Figure 1: Containers – Flammable Materials
If you really want to control injuries and illness,
you must persuade management to implement a
health and safety management system and integrate
the health and safety management system
into other business objectives such as quality. Injury
and illness prevention cannot be simply an OSHA
compliance issue or be accomplished by varied standalone
tasks.
For example, how do you
ensure that the bonding and
grounding straps in Figure 1 (below)
remain properly attached? If you
don’t do it right, it’s an OSHA
violation because a static spark
may occur and cause a fire, explosion
or other problem.
I asked a plant manager this question many years
ago and his response was typical of someone who did
not see the big picture of safety. He felt that all that
was necessary was to ensure that employees working
in the area knew that the straps must remain properly
affixed.
The answer seems simple enough; management set
the objective. If the objective is not met, it’s mostly a
behavioral safety issue. If a bonding/grounding strap
is not attached, it’s the employee’s fault. Is this correct,
or is there more that must be considered?
Diagram 1 – Example: H&S Management System
The big picture
To solve the problem of potentially missing/broken bonding/ground strap in Figure 1, all of the activities in Diagram 1 (below), and possibly more, must be active.
Consider some of the points in the diagram. Employees may know they have some obligation to keep bonding and grounding straps properly attached; but what if the strap is broken? Who reports that the strap is broken?
Who gets a new strap? What if budget is tight and a proper strap is hard to obtain?
Who installs the new strap? How do we know the new strap was installed properly? How soon does a new strap have to be installed? Do we stop work without the strap? And how important is it that the bonding/ grounding straps remain affixed?
Management system
Diagram 1 show some of the elements found in
every health and safety management system including
OSHA VPP, OHSAS 18001, ILO-OSH, and ANSI/
AIHA Z10. The diagram contains
the key concepts of: 1)
management leadership and
employee involvement; 2)
planning; 3) implementation
and operation; 4) checking
and corrective action; and 5)
management review. These
key concepts are represented
in a continual improvement cycle based on the quality
concept of “Plan-Do-Check-Act.”
Diagram 2 – Example of Gears in an Integrated Management System
Integrated systems
As business becomes more globally competitive,
management must continually consider new or
improved best practices to stay viable. Diagram 2 (below)
shows how best practices in the form of consensus
standards or management specifications may mesh
together in an integrated mechanism where one program
or system helps to drive and support another
system. As good as they are, stand-alone
systems, such as ANSI Z10, may not be
enough today.
More gears?
Diagram 2 may contain more gears,
depending on need. For example, ANSI/
ASSE Z490.1-2009 “Criteria for Accepted Practices
in Safety, Health, and Environmental Training” was
issued as a final standard in May 2009. To improve
the mechanism, ANSI Z490.1 may need to engage
with the other systems. And if management really
doesn’t understand what your job does, installing
and engaging the gear ANSI/ASSE Z590.2 “Criteria
for Establishing the Scope and Functions of the
Professional Safety Position” may be warranted.
Lead gear
Regardless of what gears mesh into an integrated
system, it now seems prudent to have ISO 31000
“Risk Management — Principles and Guidelines on
Implementation” as the lead gear, particularly where
health and safety concerns are present. Here’s why:
Handling nanomaterials, exposure to the H1N1 flu
virus, developmental health risks, electromagnetic
energies, and mental stress are examples where OSHA
compliance is absent or inadequate. A health and
safety management system could overlook new and
emerging risks and ISO 31000 would help bring these
risks into consideration.
The bigger picture
You need to help management see the big picture of
safety — almost every safety or health hazard can be
placed into the middle of Diagram 1 and the surrounding
elements are necessary to fully resolve the concern.
Help management appreciate the bigger picture why all
necessary gears in the overall management mechanism
need to mesh together to achieve health and safety as
well as other business objectives.
