An excellent health and safety program is a complete system that ensures high safety standards throughout every part of a company's operations. This program will reflect a strong commitment from management and will encourage a strong commitment among employees. It will help the employees understand their responsibility for preventing accidents/incidents and will provide what employees need in order to work safely. If the health and safety program is effective, it will promote the attitude that doing a job properly means doing it safely.
The major elements of a health and safety program are:
General safety policy - statement about corporate commitment to health and safety and assignment of responsibilities (e.g. management, supervisor, and worker).
- Hazard assessment procedures - instructions and forms for documenting potential hazards associated with specific jobs or worksite conditions.
- Safe work practices - a set of positive guidelines or "Do's or Don'ts" on how to perform a specific task that may not always be done a certain way.
- Job procedures - step by step instructions on how to do specific jobs safely.
- Rules and regulations - company rules and government regulation and codes that must be followed by all employees and employers.
- Maintenance policies and information - policy statement and procedures regarding the use and maintenance of equipment.
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) policy and information - policy statement and procedures regarding use, care and maintenance of PPE.
- Training policy - policy statement, forms and procedures regarding training requirements and orientations for new hires, for employees who change jobs within the company, and for employees taking on new jobs.
- Inspection policy and information - policy and forms regarding regular inspection of the job site to identify substandard acts and conditions.
- Investigation policy and information - policy and forms regarding investigation for causes of accidents/incidents.
- Emergency response provision - regulations regarding first aid, reporting forms, and how to respond to emergency situations.
- Reports and management information - summary reporting forms for comparison, tracking, and planning purpose.
It may seem that a health and safety program involves a lot of paperwork, and to a certain extent, that is true. A health and safety program, like any other system, needs policies, plans, and structure, but the paperwork doesn't have to be complex or cumbersome. The KISS (keep it simple supervisor) principle usually works best, particularly in our industry, where we have to make a profit on every job if we want to keep working.
Nearly everyone agrees that health and safety policies, and procedures must be practical and economical, while they improve safety. Experience shows that, if done carefully, the key safety elements listed above do not cost. It pays the company in the long run. They actually save money by reducing accidents/incidents, damage, wear and tear, lost product, and production loss.
Nearly everyone agrees that health and safety policies, and procedures must be practical and economical, while they improve safety. Experience shows that, if done carefully, the key safety elements listed above do not cost. It pays the company in the long run. They actually save money by reducing accidents/incidents, damage, wear and tear, lost product, and production loss.