![[PukiWiki]](image/pukiwiki.png "[PukiWiki]")
|
Safety management refers to a framework and processes that apply engineering, chemistry, ergonomics and other scientific disciplines to improve company workflow and worker performance. This applies to improving operational systems through analyzing and correcting mistakes before they become accidents. How the management team supports the safety effort also plays a role here, especially when times get tough. How does the company prioritize its resources, messages and actions? A risk assessment is an essential part of any safety management system. It will help you identify what steps need to be taken to prevent hazards from occurring and protect your employees. It is also an opportunity to look at your current controls and make sure they are up to date, effective and in line with legal requirements. The assessment will gather all the relevant information available about each hazard, including: Technical data such as Safety Data Sheets from chemical manufacturers, self-inspection reports, inspection results from other parties, patterns of illness and injury among workers, and hazard monitoring. The risk assessment will determine how serious the potential impact of each hazard is. It will rank them in order of priority and then decide on the action required to eliminate, control or mitigate them. This could include eliminating a hazard altogether or changing the way it is used to reduce its likelihood of causing harm. It is important to remember that the risks identified will change over time so it is essential that you review and revise your assessment on a regular basis, especially when new machines or chemicals are introduced. A Safety Management System (SMS) consists of structured, company-wide processes that facilitate effective risk-based decision-making for daily business functions. A SMS can also serve as a formal means of meeting statutory requirements enforced by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Key processes include hazard identification, occurrence reporting, risk management and quality assurance. Assurance is an essential element of any effective safety program. A well-crafted assurance map helps ensure that safety risks are being controlled effectively by providing a clear view of the status of an organisation’s assurance mechanisms, including their effectiveness, desired levels and gaps. Top management needs to make it a priority by defining safety goals as policy and being visible and personally involved in meeting those safety goals. Accountability and responsibilities should be defined for every level of the organization so that everyone understands what their role is in ensuring safety. Streamline Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Control Measures: Digitize existing forms or create new checklists with templates built according to industry standards. Increase employee reporting, collaboration and communication with an easy-to-use safety platform ? free for teams of up to 10 users. Safety management requires an ongoing commitment to training workers in the procedures that protect them from injuries. https://loneworkerdevices.co.uk/geofence-2/ This includes teaching them how to recognize hazards and methods for preventing them. It also teaches them how to report concerns. A good way to develop and optimize your training process is to involve managers, supervisors, and workers in the creation of safety protocols. This will ensure the process is stable and that workers have a personal stake in its success. The hazard analysis process identifies the probability of something going wrong and its estimated severity. This information is used to establish safety programs such as respirator protection, PPE, and machine guarding. Typically, these programs are incorporated into existing record-keeping processes or compiled in a single manual. Depending on the size of your workforce and their workflows, you might need to provide specialized safety training to workers who will be handling specific equipment or materials. For example, you might need to train them in the proper handling of knives. This can be accomplished through eLearning modules that are customizable for each role in the company. A strong safety structure not only protects companies from enforcement actions and fines, but also ensures a healthy work environment by following the right guidelines. Creating thorough safety procedures and updating them as equipment changes or new production techniques are implemented is an important way to stay in compliance with federal, state, and industry regulations. Safety managers should always be ready to investigate claims of unsafe work practices. This will help them determine the root cause of a problem, which can then be rectified. This will show employees that you take their concerns seriously, which builds trust and promotes a positive safety culture. It is important to have top management make safety a core company value, establishing goals and demonstrating it daily. This will set the tone for all other departments to follow. In addition, it is vital to create a culture of open reporting of safety issues in order to maintain a safe workplace. This will help prevent serious accidents from happening and demonstrate that your business is doing its due diligence. This can also improve safety risk controls, as well as strengthen the overall corporate culture. A company needs to evaluate its safety program to make sure it’s working as intended. Depending on the complexity of the program and its goals, this evaluation might happen periodically or after a change to equipment or procedures.
Employees must also be encouraged to suggest ways of improving the system and that their ideas are listened to. This is often called “New View” safety management. It’s not based on checking boxes and emphasizes communication between the shop floor, safety department, production and quality departments. Occupational accidents and diseases have profound consequences, harming workers and impacting productivity, product quality, competitiveness and economic performance. However, it’s important that companies don’t wait for harm to occur to judge their safety management systems’ effectiveness. It’s also vital that they have processes in place to proactively monitor and analyse data related to their safety management system. https://loneworkerdevices.co.uk/ |
