A health and safety management system is officially a set of policies, procedures and plans that systematically manages health and safety at work with the aim of minimising the risk of injury and illness at work. It can be a framework, a set of guidelines, a tool or a formal management system that helps companies manage the health and safety of its employees, suppliers and/or partners. For example, establishing, logging and monitoring procedures for incidents or having access to real time monitoring and reporting of inspections, surveys or audits for compliance.
Most employers that employ five or more people should know that having an official health and safety policy is a legal requirement. However, while policies themselves can be simple and straightforward, sometimes the actual implementation can be considerably more challenging.
Health and safety management is a continuous process as each element or stage overlaps and often leads to the next as an organisation evaluates its processes to improve overall business performance. Inevitably health and safety management is 4 key stages, planning, doing, acting and checking.
Sometimes referred to as an occupational health and safety (OHS) management system, it should also include the health and safety policies, systems, standards, and records, and involves incorporating your health and safety activities and program into your other business processes. Having an effective management system improves your ability to continuously identify hazards and control risks in your workplace.
An effective management system includes the below components
- Management leadership and commitment.
- Identifying hazards and managing risk.
- Inspection of premises, equipment, workplaces & work practices.
- Investigation of incidents.
- Joint health and safety committee & representatives.
- Occupational health and safety programs.
Certain factors will inevitably arise when discussing health and safety management systems. A HSE Management System is an integrated approach where all the 3 HSE factors are effectively managed to reduce risks. The objectives are to provide a structured management approach to control these safety risks and a business must have a system to monitor and measure OH&S performance as well as its legal compliance on a regular basis.
- Policy.
- Organisational competence.
- Planning through risk assessment.
- Monitoring performance.
- Review.
A truly effective health & safety management system establishes and maintains a culture of safety that permeates the entire organisation………which is exactly what our activ.SHEQ software does!