of the permit-to-work system ad what are its scope ad limitatios? For example, the purpose of the permit-to-work system is to establish cotrol over high-risk maiteace or other uusual work. Orgaisig Cotrol - who will be resposible for operatig ad ruig the system? For example, who will devise ad desig the system? Who will implemet it? Who will moitor ad review performace ad audit its operatio? Co-operatio - how will system users be ivolved i its developmet to esure its acceptace ad effective workig? How will deficiecies ad weakesses ad failigs i the system be reported? Commuicatio - what commuicatio is ecessary to esure the effective operatio of the system ad betwee the various parties issuig ad usig a permit? What documetatio is ivolved ad how ca it be desiged to be clear, effective ad simple to use? Competece - what traiig, qualificatios, skills ad level of competece are required for: those issuig permits? those doig work uder permits? those moitorig, reviewig performace etc? Implemetig What workplace precautios are ecessary for each type of permit? What are the rules of the system ad how does it work? Are the rules simple so that they ca always be easily applied? Are there sufficiet resources to esure that the system ca be applied i full? What are the performace stadards for the various idividuals ivolved - who does what, whe, ad how (see Iset 5)? Measurig performace How will the implemetatio ad effectiveess of the system be measured? For example, will there be a periodic ispectio of the work activity ad of a sample of permits to esure proper completio ad effective use? Reviewig performace How will the fidigs from the measurig activities be used to review ad improve the system? Auditig How will the system be idepedetly audited ad verified? Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 52 of 98
Health ad Safety Iset 12 Framework for settig risk cotrol systems This iset states i geeral terms the rage of possible activities for which RCSs may be eeded. The RCSs should match the hazard profile of the busiess; more resources will be ecessary for the more sigificat hazards. First stage cotrols Cotrol of iputs Objective: To miimise hazards eterig the orgaisatio. RCSs are eeded to cotrol the flows of resources ad iformatio through the orgaisatio. At the iput stage the goal is to elimiate ad miimise hazards ad risks eterig the orgaisatio. RCSs may be eeded for: physical resources icludig: the desig, selectio, purchase ad costructio of workplaces; the desig, selectio, purchase ad istallatio of plat ad substaces used by the orgaisatio; the plat ad substaces used by others, such as cotractors o site; the acquisitio of ew busiesses; huma resources icludig: the recruitmet ad selectio of all employees; the selectio of cotractig orgaisatios; iformatio icludig: iformatio relatig directly to health ad safety, such as stadards, guidace ad aspects of the law, ad ay revisios; other techical ad maagemet iformatio relatig to risk cotrol ad the developmet of a positive health ad safety culture. Secod stage cotrols Cotrol of work activities Objective: To elimiate ad miimise risks withi the busiess process. At the process stage, hazards are created where people iteract with their jobs, ad the goal is to elimiate or miimise risks arisig iside the orgaisatio. RCSs may eed to cover the four areas cocered with work activities ad risk creatio, amely: premises - icludig the place of work, etraces ad exits, the geeral workig eviromet, welfare facilities, ad all plat ad facilities which are part of the fixed structure, such as permaet electrical istallatios; plat ad substaces - icludig the arragemets for their hadlig, trasport, storage ad use; procedures - icludig the desig of jobs ad work procedures ad all aspects of the way the work is doe; people - icludig the placemet of employees, their competece for the job ad ay health surveillace eeded. cotiued overleaf Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 53 of 98
Health ad Safety Iset 12 (cotiued) Whe specifyig RCSs it is ecessary i each case to cosider: the operatio of the busiess process i the steady state, icludig routie ad o-routie activities; the busiess process i the steady state durig maiteace, icludig the maiteace activity itself, whether udertake by cotractors or o-site staff; plaed chages from the steady state, arisig from ay chage i the orgaisatio structure, premises, plat, process, substaces, procedures, people or iformatio; foreseeable emergecies givig rise to serious ad immiet dager, such as fire, ijuries, ill health, icidets or the failure of cotrol equipmet (icludig first aid, emergecy plaig ad procedures for the maagemet of emergecies, ad idetificatio ad cotrol of dager areas); decommissioig, dismatlig ad removal of facilities, plat, equipmet or substaces. Third stage cotrols Cotrol of outputs Objective: To miimise risks outside the orgaisatio arisig from the busiess process, products ad services. At the output stage the goal is to miimise the risks to people outside the orgaisatio whether from work activities themselves or from the products or services supplied. RCSs may eed to cover: products ad services, ad iclude cosideratio of: desig ad research o the health ad safety ad safe use of products ad services, icludig surveillace of users to idetify evidece of harm; the delivery ad trasport of products icludig packagig, labellig ad itermediate storage; the istallatio, settig up, cleaig ad maiteace of products udertake by employees or cotractors; by-products of the work activities, such as: off-site risks which might arise from the orgaisatio s work activities both at fixed or trasiet sites; outputs to the eviromet - particularly wastes ad atmospheric emissios; the disposal of plat, equipmet ad substaces (icludig wastes); iformatio, for example: the health ad safety iformatio provided to those trasportig, hadlig, storig, purchasig, usig or disposig of products; the iformatio provided to those who may be affected by work activities, such as members of the public, other employers ad their employees, the emergecy services ad plaig authorities. Devisig maagemet arragemets The framework i this guidace provides a basis for makig judgemets o how to desig maagemet arragemets to suit a orgaisatio. The scope ad complexity of the maagemet arragemets should reflect the busiess eeds ad hazard profile. What is suitable for a large multi-site orgaisatio will ot be Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 54 of 98
Health ad Safety appropriate for a small firm, but there eeds to be appropriate activity across all six key elemets of the framework (policy, orgaisig, plaig ad implemetig, measurig performace, review ad audit). Settig performace stadards Performace stadards are eeded to idetify the cotributio that people make to operatig the health ad safety maagemet system. Stadards for people at all levels are eeded to esure: the effective desig, developmet ad istallatio of the health ad safety maagemet system; the cosistet implemetatio ad improvemet of the health ad safety maagemet system, ie the maagemet arragemets, RCSs ad workplace precautios; ad that positive rewards ca be provided for idividuals i recogitio of the effort put ito accidet ad ill health prevetio. Performace stadards are the foudatio for a positive health ad safety culture. The format of stadards was cosidered earlier (see Iset 5). At the plaig stage, decisios are eeded about the appropriate stadards to match the eeds of the busiess ad the health ad safety maagemet system. Performace stadards could cover the followig: policy formulatio ad developmet; methods of accoutability; health ad safety committee ad similar cosultatio meetigs; ivolvemet of people i risk assessmets ad writig procedures; collectio ad dissemiatio of iformatio from exteral sources; the ivolvemet of seior maagers i safety tours ad accidet ad icidet ivestigatios; preparatio of health ad safety documetatio, performace stadards, rules ad procedures; health ad safety plas ad objectives; the risk assessmet process; implemetatio of RCSs ad workplace precautios; the active moitorig arragemets icludig ispectios; the accidet ad icidet reportig ad ivestigatio system; audit ad review. Prioritisig health ad safety activities Systems of assessig relative hazard ad risk ca cotribute to decisios about priorities. They are also a useful aid to aswerig questios of importace ad urgecy arisig at other stages i plaig ad implemetig a health ad safety maagemet system, for example: prioritisig differet health ad safety objectives; decidig o the hazard profile of the busiess to reveal those areas where more robust ad reliable workplace precautios ad RCSs will be eeded; decidig moitorig priorities; establishig priorities for traiig ad improvig levels of competece; what, if ay, immediate actio is eeded to prevet further ijury followig a accidet; what, if ay, immediate actio is ecessary to prevet ijury followig a icidet or the discovery of a hazard; Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 55 of 98
Health ad Safety whe reviewig the results of moitorig activities ad the results of ijury, ill health ad icidet ivestigatios; decidig the extet of the resources eeded ad the speed of the respose which should be made followig a particular accidet or icidet. While there is o geeral formula for ratig hazards ad risks, several techiques ca help i decisio-makig. These differ from the detailed risk assessmets eeded to establish workplace precautios to satisfy legal stadards. The techiques ivolve a meas of rakig hazards ad risks. Some systems rak hazards, others rak risks. Assessig relative risk ivolves some meas of estimatig the likelihood of occurrece ad the severity of a hazard. A simple form of risk estimatio is described below to illustrate the geeral priciples. Simple risk estimatio Hazard - the potetial to cause harm will vary i severity. The likely effect of a hazard may, for example be rated: Major Death or major ijury (as defied i RIDDOR 23 ) or illess causig log-term disability. Serious Ijuries or illess causig short-term disability. Slight All other ijuries or illess. Harm may ot arise from exposure to a hazard i every case. I practice the likelihood ad severity of harm will be affected by how the work is orgaised, how effectively the hazard is cotrolled, ad the extet ad ature of exposure to it. I the case of health risks, the latet effects ad the susceptibility of idividuals will also be relevat. Judgemets about likelihood will also be affected by experiece of workig with a hazard; for example, the aalysis of accidet, ill health ad icidet data may provide a clue. The likelihood of harm may be rated: High Where it is certai or ear certai that harm will occur. Medium Where harm will ofte occur. Low Where harm will seldom occur. I this case risk ca be defied as the combiatio of the severity of harm with the likelihood of its occurrece, or: Risk = Severity x Likelihood of of harm occurrece This simple computatio eables a rough ad ready compariso of risks. If hazards could affect more tha oe perso you could assig a relative weightig to reflect this. This example presets the most simplified method of estimatig relative risk. I practice, orgaisatios eed to use systems suited to their ow eeds. Hazard ratig systems have bee developed by Dow 24 ad ICI (the Mod Idex). Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 56 of 98
Health ad Safety Implemetig the health ad safety maagemet system If workplace precautios, RCSs ad maagemet arragemets are well desiged ad recogise existig busiess practice ad huma capabilities ad fallibilities, they will be easier to implemet. Adequate documetatio ca also cotribute to cosistet applicatio. I some cases the law requires suitable records to be maitaied (eg a record of risk assessmets uder the MHSW Regulatios 18 ad COSHH 19 ). Safety case regulatios coverig offshore istallatios 22 ad railways 25 require you to keep more detailed records of process hazards, risks ad precautios. You should documet other health ad safety system iformatio so that it is proportioate to busiess eeds, hazards ad risks. The cotrol of relatively mior hazards affectig all employees (such as esurig passages ad gagways remai free from obstructio) ca be dealt with by a umber of simply stated geeral rules. The cotrol of more hazardous activities may eed more detailed workplace precautios ad RCSs. The cotrol of high hazard activities may demad detailed workplace precautios ad a RCS which eeds to be strictly followed, such as a permit-to-work system. All the compoets of the health ad safety maagemet system eed to be adequately ispected, maitaied ad moitored to secure cotiued effective operatio. Risk assessmets ad workplace precautios should be reviewed i the light of chages ad techological developmets. The type, frequecy ad depth of maiteace should reflect the extet ad ature of the hazard ad risks revealed by risk assessmet. The balace of resources devoted to the various RCSs will also reflect the hazard profile of the busiess. For a summary of recet research by HSE ito the experieces of orgaisatios that have implemeted ew maagemet systems, see Appedix 4. Eve i a well-desiged ad well-developed health ad safety maagemet system there is still the challege of esurig that all requiremets are complied with cosistetly. The mai way of achievig this is by rewardig positive behaviour accordig to the maxim of what gets rewarded gets doe. After a accidet or case of ill health, may orgaisatios fid that they already had systems, rules, procedures or istructios which would have preveted the evet but which were ot complied with. There are may reasos why such violatios occur. The uderlyig causes ofte lie i systems which are desiged without takig proper accout of huma factors, or violatios are codoed implicitly or explicitly by maagemet actio or eglect (see Reducig error ad ifluecig behaviour 3, ad Improvig compliace with safety procedures: Reducig idustrial violatios 26 ). Maagers eed to take positive steps to address huma factors issues ad to ecourage safe behaviour. They eed to recogise that the prevailig health ad safety culture is a major ifluece i shapig people s safetyrelated behaviour. 11 Some orgaisatios have applied performace maagemet techiques ad behaviour modificatio to promote ad reward safe behaviour ad reduce usafe behaviour. 28,29 Such techiques ca play a importat part i accidet ad ill health prevetio ad promotig a positive health ad safety culture. However, they are o substitute for a soud health ad safety maagemet system. They achieve their best effect where the health ad safety system is relatively well developed ad where employees are actively ivolved i the behavioural safety process. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 57 of 98
Health ad Safety Chapter five: Measurig performace Policy Orgaisig Auditig Plaig ad implemetig Measurig performace Reviewig performace Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 58 of 98
Health ad Safety KEY MESSAGES Measuremet is essetial to maitai ad improve health ad safety performace. There are two ways to geerate iformatio o performace: active systems which moitor the achievemet of plas ad the extet of compliace with stadards; reactive systems which moitor accidets, ill health ad icidets. Effective procedures are eeded to capture both sorts of iformatio. Orgaisatios eed to measure what they are doig to implemet their health ad safety policy, to assess how effectively they are cotrollig risks, ad how well they are developig a positive health ad safety culture. A low accidet rate, eve over a period of years, is o guaratee that risks are beig effectively cotrolled ad will ot lead to ijuries, ill health or loss i the future. This is particularly true i orgaisatios where there is a low probability of accidets but where major hazards are preset. Here the historical record ca be a ureliable or eve deceptive idicator of safety performace. Like plaig, moitorig health ad safety performace agaist pre-determied plas ad stadards should be a lie maagemet resposibility. Moitorig also reiforces maagemet s commitmet to health ad safety objectives i geeral ad helps i developig a positive health ad safety culture by rewardig positive work doe to cotrol risk. Two types of system are required: active systems which moitor the desig, developmet, istallatio ad operatio of maagemet arragemets, RCSs ad workplace precautios; reactive systems which moitor accidets, ill health, icidets ad other evidece of deficiet health ad safety performace. Orgaisatios eed to have procedures to allow them to collect the iformatio to adequately ivestigate the causes of substadard performace. Active moitorig systems Active moitorig gives a orgaisatio feedback o its performace before a accidet, icidet or ill health. It icludes moitorig the achievemet of specific plas ad objectives, the operatio of the health ad safety maagemet system, ad compliace with performace stadards. This provides a firm basis for decisios about improvemets i risk cotrol ad the health ad safety maagemet system. There are additioal beefits, however. Active moitorig measures success ad reiforces positive achievemet by rewardig good work, rather tha pealisig failure after the evet. Such reiforcemet ca icrease motivatio to achieve cotiued improvemet. Orgaisatios eed to decide how to allocate resposibilities for moitorig at differet levels i the maagemet chai ad what level of detail is appropriate. The decisios will reflect the orgaisatio s structure. Maagers should be give the resposibility for moitorig the achievemet of objectives ad compliace with stadards for which they ad their subordiates are resposible. Maagers ad supervisors resposible for direct implemetatio of stadards should moitor compliace i detail. Above this immediate level of cotrol, moitorig eeds to be more selective, but provide assurace that adequate first-lie moitorig is takig place. This should reflect ot oly the quatity but the quality of subordiates moitorig activity. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 59 of 98
Health ad Safety Multi-site orgaisatios eed to satisfy themselves that differet satellites are meetig corporate plas ad objectives as well as cotrollig risks. There eed to be performace stadards for maagers to idicate how they will moitor. The various forms ad levels of active moitorig iclude: routie procedures to moitor specific objectives, eg quarterly or mothly reports or returs; periodic examiatio of documets to check that systems relatig to the promotio of the health ad safety culture are complied with. Oe example might be the way i which suitable objectives have bee established for each maager; regular review of performace; assessmet ad recordig of traiig eeds; ad delivery of suitable traiig; the systematic ispectio of premises, plat ad equipmet by supervisors, maiteace staff, maagemet, safety represetatives or other employees to esure the cotiued effective operatio of workplace precautios (see Iset 13); evirometal moitorig ad health surveillace to check o the effectiveess of health cotrol measures ad to detect early sigs of harm to health; systematic direct observatio of work ad behaviour by first-lie supervisors to assess compliace with RCSs ad associated procedures ad rules, particularly those directly cocered with risk cotrol; the operatio of audit systems (see Chapter 6); cosideratio of regular reports o health ad safety performace by the board of directors. The key to effective active moitorig is the quality of the plas, performace stadards ad specificatios which have bee established ad which were described i Chapter 4. These provide the yardstick agaist which performace ca be measured. Active moitorig should be proportioal to the hazard profile (see Iset 12). Activity should cocetrate o areas where it is likely to produce the greatest beefit ad lead to the greatest cotrol of risk. Key risk cotrol systems ad related workplace precautios should therefore be moitored i more detail or more ofte (or both) tha low-risk systems or maagemet arragemets. Regular moitorig may also be usefully supplemeted by: radom observatio icludig seior maagers o health ad safety tours (see uder Commuicatio i Chapter 3); periodic surveys of employees opiios o key aspects of health ad safety. HSE has published a tool to help orgaisatios assess such aspects of their health ad safety climate; 29 ispectios by safety represetatives or other employee represetatives. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 60 of 98
Health ad Safety Iset 13 Ispectio A system for ispectig workplace precautios is importat i ay active moitorig programme. It ca form part of the arragemets for the prevetive maiteace of plat ad equipmet which may also be covered by legal requiremets. Equipmet i this category icludes pressure vessels, lifts, craes, chais, ropes, liftig tackle, power presses, scaffolds, trech supports ad local exhaust vetilatio. But ispectios should iclude other workplace precautios, such as those coverig the use of premises, other places of work ad systems of work. A suitable programme will take all risks ito accout but should be properly targeted. For example, low risks might be dealt with by geeral ispectios every moth or two coverig a wide rage of workplace precautios such as the coditio of premises, floors, passages, stairs, lightig, welfare facilities ad first aid. Higher risks eed more frequet ad detailed ispectios, perhaps weekly or eve, i extreme cases, daily or before use. A example of a pre-use check would be the operatio of mobile plat. The ispectio programme should satisfy ay specific legal requiremets ad reflect risk priorities. Suitable schedules ad performace stadards for the frequecy ad cotet of ispectio ca help. The schedules ca be supplemeted with ispectio forms or checklists, both to esure cosistecy i approach ad to provide records for follow-up actio. Ispectios should be doe by people who are competet to idetify the relevat hazards ad risks ad who ca assess the coditios foud. Whe shortcomigs are discovered, the decisio processes ad actios show i Diagram 11 should be followed. A properly thought-out approach to ispectio will iclude: well-desiged ispectio forms to help pla ad iitiate remedial actio by requirig those doig the ispectio to rak ay deficiecies i order of importace; summary lists of remedial actio with ames ad deadlies to track progress o implemetig improvemets; periodic aalysis of ispectio forms to idetify commo features or treds which might reveal uderlyig weakesses i the system; iformatio to aid judgemets about ay chages required i the frequecy or ature of the ispectio programme. Reactive moitorig systems Reactive systems, by defiitio, are triggered after a evet ad iclude idetifyig ad reportig: ijuries ad cases of ill health (icludig moitorig of sickess absece records); other losses, such as damage to property; icidets, icludig those with the potetial to cause ijury, ill health or loss; hazards; weakess or omissios i performace stadards. Each of the above provides opportuities for a orgaisatio to check performace, Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 61 of 98
Health ad Safety lear from mistakes, ad improve the health ad safety maagemet system ad risk cotrol. I certai cases, it must sed a report of the circumstaces ad causes to the appropriate eforcig authority. Statutorily appoited safety represetatives are etitled to ivestigate. Evets also cotribute to the corporate memory. Iformatio gathered from ivestigatios is a useful way to reiforce key health ad safety messages. Commo features or treds ca be discussed with the workforce, particularly safety represetatives. Employees ca idetify jobs or activities which cause the greatest umber of ijuries where remedial actio may be most beeficial. Ivestigatios may also provide valuable iformatio i the evet of a isurace claim or legal actio. Collectig iformatio o serious ijuries ad ill health should ot preset major problems for most orgaisatios, but learig about mior ijuries, other losses, icidets ad hazards ca prove more challegig. As show i Iset 1, there is value i collectig iformatio o all actual ad potetial losses to lear how to prevet more serious evets. Accurate reportig ca be promoted by: traiig which clarifies the uderlyig objectives ad reasos for idetifyig such evets; a culture which emphasises a observat ad resposible approach ad the importace of havig systems of cotrol i place before harm occurs; ope, hoest commuicatio i a just eviromet, rather tha a tedecy merely to allocate blame ; cross-referecig ad checkig first-aid treatmets, health records, maiteace or fire reports ad isurace claims to idetify ay otherwise ureported evets. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 62 of 98
Health ad Safety Ivestigatio ad respose systems for active ad reactive moitorig A commo set of steps ca be idetified for respodig to both active ad reactive moitorig. These are summarised i Diagram 11. Diagram 11 Respose systems Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 63 of 98
Health ad Safety Actios ecessary to deal with immediate risks Urget actio may eed to be take if immediate risks become apparet durig active moitorig. Regulatio 8 of the MHSW Regulatios 18 requires every employer to have appropriate procedures to deal with evets ivolvig serious ad immiet dager to people at work. If a accidet or icidet occurs, immediate actio may be ecessary before ay ivestigatio begis, to: help, treat ad if ecessary rescue the ijured; make the situatio safe ad prevet further ijury or damage. I some cases, for example a major icidet, established emergecy procedures or disaster maagemet plas may be implemeted. (I some idustries, eg miig ad offshore, specific legislatio says that i the case of certai accidets ad dagerous occurreces the site must be left udisturbed for a specified time uless disturbace is ecessary to make it safe or to rescue people.) Level ad ature of ivestigatio Not all evets eed to be ivestigated to the same extet or depth. Orgaisatios eed to assess each evet (for istace, usig a simple risk-based approach) to idetify where the most beefit ca be obtaied. The greatest effort should cocetrate o sigificat evets where there has bee serious ijury, ill health or loss as well as those which had the potetial to cause widespread or serious ijury or loss. Ivestigatios should: idetify reasos for substadard performace; idetify uderlyig failures i health ad safety maagemet systems; lear from evets; prevet recurreces; satisfy legal ad reportig requiremets. The form of ivestigatio Ivestigatios should be led by someoe with the status ad kowledge to make authoritative recommedatios. Usually, this will be a lie maager. A health ad safety adviser, a medical or ursig adviser, techical staff or equipmet suppliers may eed to provide assistace ad seior maagers may eed to be ivolved if evets have serious or potetially serious cosequeces. Adequate traiig i the relevat techiques eeds to be provided. Safety represetatives may also make a valuable cotributio. A good ivestigatio is prompt ad thorough. It recommeds ad assigs remedial actios. If it is ot doe as soo as practicable after the evet, coditios ad people s memories ca fade. There are four igrediets: collect evidece about what has happeed; assemble, ad cosider the evidece; compare the fidigs with the appropriate legal, idustry ad compay stadards ad draw coclusios; implemet the fidigs ad track progress. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 64 of 98
Health ad Safety Collectig evidece Diagram 12 Sources of evidece Diagram 12 shows the sources of iformatio ad methods which ivestigators ca use ad emphasises three useful poits: direct observatio is importat to avoid losig importat evidece about the scee, cofiguratio, relatioships betwee parts etc; documets help establish what should have happeed as well as providig evidece of prior risk assessmet, ispectios, tests etc; iterviews provide both direct testimoy as well as a opportuity to check back o ay issues arisig from examiatio of the physical ad documetary evidece. Although these are distict ad importat elemets of a thorough ivestigatio, they complemet each other. They provide a opportuity to read across from oe part of the process to aother to check reliability ad accuracy as well as to resolve differeces ad gaps i evidece. Elsewhere i this guidace, we have emphasised that accidets ad icidets seldom arise from a sigle cause: there are usually uderlyig failures i the maagemet system itself which have helped create the circumstaces leadig to the evet. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 65 of 98
Health ad Safety Assemblig ad cosiderig the evidece Good ivestigatios idetify both immediate ad uderlyig causes, icludig huma factors. Immediate causes iclude the job beig doe ad the people ivolved. Uderlyig causes are the maagemet ad orgaisatioal factors which explai why the evet occurred. Examples of both are show i Diagram 13. The uderlyig causes show correspod to the maagemet model outlied i this guidace. Appedix 5 cotais a sequece which you ca follow to idetify uderlyig causes more systematically. Diagram 13 A framework for aalysig accidet ad icidet causatio Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 66 of 98
Health ad Safety Comparig coditios with relevat specificatios ad stadards The ext stage of ivestigatio is to compare the coditios ad sequece of evets with relevat stadards which represet legal miimum requiremets of good practice. This helps to miimise the subjective ature of ivestigatios ad to geerate recommedatios which have the maximum impact ad relevace. The objectives are to decide: if suitable specificatios or stadards have bee set to cotrol all the factors ifluecig the evet. These eed to cosider all the causes idetified i the framework withi Diagram 13, payig particular attetio to legal stadards ad the prevetive ad protective measures idetified by risk assessmet; if specificatios or stadards existed, were they appropriate ad sufficiet? if the specificatios or stadards were good eough, were they applied ad implemeted i practice? why ay failures occurred. This approach leads to coclusios which idetify: where specificatios or stadards ad cotrols for risks ad orgaisatioal elemets are abset; where specificatios or stadards are iadequate; ad where specificatios or stadards are adequate but ot properly implemeted. Implemetig fidigs ad trackig progress The fial step is to esure that recommedatios are give priorities ad tured ito objectives for people to implemet. This step forms the basis for the review process. To set priorities, orgaisatios may eed to apply a simplified process for prioritisig, based o risk assessmet as described i Chapter 4. Outputs ad aalysis Stadard report forms ca usefully guide people through the ivestigatio processes outlied above ad help the maagers resposible for authorisig ecessary follow-up actios to set priorities. Iset 14 gives further details. More geerally, the recordig system should: collect iformatio accurately ad preset it i a cosistet form; eable aalysis to idetify commo causes, features ad treds which may ot be apparet from the ivestigatio of a idividual evet; record iformatio which might foreseeably be eeded i the future or which may also be useful for maagemet purposes, to record time take to carry out the ivestigatio ad the related costs; alert others to the learig poits from a sigle or a series of evets. A umber of proprietary computerised accidet recordig ad aalysis programmes are available which ca help aalyse collected data to look for commo features ad uderlyig orgaisatioal causes. Orgaisatios eed to carry out periodic reviews of report forms to check that ay remedial actios idetified have bee adequate, appropriate ad implemeted. This is dealt with i Chapter 6. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 67 of 98
Health ad Safety Iset 14 Key data to be covered i accidet, ill health ad icidet reports The evet Details of ay ijured perso, icludig age, sex, experiece, traiig etc. A descriptio of the circumstaces, icludig the place, time of day ad coditios. Details of the evet, icludig: ay actios which led directly to the evet; the direct causes of ay ijuries, ill health or other loss; the immediate causes of the evet; the uderlyig causes - for example, failures i workplace precautios, risk cotrol systems or maagemet arragemets (see Appedix 5). Details of the outcomes, icludig i particular: the ature of the outcome - for example, ijuries, or ill health to employees or members of the public; damage to property; process disruptios; emissios to the eviromet; creatio of hazards; the severity of the harm caused, icludig ijuries, ill health ad losses; the immediate maagemet respose to the situatio ad its adequacy: - Was it dealt with promptly? - Were cotiuig risks dealt with promptly ad adequately? - Was the first-aid respose adequate? - Were emergecy procedures followed? Whether the evet was prevetable ad if so how. The potetial cosequeces What was the worst that could have happeed? What preveted the worst from happeig? How ofte could such a evet occur (the recurrece potetial )? What was the worst ijury or damage which could have resulted (the severity potetial )? How may people could the evet have affected (the populatio potetial )? Recommedatios Prioritised actios with resposibilities ad targets for completio. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 68 of 98
Health ad Safety Chapter six: Auditig ad reviewig performace Policy Orgaisig Auditig Plaig ad implemetig Measurig performace Reviewig performace Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 69 of 98
Health ad Safety KEY MESSAGES Orgaisatios ca maitai ad improve their ability to maage risks by learig from experiece through the use of audits ad performace reviews. This chapter: defies the ature ad purpose of a health ad safety audit; examies how health ad safety performace ca be reviewed. Auditig ad performace review are the fial steps i the health ad safety maagemet cotrol cycle. They costitute the feedback loop which eables a orgaisatio to reiforce, maitai ad develop its ability to reduce risks to the fullest extet ad to esure the cotiued effectiveess of the health ad safety maagemet system. Auditig performace Orgaisatios are ofte subject to audit, eg for fiace, eviromet ad quality. This busiess disciplie ca be applied to health ad safety. There are legal defiitios of auditig i regulatios dealig with safety case requiremets for the offshore, 22 gas 30 ad railway idustries. 25 Some orgaisatios use audit to mea ispectios or other moitorig activities, but here we use the followig defiitio: The structured process of collectig idepedet iformatio o the efficiecy, effectiveess ad reliability of the total health ad safety maagemet system ad drawig up plas for corrective actio. All cotrol systems ted to deteriorate over time or to become obsolete as a result of chage. Auditig supports moitorig by providig maagers with iformatio o how effectively plas ad the compoets of the health ad safety maagemet system are beig implemeted. It should also provide a check o the adequacy ad effectiveess of the maagemet arragemets ad RCSs. Auditig is a essetial elemet of a health ad safety maagemet system, ad is o substitute for the other essetial parts of the system. Orgaisatios caot maage fiaces by a aual fiacial audit; they eed systems to pay bills ad maage cash flow throughout the year. Similarly, orgaisatios eed systems to maage health ad safety o a day-to-day basis. This caot be achieved by a periodic audit. I Chapter 4 the three compoets of a health ad safety maagemet system were described (see Diagram 9). Over time, auditig should be used to verify the adequacy of each of these compoets. For multi-site orgaisatios, auditig should iclude the maagemet arragemets likig the cetre with the busiess uits ad sites. The aims of auditig should be to establish that: appropriate maagemet arragemets are i place; adequate risk cotrol systems exist, are implemeted, ad cosistet with the hazard profile of the orgaisatio; appropriate workplace precautios are i place. Various methods ca achieve this ad some compoets of the system do ot Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 70 of 98
Health ad Safety eed to be audited as ofte as others. For istace a audit of the maagemet arragemets ad the overall capability of a orgaisatio to maage health ad safety eed ot be doe as ofte as a audit to verify the implemetatio of RCSs. It is also more beeficial to audit more frequetly critical RCSs which cotrol the mai hazards of the busiess. Techical audits may be ecessary to verify the cotiued effectiveess of complex workplace precautios, eg process plat itegrity ad cotrol systems. A comprehesive picture of how effectively the health ad safety maagemet system is cotrollig risks will emerge from a well-structured auditig programme idicatig whe ad how each compoet part will be audited. A team approach, ivolvig maagers, safety represetatives ad employees is a effective way to wide ivolvemet ad co-operatio i devisig ad implemetig the programme. The auditig process ivolves: collectig iformatio about the health ad safety maagemet system; ad makig judgemets about its adequacy ad performace. Collectig iformatio Collectig iformatio about health ad safety maagemet requires decisios o the level ad detail of a audit. All audits ivolve samplig ad a key questio is always: How much samplig eeds to be doe to make a reliable assessmet? The ature ad complexity of a audit will therefore vary accordig to its objectives ad scope; the size, sophisticatio ad complexity of the orgaisatio; ad the maturity of the existig health ad safety maagemet system. Auditors have three iformatio sources o which to draw: Iterviewig idividuals, to gai iformatio about the operatio of the health ad safety maagemet system ad the perceptios, kowledge, uderstadig, maagemet practices, skill ad competece of maagers ad employees at various levels i the orgaisatio. Examiig documets, assessig records, RCSs, performace stadards, procedures ad istructios for completeess, accuracy ad reliability together with the implicatios for competece ad uderstadig - i practice these may eed to be reviewed i preparig the audit to idetify issues to follow up ad people to iterview. Visual observatio of physical coditios ad work activities to examie compliace with legal requiremets ad verify the implemetatio ad effectiveess of workplace precautios ad RCSs. These iformatio sources are usually used i the followig sequece: Preparatio Discuss ad agree the objectives ad scope of the audit with relevat maagers ad employee represetatives. Collect ad review documetatio. Prepare ad agree audit pla. O-site Iterview people. Review ad assess additioal documets. Observe physical coditios ad work activities. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 71 of 98
Health ad Safety Coclusio Assemble ad evaluate evidece. Write audit report. Makig judgemets The adequacy of a health ad safety maagemet system is judged by makig a compariso betwee what is foud agaist a relevat stadard or bechmark. If there are o clear stadards, the assessmet process will be ureliable. Legal stadards, HSE guidace ad applicable idustry stadards should be used to iform audit judgemets. Bechmarks for maagemet arragemets ad desig of RCSs are set out i this book. It is importat that auditig is ot perceived as a fault-fidig activity but as a valuable cotributio to the health ad safety maagemet system ad learig. Auditig should recogise positive achievemets as well as areas for improvemet. I some audits, scorig systems are used to complemet judgemets ad recommedatios. This ca help with comparig audit scores over time or betwee sites, but there is o evidece to suggest that quatifyig the results yields a better respose tha a approach providig oly qualitative evidece. Scorig systems ca, however, itroduce other difficulties, eg maagers aimig their attetio at high-scorig questios irrespective of their relevace to developig the health ad safety maagemet system. Audit cotrols Like ay process, there eed to be cotrols to esure that a audit is applied rigorously ad cosistetly. A ureliable system may lead maagers to lose cofidece i its relevace ad validity. Typical cotrols: esure that the audit is perceived as a positive maagemet tool ad is take seriously by all levels of maagemet; esure that the system is applied i accordace with its iteded use. Usig the system for other tha its desiged purpose may reduce the retur o the ivestmet i auditig. Stricter cotrols may be ecessary where umber scorig systems are used. Icosistet applicatio may ivalidate the potetial for compariso; secure the competece of auditors. All systems, to varyig degrees, rely o the competece of auditors. Specific stadards of traiig ad assessmet are valuable to esure cosistecy of method ad iterpretatio; secure the effective implemetatio of results ad recommedatios. To maximise the beefits, audits should be coducted by competet people idepedet of the area or activities beig audited. This ca be achieved by usig staff from differet sectios, departmets or sites to audit their colleagues or by usig exteral cosultats. Orgaisatios ca use either their ow self-developed auditig system, those marketed as proprietary systems or a combiatio of both. It is ulikely that ay oe proprietary system will suit a orgaisatio perfectly. Usually a scheme has to be tailored to idividual requiremets ad the choice is iflueced by the costs ad potetial beefits. Commo problems iclude: the system is too broad-brush ad may require cosiderable work to fit the eeds ad hazard profile of the particular user; the system may be too bureaucratic for the style ad culture of the orgaisatio; scorig systems may mask a deterioratio i performace if the uderlyig detail is ot examied; orgaisatios may create a maagemet system which achieves high scores rather tha oe which suits the eeds ad hazard profile of the busiess. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 72 of 98
Health ad Safety HSE ecourages orgaisatios to assess their health ad safety maagemet systems usig i-house or proprietary schemes but without edorsig ay particular oe. Some of the key characteristics of effective audit systems are summarised i Iset 15. Iset 15 Effective health ad safety audit systems Effective auditig systems display the followig characteristics: They are carried out by a competet idividual or team who have received specific traiig to do the work (this may ivolve a team of maagers, specialists, other employees or their represetatives, or exteral cosultats). The auditor(s) is idepedet of the area or sectio beig audited. Audits are desiged to assess the followig key elemets of health ad safety maagemet: Policy Its itet, scope ad adequacy. Orgaisatio The acceptace of health ad safety resposibilities by lie maagers ad the adequacy of arragemets to secure cotrol. The adequacy of arragemets to cosult ad ivolve all employees i health ad safety. The adequacy of arragemets to commuicate policy ad relevat iformatio. The adequacy of arragemets to secure the competece of all employees ad the provisio of health ad safety assistace. Plaig ad implemetatio The overall cotrol ad directio of the health ad safety effort. The adequacy of the maagemet arragemets, RCSs ad workplace precautios. The adequacy of resources ad their proportioate allocatio to reflect the hazard profile of the busiess. The extet of compliace with maagemet arragemets, RCSs, performace stadards ad the effectiveess of workplace precautios i achievig cotrol of risk. Log-term improvemet i the accidet ad icidet performace. Measurig systems Their adequacy, relevace ad desig. Review systems The ability of the orgaisatio to lear from experiece, improve performace, develop the health ad safety maagemet system, ad respod to chage. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 73 of 98
Health ad Safety The Offshore Istallatios (Safety Case) Regulatios 1992, 22 the Railways (Safety Case) Regulatios 1994, 25 ad the Gas Safety (Maagemet) Regulatios 1996, 30 require the arragemets for audit to be set out i the safety case. Elsewhere, performace stadards should be devised for plaig ad implemetig the audit programme ad these stadards should themselves be moitored. Some orgaisatios allocate resposibility for health ad safety auditig to their iteral auditig sectios i a attempt to itegrate health ad safety maagemet more fully ito their existig structures. Reviewig performace Reviewig is the process of makig judgemets about the adequacy of performace ad takig decisios about the ature ad timig of the actios ecessary to remedy deficiecies. Orgaisatios eed to have feedback to see if the health ad safety maagemet system is workig effectively as desiged. The mai sources of iformatio come from measurig activities ad from audits of the RCSs ad workplace precautios. Other iteral ad exteral iflueces iclude delayerig, ew legislatio or chages i curret good practice. Ay of these ca result i redesig or amedmet of ay parts of the health ad safety maagemet system or a chage i overall directio or objectives. Suitable performace stadards should be established to idetify the resposibilities, timig ad systems ivolved. Feedig iformatio o success ad failure back ito the system is a essetial elemet i motivatig employees to maitai ad improve performace. Successful orgaisatios emphasise positive reiforcemet ad cocetrate o ecouragig progress o those idicators which demostrate improvemets i risk cotrol. The aims of the review process reflect the objectives of the plaig process. Reviews will eed to examie: the operatio ad maiteace of the system as desiged; ad the desig, developmet ad istallatio of the health ad safety maagemet system i chagig circumstaces. Reviewig should be a cotiuous process udertake at differet levels withi the orgaisatio. It icludes resposes: by first-lie supervisors or other maagers to remedy failures to implemet workplace precautios which they observe i the course of routie activities; to remedy sub-stadard performace idetified by active ad reactive moitorig; to the assessmet of plas at idividual, departmetal, site, group or orgaisatioal level; to the results of audits. Review plas may iclude: mothly reviews of idividuals, supervisors or sectios; three-mothly reviews of departmets; aual reviews of sites or of the orgaisatio as a whole. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 74 of 98
Health ad Safety Orgaisatios should decide o the frequecy of the reviews at each level ad devise reviewig activities to suit the measurig ad auditig activities. I all reviewig activity the result should be specific remedial actios which: establish who is resposible for implemetatio; ad set deadlies for completio. These actios form the basis of effective follow-up, which should be closely moitored. The speed ad ature of respose to ay situatio should be determied by the degree of risk ivolved ad the availability of resources. The applicatio of risk assessmet priciples outlied i Chapter 4 ca cotribute to decisio-makig by idetifyig relative priorities. Reviewig demads the exercise of good judgemet, ad people resposible for reviewig may eed specific traiig to achieve competece i this type of task. Key performace idicators for reviewig overall performace ca iclude: assessmet of the degree of compliace with health ad safety system requiremets; idetificatio of areas where the health ad safety system is abset or iadequate (those areas where further actio is ecessary to develop the total health ad safety maagemet system); assessmet of the achievemet of specific objectives ad plas; ad accidet, ill health ad icidet data accompaied by aalysis of both the immediate ad uderlyig causes, treds ad commo features. These idicators are cosistet with the developmet of a positive health ad safety culture. They emphasise achievemet ad success rather tha merely measurig failure by lookig oly at accidet data. Orgaisatios may also bechmark their performace agaist other orgaisatios by comparig: accidet rates with those orgaisatios i the same idustry which use similar busiess processes ad experiece similar risks (see Appedix 6 for more iformatio o calculatig ad usig accidet icidece ad frequecy rates); ad maagemet practices ad techiques with other orgaisatios i ay idustry to provide a differet perspective ad ew isights o health ad safety maagemet systems. As part of a demostratio of corporate resposibility, more orgaisatios are metioig health ad safety performace i their published aual reports. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 75 of 98
Health ad Safety Appedix oe: Termiology I this guidace: Policy is used i relatio to health ad safety ad other fuctioal maagemet areas (eg maufacturig ad huma resources) to covey: the geeral itetios, approach ad objectives of a orgaisatio; ad the criteria ad priciples o which its actios ad resposes are based. The term writte policy statemets meas documets that record the policy of the orgaisatio. Orgaisatio meas the resposibilities ad relatioships betwee idividuals which form the social eviromet i which work takes place. Orgaisig meas the process of desigig ad establishig these resposibilities ad relatioships. The expressio statemets of orgaisatio is used to describe documets that record those resposibilities ad relatioships. Orgaisatio also refers to ay udertakig subject to the HSW Act, icludig: compaies ad firms i the extractive, maufacturig, costructio, agricultural, trasport ad service idustries; commercial ad fiacial istitutios, such as baks, buildig societies ad isurace compaies; public utilities ad istitutios, such as the health service, research laboratories, colleges, uiversities ad local authorities; o-profit-makig istitutios, such as charities. Accidet icludes ay udesired circumstaces which give rise to ill health or ijury; damage to property, plat, products or the eviromet; productio losses or icreased liabilities. Icidet icludes all udesired circumstaces ad ear misses which could cause accidets. Hazard meas the potetial to cause: harm icludig ill health ad ijury; damage to property, plat, products or the eviromet; productio losses or icreased liabilities. Ill health icludes acute ad chroic ill health caused by physical, chemical or biological agets as well as adverse effects o metal health. Risk meas the likelihood that a specified udesired evet will occur due to the realisatio of a hazard by, or durig, work activities or by the products ad services created by work activities. RCSs meas risk cotrol system(s). Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 76 of 98
Health ad Safety Plaig meas the process by which the objectives ad methods of implemetig the health ad safety policy are decided. It is cocered with allocatig resources (eg moey, time or effort) to achieve objectives ad decide priorities. It rages from geeral topics dealig with the directio of the whole orgaisatio to detailed issues cocered with stadard-settig ad the cotrol of specific risks. Measurig meas the collectio of iformatio about the implemetatio ad effectiveess of plas ad stadards. This ivolves various checkig or moitorig activities. Auditig is the structured process of collectig idepedet iformatio o the efficiecy, effectiveess ad reliability of the total health ad safety maagemet system ad drawig up plas for corrective actio. Reviewig meas activities ivolvig judgemets about performace, ad decisios about improvig performace. Reviewig is based o iformatio from measurig ad auditig activities. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 77 of 98
Health ad Safety Appedix two: Orgaisig for health ad safety Key tasks for policy makers, plaers ad implemeters of policy Policy makers The key tasks of policy makers iclude: devisig health ad safety policy; establishig strategies to implemet policy ad itegratig these ito geeral busiess activity; specifyig a structure for plaig, measurig, reviewig ad auditig health ad safety policy; specifyig a structure for implemetig policy ad supportig plas; agreeig plas for improvemet ad reviewig progress to develop both the health ad safety maagemet system ad the policy; pursuig health ad safety objectives with evidet sicerity. The major outputs iclude: writte statemets of geeral health ad safety policy ad strategic objectives; writte statemets of the orgaisatio for plaig, measurig, reviewig ad auditig; writte statemets of the orgaisatio for implemetatio; geeral plas cotaiig specific objectives for each year. Plaers The key tasks of plaers iclude: producig detailed plas to achieve corporate health ad safety objectives; establishig maagemet arragemets, risk cotrol systems ad workplace precautios together with associated performace stadards; co-ordiatig the specialist advice eeded to esure effective plaig ad implemetatio of policy, for example the iput of health ad safety specialists, egieers, architects ad doctors; esurig the participatio ad ivolvemet of employees ad their represetatives; keepig up to date with chages i health ad safety legislatio, stadards ad good practice ad with maagemet practices relevat to the orgaisatio. The key outputs iclude: health ad safety strategy statemets ad plas to support the policy; health ad safety operatioal plas which idetify specific health ad safety objectives to be achieved withi fixed time periods; specificatios for maagemet arragemets, RCS(s), workplace precautios ad performace stadards; up-to-date documetatio. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 78 of 98
Health ad Safety Implemeters The key tasks for implemeters are: implemetatio of operatioal plas, maagemet arragemets, RCSs, workplace precautios ad performace stadards; provisio of ecessary physical ad huma resources ad iformatio; provisio of timely feedback o performace icludig successes ad failures ad ay deficiecies i plas, arragemets, systems or precautios; esurig commuicatio ad participatio at all levels i health ad safety activities. The key outputs are: safe ad healthy productio ad delivery of products ad services; products ad services which i themselves do ot create risks to others. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 79 of 98
Health ad Safety Appedix three: Reorgaisatio Reorgaisatio (also kow by the terms delayerig, dowsizig ad re-egieerig, amog others) has cotiued to occur i all sectors of activity sice this guidace was first issued. This affects the ways orgaisatios exercise their cotrol fuctios. HSE-sposored research 12 durig 1996 drew o published literature ad the experieces of te very differet orgaisatios to provide practical guidace - illustrated with case-study examples - o how to carry out reorgaisatio without jeopardisig health ad safety stadards. The mai fidigs were: may large orgaisatios were shiftig from a hierarchical commad structure to flatter ad more customer-orieted structures; orgaisatios first streamlied i respose to cost pressures ad the sought more radical solutios; delayerig was ofte accompaied by outsourcig, chages i systems of work, reward ad promotio systems, attitudes, maagemet style, accoutability, empowermet, multi-skillig ad team workig; the success rate of busiess re-egieerig was mixed, with reports of both sigificat improvemet i profits ad lacklustre results; the mixed results of re-egieerig projects were due to poorly carried-out chages, such as settig simplistic goals ad failig to trai people. The research cocluded that the priciples i this guidace ca be used as a model for reorgaisatio ad for achievig satisfactory health ad safety stadards subsequetly. If it also itroduces a more participative style of maagemet, these priciples may become eve more relevat. The relatioship betwee maagemet approach, competece ad operatioal risk The research cofirmed that a three-way balace eeds to be struck betwee: the degree of supervisio, maagemet systems, egieered safety systems, rules ad procedures; competece; ad iheret operatioal risk. Some of the coclusios relevat to this guidace are listed below. Assurig competece Where resposibility for health ad safety is clearly give to lie maagers, a major programme of maagemet traiig is likely to be eeded (see Iset 8). The role of ay retaied health ad safety adviser(s) chages ad they have a ifluetial role i establishig cetral policies, rules ad guidace, providig traiig ad techical support, ad carryig out auditig (see Iset 9). A frequet aim of reorgaisatio is to ehace idividuals cotributios to the busiess by givig them wider ad more flexible roles. Team workig is commoly itroduced, with team members empowered to agree task-specific roles amog Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 80 of 98
Health ad Safety themselves. The supervisor s role ca chage from oe of decidig how to complete a job ad directig others i their work, to oe based o team leadership without authority or techical cotrol. This requires differet skills (see Iset 6). The successful itroductio of multi-skillig ad team work depeds o esurig that group members betwee them possess all the skills ad experiece to carry out the work. Oe orgaisatio achieved this by exemptig staff with core skills from redudacy, ad usig retraiig eeds aalysis to esure there were o skills gaps. This had four stages: Idetify chages i tasks, jobs ad/or allocatio of duties. Idetify chages i core skills, experiece ad kowledge requiremets of the orgaisatio. Assess competece of persoel. Defie ad execute selectio, re-traiig, job defiitio ad developmet programme. This aalysis was applied to all grades, ad icluded geeral techical, operatioal, ad maagemet skills as well as specific health ad safety skills. Outsourcig Typically, the importace of maagemet of health ad safety by cotractors ad the ature of the maagemet task for the host orgaisatio chage followig reorgaisatio. The rage of outsourced tasks, ad therefore the umber of cotractors ivolved, may icrease substatially. By cotrast, the resources retaied i-house to maage outsourcig may be reduced as a part of the reorgaisatio. Some typical examples of outsourced activities iclude: major maiteace, desig, egieerig ad commissioig projects; trasport of hazardous materials; plat operatio; routie maiteace; cleaig. The research idetified five issues to address uder this headig: Does the rigour of cotractor maagemet match the risk from the outsourced activities? Has the ature of outsourced work chaged? What balace ca be struck betwee cotractor supervisio ad cotractor self-maagemet? How familiar is the cotractor with the cliet s hazards ad procedures? Are ew forms of cotractor assessmet required (such as auditig)? Strategies may be eeded to develop cotractor competece ad to upgrade arragemets for verifyig that cotractors maage their affairs properly. Actios by the researched orgaisatios icluded: secodmet or trasfer of ow staff to cotractors; formatio of a log-term relatioship with cotractors; icorporatig cotractors ito the host s health ad safety maagemet system; requirig log-term cotractors to produce safety cases ; shared basic traiig of cotractors across local idustry; measurig cotractor health ad safety performace; operatig approved cotractor lists. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 81 of 98
Health ad Safety Performace measuremet Settig relevat stadards agaist which performace ca geuiely be measured becomes eve more importat after activities are outsourced, ad cotractual arragemets have bee itroduced. Coclusio The research cocluded that the impact of reorgaisatio depeds o how well the orgaisatio assesses the implicatios ad plas the chages. Health ad safety performace was reported to improve where well-plaed ad well-resourced schemes were itroduced. I some cases it was cosidered that the improvemets could ot have bee achieved uder the traditioal orgaisatioal structure ad style of maagemet. Reorgaisatio ca, however, be a major source of stress. It has also bee idetified as a factor cotributig to a umber of major accidets ivolvig multiple fatalities. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 82 of 98
Health ad Safety Appedix four: Implemetatio of health ad safety maagemet systems There is o sigle way to develop ad implemet a system, but there are some geeral issues upo which maagemet ca usefully focus. They reiforce may of the key messages elsewhere i this guidace ad show that implemetig a health ad safety maagemet system is o differet to implemetig ay other maagemet system. Obstacles Oe of the major obstacles to implemetatio is that some maagers have difficulty i uderstadig what a health ad safety maagemet system is. A commoly held view is that health ad safety maagemet is simply a diverse collectio of activities required by law. The challege to orgaisatios is to recogise the complete rage of activities required to create the maagemet framework as illustrated i Diagram 1. There is a parallel view that the activities are complex or require specialist kowledge ad are therefore best left to the health ad safety specialist. HSE research cotradicts this ad cofirms that successful health ad safety achievemet requires active lie maagemet commitmet. The impetus for chage Orgaisatios may have several reasos for improvig their performace ad developig the health ad safety maagemet system. Commo oes are: a ew chief executive or seior maager; chage of owership; pressure from suppliers, customers or shareholders; a dramatic icidet; pressure from the regulator. Whatever the trigger, the key issues are the same. The implemetatio process The orgaisatio has to have a clear idea of what the ed product of the implemetatio process will be ad how to achieve it. The focus or emphasis ca chage as the system develops but commo themes or uderlyig priciples eed to remai cosistet. For example, if employee ivolvemet is a uderlyig priciple, it eeds to be applied for each ad every activity i the implemetatio process. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 83 of 98
Health ad Safety Orgaisig: cotrol Key appoitmets A seior maager eeds to be appoited ad to accept resposibility for the implemetatio process. This appoitmet ca sed powerful sigals about the importace of health ad safety ad drive the process forward. A secod key appoitmet is to select someoe resposible for the desig ad architecture of the maagemet system itself. It may be the same seior maager or someoe differet, but both idividuals eed to be able to demostrate: sufficiet visio to be able to use the priciples of health ad safety maagemet to create the system architecture ad guidelies to help others carry out the implemetatio; the ecessary leadership, drive ad self-belief to see the implemetatio through to completio. Formatio of a steerig committee May orgaisatios set up a steerig committee which icludes other seior lie maagers to orgaise the process. This is a key feature i trasferrig owership of safety from its traditioal locatio with the safety adviser to the direct lie fuctio. Typically, the role of the steerig group is to draw up the implemetatio pla, allocate resposibilities ad moitor progress. A iitial review of the health ad safety maagemet system is sometimes udertake. This aswers the questio Where are we ow? The steerig committee evaluates ay recommedatios emergig from this review ad icorporates the fidigs i the implemetatio pla. Sub-committees may be set up to support the work. Selectio ad appoitmet of co-ordiators O larger sites or i multi-site orgaisatios, it may be appropriate to appoit local co-ordiators who ca act as champios of the health ad safety maagemet system ad further help i trasferrig owership. Orgaisig: co-operatio Ivolvemet of the workforce All the orgaisatios that participated i the HSE study believed that ivolvig the workforce was vital to success. As a way to achieve it, they used specific iitiatives, problem solvig ad participatio o the various committees/workig groups associated with implemetatio. I may cases, step improvemets oly occurred after this happeed. However, the workforce will oly egage whe maagemet have show their persoal ad log-term commitmet. Multi-site orgaisatios ca develop geeric solutios at idividual sites as a way to share experiece, workload ad best practice. This also avoids reivetig solutios. Orgaisig: competece Competece issues have bee discussed i Chapter 3. Timig of health ad safety maagemet traiig is critical. Orgaisatios have usually foud that they would have preferred to have provided it earlier tha they did. It is particularly importat at the outset that seior maagemet uderstad the aim ad objectives of the health ad safety maagemet system, the priciples o which it is to operate ad how they should support both the process ad the subordiates ivolved. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 84 of 98
Health ad Safety Orgaisig: commuicatio Commuicatio of itet ad demostratio of commitmet Everyoe i the orgaisatio eeds to kow what the implemetatio plas are ad how they are progressig. Success depeds o a visible demostratio by seior maagemet i leadig ad supportig the process. Plaig Implemetatio pla A key output from the steerig committee or the system architect is a implemetatio pla which serves as the blueprit for actio. Key milestoes for implemetatio ad success criteria should be determied, set ad regularly reviewed by maagemet. The health ad safety maagemet system maual/key procedures How far the system eeds to be documeted will deped o ay particular legal requiremet ad the overall style ad approach to writte commuicatio withi the orgaisatio. Orgaisatios may fid it helpful to produce a health ad safety maagemet maual coverig the priciples ad maagemet arragemets. Preparig such a maual ca be a importat output from the steerig committee. Recogitio of the people issues Chage creates ucertaity ad cocer. Its effect o people s feeligs must be cosidered as part of the implemetatio process. Oe way of recogisig ad actig o this is to devote more attetio to commuicatios, ivolvemet ad traiig. The approach to ew ways of workig for health ad safety ca also cotribute to a chage of culture across the busiess i the loger term. Health ad safety ca act as a vehicle for broader orgaisatioal chage. The effect of itroducig the health ad safety maagemet system eeds to be cosidered both i terms of the opportuity it presets ad potetial for coflict with other existig busiess arragemets. Measuremet The implemetatio process itself eeds to be measured. Some multi-site orgaisatios have used a weighted implemetatio pla to help drive the process at subsidiary level. Other key implemetatio measuremet activities are the moitorig of the activities ecessary to achieve the objectives of the implemetatio pla, the quality of the outputs achieved ad the timescales ivolved. Audit ad review Periodic reviews are ecessary to esure that the process is o track ad cotiuig to meet its objectives. As overall health ad safety maagemet competece ad feel for the system improves, iitial assumptios will alter. Other busiess chages ad iitiatives will have materialised ad will eed to be icorporated i the implemetatio pla. Reviews eed to take accout of the iformatio geerated from the measuremet process ad how to iitiate ay ecessary remedial actios. Auditig is a commo way to assess implemetatio progress particularly whe a iitial audit ca act as a bechmark. It ca be useful to examie the quality of the system beig created as well as the degree to which the gaps are beig closed. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 85 of 98
Health ad Safety Followig audit ad review, the cycle of orgaisig, plaig, measuremet ad review is likely to recur as part of a wider process of cotiuous improvemet. Timescales A key message which emerged from HSE cotact with orgaisatios is that implemetig a effective health ad safety maagemet system takes time. Two to five years is typical. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 86 of 98
Health ad Safety Appedix five: Aalysig the causes of accidets ad icidets The followig sequece is oe approach which may be used as a guide to aalysig the immediate ad uderlyig causes of evets. It may be used as a basis for desigig a approach which suits the idividual eeds of the orgaisatio. The adequacy of workplace precautios should be cosidered first to idetify immediate causes. Cosider i tur each of the first four boxes. Follow the directios to other boxes to complete the aalysis of all immediate ad uderlyig causes. All immediate ad uderlyig causes are i oe sese a failig to devise ad implemet a adequate health ad safety policy. Policy is a all-embracig aspect ad without further specificatio is ot useful as a basis for remedial actio. For this reaso the policy elemet of the maagemet arragemets is ot idetified as a separate category withi this framework. Immediate causes 1 Premises Cosider the premises ad place of work first ad ask Was there aythig about the place, the access or egress which cotributed to the evet? eg holes i floors causig trippig, iadequate vetilatio, iadequate weather protectio. The most likely coclusios may be: Premises ot a sigificat factor - go to 2. Adequate premises/access/egress provided but ot used - cosider workig procedures - go to 3. Adequate place etc oce provided but ot maitaied - cosider plaig - go to 5. Adequate place etc ever provided - cosider plaig - go to 5. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 87 of 98
Health ad Safety 2 Plat ad substaces Cosider the precautios for plat, equipmet ad substaces ad ask Was there aythig about the adequacy of the cotrols which cotributed to the evet? eg iadequate guardig, poor local exhaust vetilatio. (Remember plat ad substaces may be products supplied by your compay.) The most likely coclusios may be: Plat ad substaces ot a sigificat factor - go to 3. Adequate cotrols provided but ot used - cosider workig procedures - go to 3. Adequate cotrols oce provided but ot maitaied - cosider plaig - go to 5. Adequate cotrols etc ever provided - cosider plaig - go to 5. 3 Procedures Cosider the systems, istructios ad methods of work ad ask if they cotributed to the evet, eg failure to use good equipmet properly. (Cosider both ormal operatio ad emergecy procedures.) The most likely coclusios may be: Correct system/method i use - go to 4. Correct system/method devised but ot used. If so, cosider: clarity ad adequacy of istructios - go to 9; adequacy of supervisio - go to 7; behaviour of perso - go to 4. Correct system/method oce devised ad used but ow lapsed. Cosider: adequacy of moitorig - go to 11. Correct system/method ever devised - cosider plaig - go to 5. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 88 of 98
Health ad Safety 4 People Cosider the behaviour of the people ivolved ad ask: Did they do or fail to do aythig which cotributed to the evet? The most likely coclusio may be: Behaviour ot a sigificat factor. People usuitable for the job (eg physical disability, sesitivity to certai chemicals). Cosider whether the perso was: ever suitable - look at recruitmet/selectio/placemet - go to 10; oce suitable - cosider the adequacy of health surveillace - go to 6. Suitable perso but ot competet - cosider whether the perso was: ever competet - look at traiig - go to 10; oce competet but performace ot sustaied - look at supervisio (go to 7) ad moitorig (go to 11). Suitable competet perso but did wrog thig. Possibilities iclude: uiteded actios: - slip - doig the right thig i the wrog way; - lapse - forgettig the right thig. iteded actios: - mistake - choosig the wrog actio i error; - violatio - purposely doig wrog thig - routie/o-routie. Cosider: traiig - go to 10. commuicatio - go to 9. cotrols/supervisio - go to 7. plaig - go to 5. moitorig - go to 11. co-operatio - go to 8. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 89 of 98
Health ad Safety Uderlyig causes - Failures i risk cotrol systems - Maagemet arragemets 5 Plaig Risk cotrol systems (RCSs) are ecessary for the supply, use, maiteace, demolitio ad disposal of premises ad the supply, storage, hadlig, use, trasport ad disposal of plat (icludig all types of equipmet), ad substaces. Where iadequate premises, plat ad substaces or procedures have bee provided, cosider the adequacy of the RCSs for the: Premises Desig of structures/buildigs. Cotrol of structural desig chages. Selectio of buildigs/workplaces. Purchase of buildigs/workplaces. Maiteace of buildigs/workplaces. Security. Demolitio. Procedures Preparatio, circulatio, revisio. Practicality. Techical adequacy. Plat ad substaces Desig of plat/equipmet. Cotrol of desig chages. Selectio of plat equipmet. Supply of plat. Selectio or purchase of substaces. Supply of substaces. Costructio ad istallatio of plat. Trasport of plat ad substaces. Maiteace. Commissioig. Selectio of equipmet o hire. Cotrol of equipmet i use by cotractors. Chages to process/plat/equipmet/ substaces. Emergecy arragemets. Decommissioig/dismatlig. Disposal of plat ad substaces. Where RCSs are abset or iadequate, cosider risk assessmet arragemets - go to 6. Where RCSs are ot used, cosider: Risk assessmet - go to 6. Orgaisatio: cotrol - go to 7. Commuicatio - go to 9. People - go to 4. Moitorig - go to 11. Where procedures ivolve cotractors, cosider competece - go to 10. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 90 of 98
Health ad Safety 6 Assessig risks Cosider the adequacy of risk assessmet arragemets - if methods of hazard idetificatio ad risk assessmet are: Abset - cosider orgaisatio: cotrol - go to 7. Iadequate - cosider competece of those choosig them - go to 10. Adequate but ot used, cosider: orgaisatio: cotrol - go to 7; moitorig - go to 11. Satisfactory but the results are iadequate - cosider: competecy of those usig them - go to 10; adequacy of techical stadards used - go to 9; clarity of results - go to 9; ivolvemet of employees - go to 8. 7 Orgaisatio: cotrol Where arragemets/procedures/systems are abset, ot used or supervisio is iadequate, cosider the resposibilities of those devisig, operatig ad maitaiig the procedures/systems. Ask: Are resposibilities clearly set out? Are resposibilities clearly uderstood? Do those with resposibilities have the time ad resource to discharge their resposibilities? Are people held accoutable for dischargig health ad safety resposibilities? Are people rewarded for good performace? Are people pealised for poor performace? If ot, cosider: competece - go to 10; the adequacy of seior maager commitmet ad resources devoted to health ad safety. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 91 of 98
Health ad Safety 8 Orgaisatio: co-operatio Cosider how those workig with risks are ivolved i risk assessmets ad devisig procedures (icludig the operatio of ay health ad safety committee). If iadequate cosider: competece - go to 10. the adequacy of seior maagemet commitmet to co-operatio. 9 Orgaisatio: commuicatio Cosider: Is there sufficiet, up-to-date iformatio o law ad techical stadards to make good decisios about how to cotrol risks? Are writte istructios for iteral use clear ad i sufficiet detail? Are the up-to-date versios of istructios available? Is there sufficiet iformatio supplied to the users of products? Is there sufficiet visible seior maagemet commitmet to health ad safety. 10 Orgaisatio: competece Cosider the adequacy of arragemets for: recruitmet/selectio ad placemet to check that people have the right physical ad metal abilities for their jobs icludig, where ecessary, medical examiatios, ad tests of physical fitess, aptitudes or abilities; assessig the health ad safety competece of cotractors as part of cotractor selectio; idetifyig health ad safety traiig eeds at recruitmet, whe there are chages i staff, plat, substaces, techology, processes or workig practices. The eed to maitai or ehace competece by refresher traiig, ad the presece of cotractors employees, the self-employed or temporary workers (ad assessmets of competece); competet cover for staff abseces, particularly for those people with critical health ad safety resposibilities ad emergecy procedures; health checks ad health surveillace based o risk assessmets (icludig assessmets of fitess for work, followig ijury or ill health); provisio of health ad safety assistace. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 92 of 98
Health ad Safety 11 Moitorig Cosider the adequacy of the checks ad ispectios made of the workplace precautios ad risk cotrol systems before a accidet (ie were they frequet eough, ad did they look at the right thigs i sufficiet detail to esure the safe use of premises, plat ad substaces ad the implemetatio of procedures). If checks were: abset - cosider orgaisatio: cotrol - go to 7. ot adequate - review risk assessmet arragemets - go to 6. ot completed - cosider orgaisatio: cotrol - go to 7, ad review - go to 12. Cosider ay previous accidet/icidet evets similar to this oe ad examie if the ivestigatio or lessos are helpful. If previous evets have ot bee thoroughly ivestigated, cosider: the orgaisatio: cotrol - go to 7. competece - go to 10. If the lessos have ot bee put ito effect, cosider: orgaisatio: cotrol - go to 7. review - go to 12. 12 Review Cosider the arragemets for followig up actios to remedy health ad safety problems. If work is outstadig beyod the deadlie, cosider: orgaisatio: cotrol - go to 7; adequacy of resources ad commitmet to health ad safety. If a secod icidet occurs before correctios were made, cosider: mechaisms for prioritisig remedial actios i ivestigatio process; competece of those prioritisig remedial actios - go to 10. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 93 of 98
Health ad Safety Appedix six: Accidet icidece ad frequecy rates Accidet icidece ad frequecy rates provide a meas of measurig safety performace over time ad comparig it with accidet statistics published by exteral sources, such as HSE. Employers have to keep records of ijuries at work ad report certai types to the appropriate eforcig authority, usually HSE or a local authority. 23 Reportable ijuries iclude fatal ad major ijuries to employees, self-employed people ad members of the public, ad ijuries that cause icapacity for work for more tha three days to employees ad self-employed people ( over-3-day ijuries ). Statistical iformatio from these ijury reports is collated by HSE ad published i the Health ad Safety Commissio s Aual Report ad Health ad Safety Statistics Report. The published iformatio gives details of ijuries reported from each major sector of idustry as classified by the 1992 Stadard Idustrial Classificatio. The accuracy of the atioally collated ijury statistics depeds o employers complyig with the legal reportig requiremets. I some idustries, uderreportig of ijuries by employers is a serious problem. Firms with good recordkeepig arragemets i a idustry with a high level of uder-reportig may therefore fid that their ijury rates compare ufavourably with the published rates for their idustry. The figures i such cases obviously must be iterpreted accordigly. Eve so, icidece rates ca still be used to moitor performace over time ad betwee differet departmets. Comparig reportable ijury iformatio is just oe way of assessig a firm s safety performace. I may firms, particularly those with fewer tha 100 employees, reportable ijuries represet oly a small proportio of the total umber of ijuries to employees. Records of more mior, o-reportable ijuries, ad of ear misses, may also be coverted ito icidece rates ad used to moitor treds over time or betwee differet parts of the operatio. Aalysis of the data to idetify the mai causes of ijury, for example, ca help to idetify risks that eed to be cotrolled ad prevet further accidets. Calculatio of ijury icidece rates HSE s formula for calculatig a aual ijury icidece rate is: Number of reportable ijuries i fiacial year Average umber employed durig year x 100 000 This gives the rate per 100 000 employees. The formula makes o allowaces for variatios i part-time employmet or overtime. It is a aual calculatio ad the figures eed to be adjusted pro-rata if they cover a shorter period. Such shorterterm rates should be compared oly with rates for exactly similar periods - ot the atioal aual rates. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 94 of 98
Health ad Safety Calculatio of ijury frequecy rates While HSE calculates ijury icidece rates per 100 000 employees, some parts of idustry prefer to calculate ijury frequecy rates, usually per millio hours worked. This method, by coutig hours worked rather tha the umber of employees, avoids distortios which may be caused i the icidece rate calculatios by part- ad full-time employees ad by overtime workig. Frequecy rates ca be calculated for ay time period. The calculatio is: Number of ijuries i the period Total hours worked durig the period x 1 000 000 Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 95 of 98
Health ad Safety Refereces 1 The costs of accidets at work (2d editio) HSG96 HSE Books 1997 ISBN 0 7176 1343 7 2 Bird F E ad Germai G L Practical loss cotrol leadership Istitute Publishig (Divisio of Iteratioal Loss Cotrol Istitute), Logaville, Georgia 1985 ISBN 0 88061 054 9 3 Reducig error ad ifluecig behaviour HSG48 HSE Books 1999 ISBN 0 7176 2452 8 4 BS EN ISO 14001: 1996 Evirometal maagemet systems - Specificatio with guidace for use 5 BS 8800: 1996 Guide to occupatioal health ad safety maagemet systems 6 Coucil Regulatio (EEC) No 1836/93 of 29 Jue 1993 allowig volutary participatio by compaies i the idustrial sector i a Commuity eco-maagemet ad audit scheme 7 BS EN ISO 9000-1: 1994 Quality maagemet ad quality assurace stadards: Guidelies for selectio ad use 8 How to use the model British Quality Foudatio ISBN 1 899358 50 1 (British Quality Foudatio, 32-34 Great Peter Street, Lodo SW1P 2QX Tel: 020 7654 5000) 9 Total quality maagemet ad the maagemet of health ad safety CRR153 HSE Books 1997 ISBN 0 7176 1455 7 10 Developig a safety culture Cofederatio of British Idustry 1990 ISBN 0852013612 11 ACSNI Study Group o Huma Factors 3rd report: Orgaisig for safety HSE Books 1993 ISBN 0 7176 0865 4 12 Busiess re-egieerig ad health ad safety maagemet: Best practice model CRR 123 HSE Books 1996 ISBN 0 7176 1302 X 13 Safety represetatives ad safety committees L87 HSE Books 1996 ISBN 0 7176 1220 1 14 A guide to the Offshore Istallatios (Safety Represetatives ad Safety Committees) Regulatios 1989 L110 HSE Books 1998 ISBN 0 7176 1549 9 15 A Guide to the Health ad Safety (Cosultatio with Employees) Regulatios 1996. Guidace o Regulatios L95 HSE Books 1996 ISBN 0 7176 1234 1 96 Successful health ad safety maagemet 16 5 steps to iformatio, istructio ad traiig INDG213 HSE Books 1996 17 Health ad safety stadards o CD-ROM is available from The Employmet NTO, Tel: 0116 251 7979, website: www.empto.co.uk Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 96 of 98
Health ad Safety 18 Maagemet of health ad safety at work. Maagemet of Health ad Safety at Work Regulatios 1999. Approved Code of Practice ad guidace L21 HSE Books 2000 ISBN 0 7176 2488 9 19 Cotrol of substaces hazardous to health. The Cotrol of Substaces Hazardous to Health Regulatios 2002. Approved Code of Practice ad guidace L5 (Fourth editio) HSE Books 2002 ISBN 0 7176 2534 6 20 Health risk maagemet: A practical guide for maagers i small ad medium-sized eterprises HSG137 HSE Books 1995 ISBN 0 7176 0905 7 21 5 steps to risk assessmet INDG163(rev1) HSE Books 1998 22 A guide to the Offshore Istallatios (Safety Case) Regulatios 1992. Guidace o Regulatios L30 HSE Books 1998 ISBN 0 7176 1165 5 23 A guide to the Reportig of Ijuries, Diseases ad Dagerous Occurreces Regulatios 1995 (RIDDOR) L73 HSE Books 1999 ISBN 0 7176 2431 5 24 Dow s fire ad explosio idex: Hazard classificatio guide (7th editio) America Istitute of Chemical Egieers 1994 ISBN 0816906238 25 Railway safety cases. Railways (Safety Case) Regulatios 2000 icludig 2001 amedmets. Guidace o Regulatios L52 HSE Books 2001 ISBN 0 7176 2127 8 26 Improvig compliace with safety procedures: Reducig idustrial violatios Report from the Huma Factors i Reliability Group (HFRG) Violatios Sub-Group HSE Books 1995 ISBN 0 7176 0970 7 27 Sulzer-Azaroff B The modificatio of occupatioal safety behaviour Joural of Occupatioal Accidets Nov 1987 Vol 9 No 3 177-197 28 Krause T R The behaviour-based safety process: Maagig ivolvemet for a ijury-free culture (2d editio) Va Nostrad Reihold 1997 ISBN 0442022476 Successful health ad safety maagemet 97 29 Health ad safety climate survey tool (Electroic publicatio) HSE Books 1997 ISBN 0 7176 1462 X 30 A guide to the Gas Safety (Maagemet) Regulatios 1996 L80 HSE Books 1996 ISBN 0 7176 1159 0 The future availability ad accuracy of the refereces listed i this publicatio caot be guarateed. For details of how to obtai HSE priced ad free publicatios, see iside back cover. British Stadards ca be obtaied i PDF or hard copy formats from the BSI olie shop: www.bsigroup.com/shop or by cotactig BSI Customer Services for hard copies oly Tel: 020 8996 9001 e-mail: cservices@bsigroup.com. Successful health ad safety maagemet Page 97 of 98
Health ad Safety Further iformatio For iformatio about health ad safety rig HSE s Ifolie Tel: 0845 345 0055 Fax: 0845 408 9566 Textphoe: 0845 408 9577 e-mail: hse.ifolie@atbrit.com or write to HSE Iformatio Services, Caerphilly Busiess Park, Caerphilly CF83 3GG. HSE priced ad free publicatios are available by mail order from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 2WA Tel: 01787 881165 Fax: 01787 313995 Website: www.hsebooks.co.uk (HSE priced publicatios are also available from bookshops ad free leaflets ca be dowloaded from HSE s website: www.hse.gov.uk.) The Statioery Office publicatios are available from The Statioery Office, PO Box 29, Norwich NR3 1GN Tel: 0870 600 5522 Fax: 0870 600 5533 e-mail: customer.services@tso.co.uk Website: www.tso.co.uk (They are also available from bookshops.) Statutory Istrumets ca be viewed free of charge at www.opsi.gov. uk. Published by HSE 09/09 Page 98 of 98