Everyone knows about the amazing benefits of creating a safe work environment, such as increased employee morale, improved productivity, lower turnover, higher quality, and much more. However, the process of creating this environment is more of an enigma.
While OSHA compliance and having folder full of safety practices is a good place start, most businesses get lost in the process. In order to truly succeed in creating a safe work environment, you must develop an effective safety management system.
An effective safety management system essentially integrates safety and health into your business's core operations. By developing, designing, and (most importantly) implementing an effective safety management system, your brand will have all of the measure in place for reporting, responsibilities, planning, and resources to create a much safer work environment.
Continue reading to learn more about creating an effective safety management system.
Why Create an Effective Safety Management System?
Your safety plan is a strategic plan of action that essentially becomes a part of your overall business plan.
The plan should analyze all prospective and current risks for your business. It should also examine the viable and effective steps your organization can take to control and eradicate those risks over a specified period. As a result, any effective safety management system will have a budget.
An effective safety management system will guide your organization and set a clear direction for everyone to follow. It should contribute to various aspects of business performance and be a demonstration of your dedication to continuous improvement. This plan will ensure responsibilities are met and safety a safe working environment is created.
Cost-effective approaches to developing and preserving human resources will reduce liabilities and financial losses. An effective safety management plan will ensure there is a governance structure within your organization. It will also ensure everyone clearly understands their obligations and are held accountable.
In a much larger context, creating an effective safety management system will help you meet the expectations of shareholders, stakeholders, and society at large.
Components of a Safety Management System
1.Planning the Safety Management System
It's important the entire workplace take part in formulating the safety plan. At the same time, the proper arrangements and a separate management structure should be implemented to deliver the policy. All employees and managers should have safety and health objectives and targets.
2. Documentation of Policies, Processes, and Procedures
Policies, processes, and procedures include all of the paper and digital safety infrastructures within your business. Essentially, your policies, processes, and procedures will explain all safety behavior, record keeping expectations, incident notification, incident reporting, and documentation.
3. Training and Implementation
If your safety management plan is to be effective, you must develop the right mechanics and capabilities to achieve the desired safety and health targets and objectives.
Instead of simply looking to avoid accidents, everyone on your team should be empowered and motivated to work safely and protect their long term health.
Depending on whether your workplace is high-risk or low-risk, everyone who enters the site should always receive training on:
- The safety rules of the location they are visiting
- The rules of the site
- The rules of your company
In any case, the amount of training and content of the training should be based on the level of risk the individual will be exposed to.
4. Monitoring
When implementing an effective safety management system, monitoring is key. It's vital to continually monitor and assess risk levels. The more risk your organization has, the more detailed and frequent your monitoring should be.
You should also beef up monitoring to:
- Ensure every risk has been included in a new assessment that is the result of a process change, such as the installation of new equipment
- Anytime there has been an investigation after an incident.
5. Supervision
Supervision is the only bona fide way to guarantee your employees are upholding their safety obligation.
The amount of supervision required for your workplace will range based on several factors. For instance, you may need to implement a higher level of supervision if you are using less effective control measures.
6. Auditing and Performance Review
It's important to continually review and improve your safety management system on a continual basis. In the process, you can learn from relevant experiences and implement those new lessons.
You should systematically review information from independent audits and performance based data gained through monitoring.
All performances should be assessed on:
- Internal key performance indicators
- External comparisons of industry standards
Contact the Safety Management System Experts at Premier Safety Partners
With decades of experience, the safety experts at Premier Safety Partners are leaders in the industry. We bring a wealth of individual and collaborative experience across multiple industries.
Contact the safety management system experts today at Premier Safety Partners.
Discover how we can help your organization achieve safety excellence!
Premier Safety Partners specializes in designing innovative safety solutions to ensure compliance and mitigate organizational risk. Request a consultation to learn more.