Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Importance of safety
The benefits of maintaining a safe work environment are many, but first and foremost, safety is
about what can be done to protect workers. Employers should send their workers home in the
same condition they came in. Therefore safety management is very important for a company.
But the practice of safety also brings financial benefits to the company. A safe work environment
impacts a project’s bottom line both directly and indirectly. Costs associated with incidents,
including lost costs, worker’s compensation claims, insurance costs and legal fees are
minimized in a safe work environment. So are the indirect costs that follow incidents, including
the lost productivity when other workers focus their attention in dealing with an incident. If work
is done safely, it’s going to relate to fewer schedule interruptions, which will minimize costs.
On the flip side, a safe work environment boosts employee morale, which, in turn, increases
productivity, efficiency and profit margins. When people feel like they have a good, safe work
environment, they feel like they can make a difference. There are fewer staff absences, less
staff turnover and an improved quality of work.
Implementing a safety program is a cost effective decision for the company. It’s the right thing
to do financially, too. Lower injury rates lead to higher profit margins. Evidence shows that
companies who implement effective safety and health programs can expect to see their injury
and illness rates reduced by 20 percent or more and a return of 5 to 6 times for every rupee
invested in the safety program. Employee injuries account for about 6 to 9 percent of project
costs on a job site without a safety program, as opposed to only 2.5 percent of project costs with
a well implemented safety program.
The positive business benefits of safety extend beyond financials. A solid safety program can
help protect a company’s reputation. Lost time means poor service quality. This can lead to
customer dissatisfaction and loss of future business. Safety management helps companies
defend their hard earned reputation by helping them improve their safety records.
Safety Management also helps companies comply with federal and state worker safety rules
and satisfies insurance company requirements. Safety Management can help owners anticipate
and meet legal requirements for worker safety and identify situations that are likely to draw legal
attention. Safety Management helps during regulatory inspections. The company’s experience
in loss control prevention and working with insurance carriers can also help clients satisfy
insurance requirements and lower their insurance costs.
No one can argue with the fact that workplace safety is important, yet it’s often unintentionally
overlooked, leaving workers and others on the job site exposed to risk. Safety professionals and
safety advisors can identify unsafe acts and conditions and provide practical solutions for
minimizing those risks. Additionally, safety professionals can help to develop a culture of safety
on their job sites. The on or off the site training that Safety Management provides can equip all
the members of a organization with the tools they need to perform their job safely, whether they
need basic safety training or project specific safety training. Every person on the company roll
required to know their roles regarding safety. The project manager, the foreman, the
superintendent, and the field worker all have a responsibility.
Injury
Hazard
Dangerous occurrence
The dangerous occurrences in a factory as per Karnataka Factories Rule 1969 are,
Bursting of a plant used for containing or supplying steam under pressure greater than
atmospheric pressure other than plants which comes within the scope of the Indian
Boiler Act 1923.
Collapse or failures of a crane, derrick, winch, hoist or other appliances used in raising
or lowering the persons or goods or any part of thereof, or overturning of a crane.
Explosion or fire causing damage to any room or place in which persons are employed,
or fire in rooms of cotton pressing factories where a cotton opener is in use
Explosion of a receiver or container used for the storage at a pressure greater than
atmospheric pressure of any gas or gases (including air) or any liquid or solid resulting
from the compression of gas
Collapse or subsidence of any floor, gallery, roof, bridge, tunnel, chimney, wall or
building forming a part of a factory or within the compound or cartilage of factory
Unsafe Act
The performance of a task or a activity in a manner that may threaten the health and/or safety of
workers. An unsafe act is something that someone does that results in, or could result in an
accident.
Examples are:
Examples are:
Defective tools, equipment, or supplies.
Inadequate supports or guards.
Congestion in the workplace.
Inadequate warning systems.
Fire and explosion hazards.
Poor housekeeping.
Hazardous atmospheric condition.
Excessive noise.
Poor ventilation.
Slippery floor,
Machine guards missing from a machine
Exposed electrical wiring,
Poor lighting
If a machine that should be equipped with a guard but it isn’t, is an unsafe condition. If the
machine has a guard, but the operator bypasses it, that’s an unsafe act. It has been concluded
by experts who analyze accidents and statistics that unsafe acts are responsible for a far
greater percentage of the total accidents
Cost of an accident
Accidents are more expensive than most people realize because of the hidden costs. Some
costs are obvious and some are not. The cost of accident can be mainly classified into two
categories. One is direct cost which is obvious and another is indirect cost which is hidden cost
or not so obvious. The more accidents that occur in a workplace, the higher the costs, both in
increased insurance premiums and greater indirect costs.
Direct costs are those costs that are accrued directly from the accident. They are quite easy to
calculate, and include the medical costs incurred and the compensation payments made to the
injured workers. Direct costs are usually insurable by the company.
Indirect costs are the less obvious consequences of an accident that cannot be calculated like
direct cost. While the indirect costs created by accidents are hidden, they too must be paid.
They are more difficult to calculate and tend not to be insured.
Time away from the job not covered by workers' compensation insurance;
Payment of other workers who are not injured, for example those who stopped work to
look after or help the injured worker and those who require output from the injured in
order to complete their tasks;
The cost of damage to materials or equipment involved in the accident;
The cost of overtime imposed by the accident (lost production, additional supervision,
and additional resources, etc.);
The cost of wages paid to the supervisor for time spent on activities related to the
accident. This includes caring for the injured, investigating the accident, and supervising
the activities necessary to resume the operation of business. All of these activities will
disrupt the supervisor's productivity;
Costs associated with instructing, training, and repositioning employees in order to
resume production. In some cases, it might even be necessary to hire a replacement
with all the associated hiring costs;
Medical costs paid by the employer that are not covered by the insurance. This may
include treatment facilities, personnel, equipment and supplies;
Cost of managers and clerical personnel investigating and processing claim forms and
related paperwork, telephone calls, interviews, etc.
Wage costs due to decreased productivity once the injured employee returns to work.
This is due to restricted movement or nervousness/cautiousness on the part of the
injured employee and time spent discussing the accident with other employees etc.
Costs brought about from any enforcement action following the accident such as
prosecution fines and costs of imposed remedial works.
In addition to these costs, there are other factors which shall be considered to assess the cost
of accident. Workers who are the victims of work related accidents suffer from material
consequences, which include expenses and loss of earnings, and from intangible
consequences, including pain and suffering, both of which may be of short or long duration.
Doctor’s fees, cost of ambulance or other transport, hospital charges or fees for home
nursing, payments made to persons who gave assistance, cost of artificial limbs and so
on.
The immediate loss of earnings during absence from work (unless insured or
compensated).
Loss of future earnings if the injury is permanently disabling, long term or precludes the
victim’s normal advancement in his or her career or occupation.
Permanent afflictions resulting from the accident, such as mutilation, lameness, loss of
vision, ugly scars or disfigurement, mental changes and so on, which may reduce life
expectancy and give rise to physical or psychological suffering, or to further expenses
arising from the victim’s need to find a new occupation or interests.
In view of the difficulty of estimating overall costs, attempts have been made to arrive at a
suitable value for this figure by expressing the indirect cost as a multiple of the direct cost.
Heinrich, proposed that the indirect costs amounted to four times the direct costs—that is, that
the total cost amounts to five times the direct cost. But this value will be varying from
organization to organization, type of accident and safety program in force in a particular
organisation.
Accident causation is very complex and must be understood adequately in order to improve
accident prevention. Accident causation study holds great promise for those who are interested
in developing the pertinent theory. At present, theories of accident causation are conceptual in
nature and, as such, are of limited use in preventing and controlling accidents. With such a
diversity of theories, it will not be difficult to understand that there does not exists one single
theory that is considered right or correct and is universally accepted. These theories are
nonetheless necessary, but not sufficient, for developing a frame of reference for understanding
accident occurrences.
Theories on accident causation helps in identify, isolate and ultimately remove the factors that
contribute to or cause accidents. Various accident causation theories are discussed below.
According to W.H. Heinrich (1931), who developed the so called domino theory, 88% of all
accidents are caused by unsafe acts of people, 10% by unsafe actions and 2% by “acts of God”.
He proposed a “five-factor accident sequence” in which each factor would actuate the next step
in the manner of toppling dominoes lined up in a row. The sequence of accident factors is as
follows:
1. Origin and social environment: Negative character traits that may lead people to behave
in an unsafe manner can be inherited (ancestry) or acquired as a result of the social
environment.
2. Worker fault: Negative character traits, whether inherited or acquired, are why people
behave in an unsafe manner and why hazardous conditions exist.
3. Un safe act together with mechanical and physical hazard: Unsafe acts committed by
people and mechanical or physical hazards are the direct causes of accident.
4. Accident: Typically, accidents that result in injury are caused by falling or being hit by
moving objects.
5. Damage or injury: Typical injuries resulting from accidents include lacerations and
fractures.
Overload: Overload amounts to an imbalance between a person’s capacity at any given time
and the load that person is carrying in a given state. A person’s capacity is the product of such
factors as his or her natural ability, training, state of mind, fatigue, stress, and physical condition.
The load that a person is carrying consists of tasks for which he or she is responsible and
added burdens resulting from environmental factors (noise, distractions, and so on), internal
factors (personal problems, emotional stress, and worry), and situational factors (level of risk,
unclear instructions, and so on). The state in which a person is acting is the product of his or her
motivational and arousal levels.
Inappropriate Response and Incompatibility: How a person responds in a given situation can
cause or prevent an accident.
A person is responding inappropriately when
he detects a hazardous condition but does nothing to correct it,
removes a safeguard from a machine in an effort to increase output,
he disregards an established safety procedure.
Such responses can lead to accidents. In addition to inappropriate responses, this component
includes workstation incompatibility. The incompatibility of a person’s workstation with regard to
size, force, reach, feel, and similar factors can lead to accidents and injuries.
In this model, overload, ergonomic traps, or decision to err lead to human error. The decision to
err may be conscious and based on logic, or it may be unconscious. A variety of pressures such
as deadlines, peer pressure, and budget factors can lead to unsafe behavior.
Another factor that can influence such a decision is the “It won’t happen to me” syndrome.
Epidemiology is the study of causal relationships between environmental factors and disease.
The epidemiological theory holds that the models used for studying and determining these
relationships can also be used to study causal relationships between environmental factors and
accidents or diseases.
For example, if an employee who is particularly susceptible to peer pressure (pre dispositional
characteristic) is pressured by his coworkers (situational characteristic) to speed up his
operation, the result will be an increased probability of an accident.
A system is a group of regularly interacting and interrelated components that together form a
unified whole. This definition is the basis for the systems theory of accident causation.
This theory views a situation in which an accident may occur as a system comprised of the
following components.
person (host),
machine (agency), and
environment
For example, an experienced employee who operates a numerically controlled five axis
machining center in a shop environment may take a two week vacation. Her temporary
replacement may be a less experienced employee. This change in one component of the
system (person/host) increases the probability of an accident. Such a simple example is easily
understood. However, not all changes in patterns of interaction are this simple. Some are so
subtle that their analysis may require a team of people, each with a different type of expertise.
However, the environment in which the machine operator is working is unusually hectic, and the
pressure to complete an order that is already behind schedule is intense. These factors are
stressors that can cloud the judgment of those collecting information, weighing risks, and
making the decision. When stressors are introduced between points 1and 3 in Figure above, the
likelihood of an accident increases.
For this reason, five factors should be considered before beginning the process of collecting
information, weighing risks, and making a decision:
Job requirements
The workers’ abilities and limitations
The gain if the task is successfully accomplished
The loss if the task is attempted but fails
The loss if the task is not attempted
These factors can help a person achieve the proper perspective before performing the above-
mentioned tasks. It is particularly important to consider these factors when stressors such as
noise, time constraints, or pressure from a supervisor may tend to cloud one’s judgment.
BBS is an innovative and practical application of standard behavioral theory to the field of
occupational safety. These theories are relevant in any situation in which certain types of human
behaviors are desired while others are to be avoided. Positive reinforcement in the form of
incentives and rewards is used to promote the desired (safe) behaviors and to discourage
undesirable (unsafe) behaviors.
BBS use the “ABC” model to summarize the concept of understanding human behavior and
developing appropriate interventions when the behavior is undesirable (unsafe). The model is
explained below
Behavior-based safety trainers and consultants teach the ABC model (or three-term
contingency) as a framework to understand and analyze behavior or to develop interventions for
improving behavior. As given in BBS principle 3 . . . the “A” stands for activators or antecedent
events that precede behavior (“B”) and “C” refers to the consequences following behavior or
produced by it. Activators direct behavior, whereas consequences motivate behavior.
The expansion of the ABC model to ABCO: The “O” stands for outcomes.
“Outcome” refers to the longer-term results of engaging in safe or unsafe behavior.
For example, an antecedent of a sign requiring employees to wear safety goggles could
produce the behavior of putting on the goggles, the consequence of avoiding an eye injury, and
the outcome of being able to continue working and enjoying time with the family. On the other
hand, the consequence of not wearing goggles could be an eye injury with a potential outcome
of blindness, time off the job, and a reduced quality of life. Failure to address the issue of
outcomes represents a lost opportunity to give employees a good reason for engaging in safe
behaviors
According to this theory, the contributory factors can be grouped into the following two
categories:
Behavioural: This category includes factors pertaining to the worker, such as improper
attitude, lack of knowledge, lack of skills and inadequate physical and mental condition.
Environmental: This category includes improper guarding of other hazardous work elements
and degradation of equipment through use and unsafe procedures.
The major contribution of this theory is to bring out the fact that rarely, if ever, is an accident the
result of a single cause or act.
The receiver of energy transfer can be assisted by adopting the following measures:
limitation of exposure
use of personal protective equipment.
Safety budget: It is forecasting the future needs and crises of staff from a safety point of view.
The safety budget is used for funding all activities that make Safety Management System (SMS)
reach the highest standard of safety.
The following factors shall also be considered while budgeting for safety.
Equipment and items: From critical program equipment needs such as confined space and air
monitoring to simple items such as anti fatigue mats or a better shoe cover, consider both
original costs and replacement costs for items.
Purchase of PPE: Emerging and existing hazards shall be considered while budgeting for the
PPE’s. Also provisions shall be made for the emergency like earthquake, hurricane, or flood.
Professional development: Safety professionals have to refresh and enhance their knowledge
by attending advanced training sessions and examining what is new on the market. They must
attend training and conferences in order to lead effectively, keep up to date with a good
personal set of resources, including books and magazines that will challenge and keep them on
task. Therefore provision shall be made for this in safety budget.
Management Information System (MIS) is an integral part of modern day safety management
functions and requires the same degree of thought and attention as the other management
aspects. The system must be dynamic, evolving and continually improving, which can be made
possible through effective monitoring of Safety Management System (SMS) by auditing and
inspection. Simple compliance with prescriptive legislation will no longer be an acceptable
policy. Any MIS would have to be designed to be practical and 'user friendly', such that it will
promote a 'Safety Culture' in an efficient and effective manner. Management Information
System for Industrial Safety Health and Environment contains in-depth discussions on MIS
aspects with respect to safety management activities including Hazard and Risk Management,
Safety Education and Training, Work-environment Monitoring, Safety Performance Monitoring
and Reporting, Gap Analysis and Continual Improvement.
Indian statutes are not very categorical about the development and implementation of MIS at
work. But the recent amendment to various statutes makes it necessary for the organization to
handle enormous HSE information not only for statutory reporting purpose, but also for efficient
management of information and record keeping. These indirectly necessitated the use of
customized HSE software.
For example the Factories Act, 1948 requires the disclosure of HSE information to stake
holders, workers and the member of public. It is obvious that the task can be better
accomplished through HSE MIS. Besides, the MIS for accident/incident investigation, reporting,
and analysis is necessary for database management and prompt reporting under many major
act and rules.
Similarly for the legal compliance of the provision of the different applicable Acts the
organization requires that the organization generates various reports on the SHE management
system, including the contractor management and training aspects. These includes third party
audit reports, safety report, on and off site plans, mock exercise reporting, lesson learned
reporting, status report on environmental stipulations, various quarterly and annual returns
under Air and Water Acts and Mines Act, etc.
In essence the implementation of the HSE MIS in organization will certainly improve their HSE
management capabilities towards fulfillment of statutory obligations and beyond.
A MIS is usually a computer based data information system wherein required information flows
throughout the organization through collection of data, creation of a database, transferring and
Types of information:
The various type of information required to be handled by the safety professional are,
– Strategic information (Information required for long term planning) like Disaster planning,
rescue and evacuation planning, layout planning, mock drill information etc.
– Tactical information (needed for short term decision making) like procurement of PPE’s.,
identifying the need for training, equipment availability, ambient air/ stack monitoring etc.
– Operational information (day to day operations) like fire protection system, training
program conducted, inspection reports, air water monitoring reports etc.
– Statutory information (as required by law) such as accident/incident/ dangerous
occurrence/ disease reporting, half yearly or annual returns etc.
To accomplish its task, any Management Information System needs the following components:
Hardware: Connects with the core processes and captures and stores all required
relevant data
Software: Processes the data, converts them into usable information and reports
Data: Is required by the management to generate reports and analyze the processes
People: At different levels of authorization to view and modify records or information to
represent sensible and interpretable information.
Having a robust Management Information System that can produce any reports required
by management, reduces time spent on producing and validating reports. A huge
amount of effort is spent on analyzing the data and representing reports in a useful
manner. This saved time can be spent in useful manner.
At plant level
National level
DGFASLI, Mumbai
The Labour bureau, Shimla and Chandigarh and their state offices
NSC with its HQ at Mumbai and its chapters in various cities
National Institute for Occupational Health, Ahmedabad
Factory Inspectorate of all states and UT
Internet
International level
Securing stored data involves preventing unauthorized people from accessing it as well as
preventing accidental or intentional destruction, infection or corruption of information. Steps to
secure data involve understanding applicable threats, aligning appropriate layers of defense and
continual monitoring of activity logs taking action as needed.
Implement a tiered data protection and security model including multiple perimeter rings
of defense to counter applicable threats. Multiple layers of defense can isolate and
protect data should one of the defense perimeters be compromised from internal or
external threats.
Include both logical (authorization, authentication, encryption and passwords) and
physical (restricted access and locks on server, storage and networking cabinets)
security.
Logical security includes securing your networks with firewalls, running antispyware and
virus detection programs on servers and network addressed storage systems.
If you are currently moving data electronically to avoid losing tapes or are planning to,
then make sure data being transmitted over a public or private network is safe and
secure.
Good housekeeping,
Fire protection system,
Regular check up for faulty electrical lines, AC malfunctioning etc.
Collection
Accident data,
Dangerous occurrence data,
Dangerous goods data,
Hazardous places identification data,
Cost of accidents and property damage losses etc.
Requirement of PPE’s and procurement, issue data
Data regarding issue of Work permit.
Data regarding induction training, refresher training
Plant safety inspection data
Compilation
Data collected shall be arranged in subject wise or head wise,In the form of tables,
charts, reports etc.
Analysis
The data collected shall be analysed under different types of situations for identification
of target area of action, priority of remedial measures etc. Example: No of accident in
day shift or night shift, Procurement of respirator based on type, safety shoes
requirement (size wise) etc.
SMS
E-mail
Publishing in company websites.
Auditing
They are
Typical examples of opportunities or challenges that HS & E manager may required to justify
are,
determining the business value of buying newer, faster, safer process equipment versus
continuing with existing equipment but upgrading the company’s personal protective
equipment program and increasing employee hazard avoidance training,
determining whether to increase staff to take over a short term disability case
management function in house versus use of an external contractor,
determine whether to design and make changes to reduce risk factors in an operation
despite the fact that few employee complaints have been received and no employee
injuries have been recorded.
Examples of questions the team should address during this phase are,
Not all of the parameters need be examined for each analysis and also it depends on the job in
hand. Analysis of these impacts results in metrics such as Net Present Value, Return on
Investment, Internal Rate of Return, and Discounted Payback Period.
Hidden impacts are defined as those health and safety impacts on business performance that
are hard to observe and to quantify. The hidden impacts can also assessed through a structured
questionnaire and decision matrix process in areas like indirect impacts on worker productivity,
product quality, and customer satisfaction associated with each alternative. At the completion of
the analysis of the direct and hidden impacts, we will have both quantified financial and
business metrics, as well as semi quantitative rankings of key business impacts, to evaluate and
to compare each of the alternatives.
4. Make a recommendation
After data have been gathered and analyzed, evaluate the degree to which each investment
alternative meets the requirements and constraints that were identified during the analysis. The
learning and metrics that have developed should contribute to an investment decision that
considers additional criteria. Investments, however, should also support the company’s
environmental, health and safety strategy, the company’s business strategy. Furthermore, an
explicit discussion about how the company and business unit manage environmental, health
and safety risk should take place to ensure that investment decisions do not arbitrarily assume a
‘‘risk neutral’’ position
Safety ultimately is about what happens in the workplace. When leaders set the directive to
change the culture and lead improvement throughout the organization, it becomes imperative to
transfer safety leadership principles and practices down to the site level.
In most organizations, supervisors and middle managers are key influences on organizational
effectiveness and the natural proxy for senior leaders in day-to-day activities. Yet they often are
left out of safety improvement efforts, largely because their role in safety is poorly understood.
This article discusses the important role supervisors and middle managers play in safety
improvement, and the key activities that can help them fulfill this role.
At its heart, management is about motivating, coordinating and directing the efforts of other
people in accomplishing organizational objectives.
While front line employees exercise some control over how they interact with the technology,
they often have little if any control over the quality or condition of equipment, how systems fit the
particular situation, the unstated assumptions of the organization or other factors that affect the
level of exposure to hazard. This is where supervisors and middle managers come in.
By virtue of their proximity to the front line, supervisors and managers provide the first line of
defense in managing safety issues, communicating organizational priorities and values and
building relationships with individual team members. They act as messengers from the senior
leader to the employee and back up to leadership. The basic safety role of supervisors and
managers is to enable and reduce exposures and to promote a culture in which injuries are not
acceptable.
Supervisors or middle managers are responsible for multiple priorities but have limited time in
which to manage them. In addition, many people are promoted into these positions for their
technical expertise and may not have received formal training in management and leadership.
Engaging supervisors and managers effectively in safety requires more than a general charge
to “support safety.” Organizations need to define specific activities that can be integrated with
the supervisor’s or manager’s other tasks and demands, including (at least):
Sustained Engagement
While skills development is important part to this effort, it would be a mistake to rely on training
alone. Behaviors can drive change only when aligned with the goals of the organization,
modeled by others in the team, and reinforced by leaders. Organizations hoping to tap into the
leverage of supervisors and middle managers on safety must be prepared to define a clear,
comprehensive and sustained path forward
Safety Management
Safety management means the management functions connected with the carrying on of an
enterprise that relate to the safety of personnel in the enterprise, including
An important concept in an effective safety management system (SMS) is that it is not the sole
responsibility of the company’s safety office — it is the responsibility of everyone within the
company.
Senior managers are responsible for establishing and maintaining the SMS. Their roles and
responsibilities include:
Establishing levels of acceptable risk;
Establishing safety policy;
Employee acceptance of the SMS and safety programs is essential for success and can be
achieved by having employees:
Help develop and establish safety programs;
Participate on safety committees;
Follow established procedures and not take short cuts;
Assist in investigation Report hazards and incidents; and,
Provide feedback to managers
Establish an OH&S management system to eliminate or minimize risk to employees and other
interested parties who may be exposed to OH&S risks associated with its activities;
Implement, maintain and continually improve an OH&S management system;
Assure itself of its conformance with its stated OH&S policy;
Demonstrate such conformance to others;
Seek certification/registration of its OH&S management system by an external organization; or
Make a self-determination and declaration of conformance with this OHSAS specification."
4.2 Policy: The next clause of the standard requires that an occupational health and safety policy
developed and approved by top management and relating to the scope of the OHSMS be formulated and
in place. This is usually a short statement that sets the stage for the remaining components of the
OHSMS and provides the framework for the review of health and safety programs with defined objectives
and targets.
4.3.1 Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Determining Controls: This sub-clause requires a
procedure to identify workplace hazards, assess the risks associated with them and determine the
controls that the company can implement to mitigate the effects of the identified significant risks.
4.3.2 Legal and Other Requirements: There is a requirement for a procedure to explain how the
company obtains information regarding its legal and other requirements, and makes that information
known to relevant functions within the company.
4.3.3 Objectives and Programs: There is a requirement for a system that ensures that health and
safety programs with objectives and targets are consistent with the policy, which includes the
commitments to compliance with legal and other requirements, continual improvement, and prevention of
injury and ill health
4.4.2 Competence, Training, and Awareness: The primary requirement is to ensure that persons
performing tasks that have or can impact on health and safety and/or relate to the legal and other
requirements are competent and able to do the tasks. Competence is ensured through appropriate
education, training, and/or experience. The company needs to identify training needs as they relate to the
OHSMS, the risks associated with the significant hazards and the legal and other requirements and make
sure this training is provided and records maintained.
4.4.3 Communication, Participation and consultation. Procedures covering both internal and external
communication are to be documented. For internal communications, the procedure needs to describe
how communication among the levels of the company is accomplished. For external communications, the
procedure has to describe how external communications are received, documented, and responses
provided.
.
4.4.4 Documentation: This requirement ensures that the company has documented the system (in either
electronic or paper form) that addresses the clauses of the standard, describes how the company
conforms to each clause and sub-clause, and provides direction to related documentation.
4.4.5 Control of Documents: The company is required to control documents, so that the latest versions
of the OHSMS manual with its system procedures and work instructions are distributed and obsolete
4.4.6 Operational Control: For this requirement, critical functions related to the policy, significant health
and safety hazards, the legal and other requirements, and objectives and programs are identified.
Procedures and work instructions are required to ensure proper execution of activities. This sub-clause
includes communicating applicable system requirements to contractors who are involved on behalf of the
company.
4.4.7 Emergency Preparedness and Response: Although, this sub-clause can typically be addressed
through conventional emergency response plans, it also requires that a process exist for actually
identifying the potential emergencies, in addition to planning and mitigating them.
4.5 Checking
4.5.1 Performance Measurement and Monitoring: To properly manage the OHSMS, monitoring must
be done and measurements taken to determine how the system is performing. Data generated from this
activity can be analyzed and improvement action identified.
4.5.2 Evaluation of Compliance: The company should have a procedure to periodically evaluate its
compliance with applicable legal requirements. The company will need to keep records of these periodic
evaluations.
4.5.4 Control of Records: Records are expected to be generated to provide the objective evidence and
to serve as verification that the system is functioning and that the company is in conformance to the
standard and to its own OHSMS requirements.
4.5.5 Internal Audit: The OHSAS 18001 standard requires that internal audits be carried out. A
procedure that includes the methods, schedules, checklists and forms, and processes used to conduct
the audits shall be available.
4.6 Management Review: The last clause of OHSAS 18001:2007 requires that, at planned intervals, top
management reviews the OHSMS to ensure it is operating and functioning as planned, and is suitable,
adequate, and effective. The company needs to ensure that the inputs for management reviews include
results of internal audits, evaluation of compliance with legal and other requirements, results of
participation and consultation, relevant communications from external interested parties, OH&S
performance, extent to which objectives and targets are met, status of incident investigations, status of
corrective and preventive actions, follow up on actions from prior management reviews, changing
conditions or situations, and recommendations for improvement.