14 Elements Of A Successful Safety & Health Progra Essay, Research Paper

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 andplanning action priorities.This process is the essence of successful safety and healthmanagement. Element 2:Workplace Design and EngineeringSafety and health issues are most easily and economically addressed when facilities,processes and equipment are being designed. Organizations must incorporate safetyinto workplace design, production processes and selection.They also need to evaluateand 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 andhealth goals, minimize exposure to hazards and promote safe practices. Element 3: Safety Performance ManagementAs in all areas of operations, standards must be set for safety performance. They shouldreflect applicable regulatory requirements, additional voluntary guidelines and best business practices. We describe how managers, supervisors and employeescan be made responsible and held accountable for meeting standards within theircontrol. We look at how job performance appraisals can reflect performance in safetyand health, as well as in other areas. Element 4: Regulatory Compliance Management The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Mine Safety andHealth Administration (MSHA) and state safety and health agencies establishand enforce safety and health regulations.Other agencies, such as the EnvironmentalProtection Agency, also issue and enforce regulations relating to safety and healthin the United States. We discuss key aspects of international regulations in the EuropeanUnion, Canada and Mexico. Staying informed about and complying with regulationsare essential goals of safety and health programs.We also look briefly at conducting regulatory compliance inspections. Element 5: Occupational HealthOccupational health programs range from the simple to the complex. At a minimun,such programs address the immediate needs of injured or ill employees by providingfirst aid and responce to emergencies. More elaborate medical services may incudemedical surveillance programs and provision for an in-house medical capability. In addition, some companies are beginning to focus on off-the-job safety and healththrough employee wellness and similar programs. ELEMENT 6: Information CollectionSafety and health activities, including inspections, record keeping, industrial hyginesurveys and other occupational health assessments, injury/illness/incident investigationsand performance reviews, produce a large quantity of data. Safety and health professionals must collect and analyze this data. Small incidents often provide earlywarning of more serious safety or health problems. Complete and accurate recordscan be used to identify hazards, measure safety performance and improvement, andthrough analyses, help identify patterns. ELEMENT 7: Employee InvolvementDesign and engineering controls are limited in their ability to reduce hazards.Companies now understand that their real assets are people, not machinery, andthey also realize that employees must recognize their stake in a safe and healthfulworkplace. As employees become more involved in planning, implementation andimprovement, they see the need for safer work practices. Solutions to safety andhealth problems often come from affected employees. We look at how employeescan contribute to safety and health objectives through safety committees and teams. ELEMENT 8: Motivation, Behavior, and AttitudesMovtivation aims at changing behavior and attitudes to create a safer, healthier workplace. This elements describe two general approches organizations useto motivate employees and stresses the role that visible management leadershipplays in changing unsafe or unhealthy behaviors and attitudes. It also describesthree motivational techniques: communications, incentives/awards/recognition and

employee surveys. ELEMENT 9:Training and OrientationNew and transferred employees must become familiar with company policies andprocedures and learn how to perform thier jobs safely and efficiently. The use ofon-the-job, classroom and specialty training can contribute to a successful safetyand health program. A complete program includes hazard recognition, regulatorycompliance and prevention. The training is reinforced through regular follow-upwith both new and veteran employees. ELEMENT 10: Organizational CommunicationsEffective communication within the organization keeps employees informed aboutpolicies, procedures, goals and progress. We see how to spread the word aboutsafety and health programs inside the company through the use of bulletin boardnotices,newsletters, meeting and other devices. Effective two-way communicationsbetween employees and managers is critical as is publicizing safety and healthinformation in the community. ELEMENT 11:Management and Control of External ExposuresTodays safety and health programs must address risks beyond the organizationswalls. We described the kinds of contingency plans and “what if” worst-case scenariosthat are part of planning for disasters, contractor activities and product and otherliability exposures. ELEMENT 12:Environmental ManagementEnvironmental management often requires a complete program of its own and isaddressed 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 comprehensiveprograms. We discuss the minimum that an environmental program should cover,including compliance monitioring and contingency planning for emergencies. Moreaggressive environmental management incorporates pollution prevention and anactive role in environmental improvement. ELEMENT 13:Workplace Planning and StaffingSafety and health considerations are important when planning for and staffing thecompanys work force. We consider issues such as work safety rules, employeeassistance programs and requirements resulting from the American with DisabilitiesAct. ELEMENT 14:Assessments, Audits, and EvaluationsEvery organizations needs tools to measure conditions, monitor compliance andassess progress. A variety of evaluative tools can be used to meet the needs ofthe organizations, including self- assessments, third-party assessments and voluntaryregulatory assessments. Numerous resources are available for conducting assessmentsaudits and evaluations, including the companys own trained internal staff, consultantsand OSHA and other agencies. The Continuous Improvement Model is a framework for safety presented in theNational Safety Councils Agenda 2000 Safety Health Environment Program. The 14 Elements are the materials that fit within the framework. Continuousimprovement is a process-oriented business approach that emphasizesthe contributions people make to long-range, permanent solutions to problems. It is the cornerstone of total quality management. Applying the process that formsthe Contiinuous Improvement Model requires understanding causes beforedesigning solutions.Improvements may be dramatic or incremental. In any event,the model helps ensure that occur regularly. The Continuous Improvement ModelPhase 1: Management Commitment and InvolvementThe first phase is to make a management commitment and to gain managementsinvolvement. Companies with successful safety and health programs have activesenior management participation. Without this active involvement, mid-levelmanagers and front-line supervisors tend to ignore safety and health as an issue. Senior management signals its commitment by stating a position that iscommuncated 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.