Module 4: Managing OSH at Workplace

Managing safety and health is an integral part of managing a business. Businesses

need to do a risk assessment to find out about the hazards and risks in their workplace(s)
and put measures in place to effectively control them to ensure these hazards and risks
cannot cause harm to workers.

Occupational safety and health, including compliance with the OSH requirements
pursuant to national laws and regulations, is the responsibility and duty of the employer.
The employer should show strong leadership and commitment to OSH activities in
the organization, and make appropriate arrangements for the establishment of an OSH
management system. The system should contain the main elements of policy, organizing,
planning and implementation, evaluation and action for improvement.

Main Elements of the OSH Management System

 Policy
 Occupational Safety and Health Policy
The employer, in consultation with workers and their representatives, should set
out in writing an OSH policy to which they are committed and which is
communicated to all workers.
  Worker Participation
Worker participation is an essential element of the OSH management system in
the organization.

The employer should ensure that workers and their safety and health
representatives are consulted, informed and trained on all aspects of OSH,
including emergency arrangements, associated with their work.

The employer should make arrangements for workers and their safety and health
representatives to have the time and resources to participate actively in the
processes of organizing, planning and implementation, evaluation and action for
improvement of the OSH management system.

The employer should ensure, as appropriate, the establishment and efficient

functioning of a safety and health committee and the recognition of workers’
safety and health representatives, in accordance with national laws and practice.

 Organizing
 Responsibility and Accountability
The employer should have overall responsibility for the protection of workers’
safety and health, and provide leadership for OSH activities in the organization.

The employer and senior management should allocate responsibility,

accountability and authority for the development, implementation and
performance of the OSH management system and the achievement of the
relevant OSH objectives.

 Competence and Training

The necessary OSH competence (includes education, work experience and
training, or a combination of these) requirements should be defined by the
employer, and arrangements established and maintained to ensure that all
persons, in particular new and young workers have been trained and are
competent to carry out the safety and health aspects of their duties and
responsibilities.

The employer should have, or should have access to, sufficient OSH
competence to identify and eliminate or control work-related hazards and risks,
and to implement the OSH management system.

 Occupational Safety and Health Management System Documentation

According to the size and nature of activity of the organization, the OSH
management system documentation should be established and provided to all
members of the organization so that management and workers fully comprehend
 their respective duties and responsibilities and how OSH is managed in the
organization.

 Communication
Arrangements and procedures should be established and maintained for:

 receiving, documenting and responding appropriately to internal and external

communications related to OSH;
 ensuring the internal communication of OSH information between relevant levels
and functions of the organization; and
 ensuring that the concerns, ideas and inputs of workers and their representatives
on OSH matters are received, considered and responded to.

 Planning and Implementation

 Initial Review
The organization’s existing OSH management system and relevant
arrangements should be evaluated by an initial review, as appropriate. In the
case where no OSH management system exists, or if the organization is newly
established, the initial review should serve as a basis for establishing an OSH
management system.
 System Planning, Development and Implementation
The purpose of planning should be to create an OSH management system that
supports:

 as the minimum, compliance with national laws and regulations;

 the elements of the organization’s OSH management system; and
 continual improvement in OSH performance.
 Occupational Safety and Health Objectives
Consistent with the OSH policy and based on the initial or subsequent reviews,
measurable OSH objectives should be established, which are:

 specific to the organization, and appropriate to and according to its size and
nature of activity;
 consistent with the relevant and applicable national laws and regulations, and the
technical and business obligations of the organization with regard to OSH;
 focused towards continually improving workers’ OSH protection to achieve the
best OSH performance;
 realistic and achievable;
 documented, and communicated to all relevant functions and levels of
the organization; and
 periodically evaluated and if necessary updated.
 Hazard Prevention
Prevention and control measures

Hazards and risks to workers’ safety and health should be identified and
assessed on an ongoing basis. Preventive and protective measures should be
implemented in the following order of priority:

 eliminate the hazard/risk;

 control the hazard/risk at source, through the use of engineering controls or
organizational measures;
 minimize the hazard/risk by the design of safe work systems, which include
administrative control measures; and
 where residual hazards/risks cannot be controlled by collective measures, the
employer should provide for appropriate personal protective equipment, including
clothing, at no cost, and should implement measures to ensure its use and
maintenance.
 Management of Change
The impact on OSH of internal changes (such as those in staffing or due to new
processes, working procedures, organizational structures or acquisitions) and of
external changes (for example, as a result of amendments of national laws and
regulations, organizational mergers, and developments in OSH knowledge and
technology) should be evaluated and appropriate preventive steps taken prior to
the introduction of changes.

 Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response

Emergency prevention, preparedness and response arrangements should be
established and maintained. These arrangements should identify the potential for
accidents and emergency situations, and address the prevention of OSH risks
associated with them. Quick and effective action may help to ease the situation
and reduce the consequences. However, in emergencies people are more likely
to respond reliably if they:

 are well trained and competent;

 take part in regular and realistic practice;
 have clearly agreed, recorded and rehearsed plans, actions and responsibilities.
 The arrangements should be made according to the size and nature of activity of
the organization.

 Procurement
Procedures should be established and maintained to ensure that:

 compliance with safety and health requirements for the organization is identified,
evaluated and incorporated into purchasing and leasing specifications;
 national laws and regulations and the organization’s own OSH requirements are
identified prior to the procurement of goods and services; and
 arrangements are made to achieve conformance to the requirements prior to
their use.
 Contracting
Arrangements should be established and maintained for ensuring that
the organization’s safety and health requirements, or at least the equivalent, are
applied to contractors and their workers.

 Evaluation
 Performance Monitoring and Measurement
Procedures to monitor, measure and record OSH performance on a regular basis
should be developed, established and periodically reviewed. This activity is vital
and many subject areas can be studied to establish what is working well and
what could be improved. Responsibility, accountability and authority for
monitoring at different levels in the management structure should be allocated.

 Investigation of work-related injuries, ill health, diseases and incidents,

and their impact on safety and health performance
The investigation of the origin and underlying causes of work-related injuries, ill
health, diseases and incidents should identify any failures in the OSH
management system and should be documented.

Such investigations should be carried out by competent persons, with the

appropriate participation of workers and their representatives.

The results of such investigations should be communicated to the safety and

health committee, where it exists, and the committee should make appropriate
recommendations.

 Audit
Arrangements to conduct periodic audits are to be established in order to
determine whether the OSH management system and its elements are in place,
 adequate, and effective in protecting the safety and health of workers and
preventing incidents.

An audit policy and program should be developed, which includes a designation

of auditor competency, the audit scope, the frequency of audits, audit
methodology and reporting.

The audit includes an evaluation of the organization’s OSH management system

elements or a subset of these, as appropriate.

 Action for Improvement

 Preventive and Corrective Action
Arrangements should be established and maintained for preventive and
corrective action resulting from OSH management system performance
monitoring and measurement, OSH management system audits and
management reviews. These arrangements should include:

 identifying and analysing the root causes of any non-conformities with relevant
OSH regulations and/or OSH management systems arrangements; and
 initiating, planning, implementing, checking the effectiveness of and documenting
corrective and preventive action, including changes to the OSH management
system itself.
When the evaluation of the OSH management system or other sources show that
preventive and protective measures for hazards and risks are inadequate or
likely to become inadequate, the measures should be addressed according to the
recognized hierarchy of prevention and control measures, and completed and
documented, as appropriate and in a timely manner.

 Continual Improvement
Arrangements should be established and maintained for the continual
improvement of the relevant elements of the OSH management system and the
system as a whole.

Components of an Effective OSH Management System

 Management Leadership and Commitment

Leadership and commitment by senior management (the CEO or most senior
management) provides the vision, establishes policy, sets goals, and provides
resources to lead and support the implementation of your OHS management programs
and system.
  Safe Work Procedures and Written Instructions
Safe work procedures and practices ensure that everyone in the organization knows
their responsibilities and can perform their duties effectively. There should be safe work
procedures on an organizational level, such as how to conduct a risk assessment, as
well as on a worker level, such as how to lock out properly.

 Health and Safety Training and Instruction

Everyone in the workplace ─ from senior management to frontline workers ─ needs to
understand their responsibilities when it comes to implementing and maintaining a
healthy and safe workplace. Senior management should understand their role in
establishing policies and continually driving the OHS management system and
programs. Employers must ensure that workers are trained, qualified, and competent
to perform their tasks. Supervisors must provide adequate instruction and oversight to
workers so they can safely perform their work. And workers need to work safely,
according to how they were trained.

 Identifying Hazards and Managing Risk

Managing the risk in your workplace includes identifying hazards, assessing the risks
those hazards present, and controlling the risks to prevent your workers from getting
injured.

 Inspection of Premises, Equipment, Workplaces & Work Practices

Workplace inspections can help you to continually identify hazards and prevent
unsafe working conditions from developing.

 Investigation of Incidents

Conducting incident investigations helps identify immediate, and root causes of

unsafe conditions. It also identifies ways to prevent similar incidents from happening in
the future. The Occupational Health and Safety Regulation has specific
requirements for incident investigation documentation and reporting that employers
are required to meet.

 Program Administration
Regularly assessing how well your organization is doing when it comes to meeting its
health and safety goals is essential to improving your OHS management system.
Maintaining accurate records of your OHS management system activities will provide
useful information to help you continually improve.

 Joint Health and Safety Committee & Representatives

Joint health and safety committees and health and safety representatives assist the
organization by bringing together employers and workers to jointly identify and resolve
health and safety issues in your workplace. They also participate in developing and
implementing your OHS management system.

 Occupational Health and Safety Programs

Occupational health and safety programs are an essential part of your OHS
management system.

 System Audit

The Certificate of Registration (COR) auditor reviews key aspects of your quality
management system to ensure that its quality and effectiveness meet the expectations
of the COR program standards and guidelines. This helps maintain the credibility and
value of COR certifications.

What is ISO (International Organization for Standardization)?

ISO is a voluntary organization that develops and publishes international standards. Its
goal is to provide international standards (or requirements/specifications/ guidelines)
for products, services, technologies, processes or systems. Standards help make
industries and organizations more efficient, productive, and globally competitive.

ISO 9001- Certification - Quality Management System

(Industrial Manufacturing)

Adopting and developing a QMS is a strategic decision that enables organizations to

continuously improve their overall performance and focus on providing customers with
products and services of consistent quality.

What is an ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System?

Supporting an organization’s aims and objectives, an ISO 9001 QMS documents the
processes, procedures, and responsibilities for achieving quality policies and objectives.
Based on eight quality management principles, the ISO 9001:2015 standard defines the
way an organization operates to meet the requirements of its customers and
stakeholders:

 Customer focus
 Leadership
 Involvement of people
 Process approach
 Organizational context
 Continual improvement
 Fact-based decision making
 Risk-based thinking
What are the benefits of ISO 9001:2015 Certification?

ISO 9001 certification helps organizations to develop and improve performance, as well
as demonstrate high levels of service quality when bidding for contracts. Certification
follows successful completion of an audit against the ISO 9001 standard and enables
organizations to:

 Operate more efficiently

 Meet statutory and regulatory requirements
 Reach new markets
 Identify and address risks