Description
Having an effective health and safety management system, reduces work-related illness and accidents. The main aims of health and safety management systems is to satisfy moral, legal and financial criteria. Considering the points mentioned above, write a report covering the following points:
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- Discuss the key elements of occupational health and safety management systems in organisations.
- Identify the different factors that determine the application of these key elements in organisations .
- Explain the systematic process for managing risks in organisations.
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Occupational Health and Safety Management Report
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Introduction
For every business, employees are considered among the most important stakeholders
because they are the ones that perform the business processes that allow an organization to meet
its business objectives. Because of this, employees’ welfare is essential for consideration at all
times. Employers can manage employee welfare at the workplace on several fronts, including
psychologically and physically. Considering the physical aspect of employee welfare,
Occupational Safety and health management ensure that employers have developed a safe
environment for their employees to operate in. For any business to survive, it has to manage its
occupational health and safety risks. Identifying risks and planning for them beforehand helps
ensure employee safety and guarantee their well-being at all times.
Creating and maintaining a safe working environment for employees is not an easy task,
especially for organizations that have several employees. At times, it is possible to overlook
certain aspects that may threaten the safety of employees, thereby putting them at risk. To ensure
organizations have effectively managed their employees' occupational health and safety,
occupational health and safety management systems are developed to provide comprehensive
strategies to create and maintain healthy and safe work environments. The occupational health
and safety management system brings together all elements within an organization that need
attention to ensure safe working places for both the management and employees and external
stakeholders like affiliates and consumers.
The process of developing occupational health and safety management systems within an
organization, as initially stated, may be tedious and overwhelming. It can also be customized
according to the specific needs of any organization and the desired objectives. However, there
are six key elements that all organizations must adhere to in the development of such
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management systems. This paper outlines the key elements needed for effective occupational
health and safety management systems within an organization. These factors determine the
application of such management systems, systematic processes for implementing risk
management and recommendations for organizations.
Key elements of occupational health and safety management systems in an organization
All businesses have risks that threaten the well-being of their ability to meet
organizational objectives. There are health and safety risks in the organization that threaten the
well-being of human resources within such firms. There are risk management systems in place to
plan for and mitigate risks upon their occurrence. To effectively manage health and safety within
organizations, the Deming cycle is used as a management model to implement occupational
health and safety management (RLS Human Care, 2018). In this cycle, the first steps are known
as ‘planning’, preceded by ‘do’ then ‘check’ and finally ‘act.’ The key elements of occupational
health and safety management systems also adhere to the PDCA cycle. This paper will analyze
basics key elements and how they follow the basic PDCA cycle in the subsequent paragraphs.
Safety plan
A safety plan is a deliberate strategy developed due to the analysis of current and
prospective risks that a company is likely to face (Weekes, 2017). The safety plan includes an
overview of all risks that may negatively impact the health and safety of employees within the
workforce. Further, it also outlines strategies for risk mitigation and controlling them with
associated timelines. In more comprehensive safety plans, there are financial liabilities
associated with the risk. For instance, it could contain an approximate of funds that the company
would have to part with to mitigate the risk of its occurrence. The rationale behind including
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financials in this process is to allocate funds dedicated to risk mitigation in preparation for their
occurrence.
A safety plan is the first key element of occupational health and safety management
system. Deliberate plans developed to mitigate risks are important to think ahead before such
occurrences happen. If a company is adequately prepared for any risks, chances are, it will
effectively manage them in the shortest time possible, allowing for business continuity upon
occurrence. The safety plan ensures that there is a structure within the organization that mandates
all employees to understand their safety obligations, comply with such responsibilities, and
create accountability for all of them to comply with the safety mandates.
Policies, procedures and processes
Immediately after developing the safety plan, a write-up of policies, processes and
procedures is developed. A policy is a statement of intent that the management of an
organization makes to show commitment to the objectives of occupational health and safety
within an organization in maintaining and operating within safety parameters to reduce accidents
within the workplace or achieving zero harm (RLS Human Care, 2018). Normally, this write-up
explains the deliberations of the safety plan, which are fundamental activities that need to be
undertaken, backed up with facts, which will allow all employees operating within such
guidelines to be healthy and safe. Policies, procedures and processes are a key element in
occupational health and safety management systems because they describe safety expectations,
acceptable non-acceptable behaviour, record keeping, channels for incident reporting, and
incident notification documentation. In essence, it gives employees a chance to understand their
safety obligations, how to comply with them and what exactly to do when risks present within
the organization.
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Training and induction
In the PDCA cycle, the last two key elements fall in the planning section. Training and
induction, however, falls in the ‘do’ section. In this key element, all the deliberations and
contents of the policy are disseminated to employees in the workplace. Employees are prepared
for risks by being exposed to simulations or scenarios similar to specific risks. Training and
induction aim to mentally, and in some cases, physically ready the employees to tackle risks
when they occur. Depending on the nature of the workplace, either as low-risk or high-risk, all
employees and other human resources that have access to areas probable to experience the risk
receive training and induction. The process equips these human resources will knowledge on
how to handle risk situations. The content of such training depends on the types of risk a person
is exposed to in their work area or location.
Monitoring
Monitoring is a process that helps to measure the performance of risk strategies in place
by the organization. Monitoring falls in the ‘check’ category. It is meant to evaluate, investigate
and review if the strategies outlined in the policy are effective and meet the objectives for which
they were set. The process can take both proactive and reactive approaches. Proactive
approaches...