The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 requires employers to look after the health, safety and wellbeing of all their employees – “It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees”. In addition, employers also have an obligation to look after the health and safety of others such as contractors, visitors and the general public, who are exposed to health and safety risks due to the organisation’s processes and activities.
A health and safety management system is the platform and framework which is able to achieve the above (looking after the health, safety and wellbeing of everyone at work), by eliminating or reducing health and safety risks, reducing injury and ill health and achieving all the health and safety objectives set by the organisation.
We are able to assist clients in implementing logical and successful health and safety management systems, or implementing the ISO 45001 management system and striving to achieve certification.
Client’s Health and Safety Management System
OHS Compliance can assist clients with implementing health and safety management systems into their unique working environments. Our monthly service includes implementation and maintenance of the system, with first aid, fire safety and evacuation planning being important elements of the system.
Typical elements of the health and safety system include:
- OHS Policy and objectives formation and agreement;
- Identification of the appropriate health and safety team members such as first aiders, fire wardens, health and safety employee and employer representatives;
- Creating a health and safety training plan and training the employees in various elements;
- Establishing a health and safety committee which forms a critically important element of the management system and assists in driving health and safety;
- Evacuation planning, conducting drills, debriefing the health and safety teams and report generation;
- Continuous communication, maintenance, monitoring and improvement.
The success of the system would require continued support and commitment of top management, management and the broader employee base. They all need to work together through consultation and participation to achieve the system objectives and required results.
ISO 45001 Implementation
ISO 45001 is an internationally recognised occupational health and safety management system which is implemented through a structured management system framework. The success of the system depends on commitment from top management, consultation with and participation from the workforce and appropriately managing the OHS risks, as well as other system requirements. We can assist all clients with implementing this internationally recognised standard.
The ISO system facilitates continual improvement of health and safety and the alignment of the health and safety objectives to the organisation’s broader strategic direction, bringing the two closer together. In addition, the benefits include a reduction in workplace illness and injury due to the reduction or elimination of health and safety risks. The system also enhances and protects the reputation and improves the health and safety legal compliance status of the organisation. There is a reduction of costs due to reduced accidents, incidents, fines and an opportunity of marketing the ISO system certification, increased revenue generation and obtaining a competitive advantage.
The PDCA cycle is used in the system to implement solutions, and assess and continuously improve on these solutions and the system as a whole. In order to achieve the intended outcomes of the system, the Plan, Do, Check and Act cycle is applied to the different ISO 45001 elements, listed below:
- Context of the organisation;
- Leadership and worker participation (which is central to the system and cycle);
- Planning;
- Support;
- Operation;
- Performance evaluation;
- Improvement.
The system is developed and implemented in order to protect all the workers (including management, contractors, visitors and the public) and the organisation as a whole. Obtaining buy-in from the workers, then implementing the system with worker participation is key and builds morale as well as improving the health and safety culture, which are additional system benefits.
OHS Compliance is committed to providing a service centred around the following core pillars: professional, quality, client focused and cost effective. Contact us to arrange a meeting with one of our team or our OHS practitioner, who will assist you with improving on your existing health and safety structure and system and ultimately assist your organisation with implementing ISO 45001 as well as striving to obtain international certification.s