Essay/Term paper: 14 elements of a successful safety & health program

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Science Reports

14 ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL SAFETY & HEALTH PROGRAM


Element 1: Hazard Recognition, Evaluation and Control. Establishing and
maintaining safe and healthful conditions required indenifing hazards,
evaluating their pontential effects, developing ways to eliminate or control
them and planning action priorities.This process is the essence of successful
safety and health management.

Element 2:Workplace Design and Engineering Safety and health issues are most
easily and economically addressed when facilities, processes and equipment are
being designed. Organizations must incorporate safety into workplace design,
production processes and selection.They also need to evaluate and modify or
replace exisiting processes, equipment and facilities to make them safer. We
explore how the design and function of the workplace can complement safety and
health goals, minimize exposure to hazards and promote safe practices.

Element 3: Safety Performance Management As in all areas of operations,
standards must be set for safety performance. They should reflect applicable
regulatory requirements, additional voluntary guidelines and best business
practices. We describe how managers, supervisors and employees can be made
responsible and held accountable for meeting standards within their control. We
look at how job performance appraisals can reflect performance in safety and
health, as well as in other areas.

Element 4: Regulatory Compliance Management The Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and
state safety and health agencies establish and enforce safety and health
regulations.Other agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, also
issue and enforce regulations relating to safety and health in the United
States. We discuss key aspects of international regulations in the European
Union, Canada and Mexico. Staying informed about and complying with regulations
are essential goals of safety and health programs.We also look briefly at
conducting regulatory compliance inspections.

Element 5: Occupational Health Occupational health programs range from the
simple to the complex. At a minimun, such programs address the immediate needs
of injured or ill employees by providing first aid and responce to emergencies.
More elaborate medical services may incude medical surveillance programs and
provision for an in-house medical capability. In addition, some companies are
beginning to focus on off-the-job safety and health through employee wellness
and similar programs.

ELEMENT 6: Information Collection Safety and health activities, including
inspections, record keeping, industrial hygine surveys and other occupational
health assessments, injury/illness/incident investigations and performance
reviews, produce a large quantity of data. Safety and health professionals must
collect and analyze this data. Small incidents often provide early warning of
more serious safety or health problems. Complete and accurate records can be
used to identify hazards, measure safety performance and improvement, and
through analyses, help identify patterns.

ELEMENT 7: Employee Involvement Design and engineering controls are limited in
their ability to reduce hazards. Companies now understand that their real
assets are people, not machinery, and they also realize that employees must
recognize their stake in a safe and healthful workplace. As employees become
more involved in planning, implementation and improvement, they see the need for
safer work practices. Solutions to safety and health problems often come from
affected employees. We look at how employees can contribute to safety and health
objectives through safety committees and teams.

ELEMENT 8: Motivation, Behavior, and Attitudes Movtivation aims at changing
behavior and attitudes to create a safer, healthier workplace. This elements
describe two general approches organizations use to motivate employees and
stresses the role that visible management leadership plays in changing unsafe or
unhealthy behaviors and attitudes. It also describes three motivational
techniques: communications, incentives/awards/recognition and employee surveys.

ELEMENT 9:Training and Orientation New and transferred employees must become
familiar with company policies and procedures and learn how to perform thier
jobs safely and efficiently. The use of on-the-job, classroom and specialty
training can contribute to a successful safety and health program. A complete
program includes hazard recognition, regulatory compliance and prevention. The
training is reinforced through regular follow-up with both new and veteran
employees.

ELEMENT 10: Organizational Communications Effective communication within the
organization keeps employees informed about policies, procedures, goals and
progress. We see how to spread the word about safety and health programs inside
the company through the use of bulletin board notices,newsletters, meeting and
other devices. Effective two-way communications between employees and managers
is critical as is publicizing safety and health information in the community.

ELEMENT 11:Management and Control of External Exposures Todays safety and health
programs must address risks beyond the organizations walls. We described the
kinds of contingency plans and "what if" worst-case scenarios that are part of
planning for disasters, contractor activities and product and other liability
exposures.

ELEMENT 12:Environmental Management Environmental management often requires a
complete program of its own and is addressed in a separate volume, 7 Elements of
Successful Environmental Program, available from the National Safety Council.
Many companies, however, address environmental issues along with safety and
health as part of their comprehensive programs. We discuss the minimum that an
environmental program should cover, including compliance monitioring and
contingency planning for emergencies. More aggressive environmental management
incorporates pollution prevention and an active role in environmental
improvement.

ELEMENT 13:Workplace Planning and Staffing Safety and health considerations are
important when planning for and staffing the companys work force. We consider
issues such as work safety rules, employee assistance programs and requirements
resulting from the American with Disabilities Act.

ELEMENT 14:Assessments, Audits, and Evaluations Every organizations needs tools
to measure conditions, monitor compliance and assess progress. A variety of
evaluative tools can be used to meet the needs of the organizations, including
self- assessments, third-party assessments and voluntary regulatory assessments.
Numerous resources are available for conducting assessments audits and
evaluations, including the companys own trained internal staff, consultants and
OSHA and other agencies.

The Continuous Improvement Model is a framework for safety presented in the
National Safety Councils Agenda 2000 Safety Health Environment Program. The 14
Elements are the materials that fit within the framework. Continuous improvement
is a process-oriented business approach that emphasizes the contributions people
make to long-range, permanent solutions to problems. It is the cornerstone of
total quality management. Applying the process that forms the Contiinuous
Improvement Model requires understanding causes before designing
solutions.Improvements may be dramatic or incremental. In any event, the model
helps ensure that occur regularly.

The Continuous Improvement Model

Phase 1: Management Commitment and Involvement

The first phase is to make a management commitment and to gain managements
involvement. Companies with successful safety and health programs have active
senior management participation. Without this active involvement, mid-level
managers and front-line supervisors tend to ignore safety and health as an issue.
Senior management signals its commitment by stating a position that is
communcated through clear, unambiguous policy and implementation procedures.
When management supports the 14 Elements, it also indicates a broad commitment
to the issues include in the reviews. It then supports continuous improvement
in safty and health through ongoing involvement, allocation of resources and
feedback.