How to Develop a Health & Safety Management Plan
–
For Discussion Purposes
Author: George Robotham
Published: 10 December 2003
Contact: fgrobotham@iprimus.com.au
INITIATING CHANGE
•
When initiating change remember “People
support what they create”
Guiding principles
1.
Keep it Simple
2.
Reality-test it with the workforce
Note: This outline is for a Health & Safety Management  Plan, similar approaches can be made to
develop Quality, Environment. and Training plans
The pace and depth of the interventions may vary. A slow, through assessment may be deemed
necessary or it may be seen as important to get some runs on the board quickly in which case a shorter
time and depth will be spent on the analysis. There may be some value in establishing a part time
safety project team to assist in the implementation of safety systems
1.
Safety Risks
i.
Gain a basic understanding of the Safety risks and how the current Safety Management System
addresses these risks-This will require visits to and discussions with personnel at a cross-section
of sites throughout Australia. Examination of work in progress will be necessary.
ii.
Gain a basic understanding of the Safety Training needs and how the training plan addresses the
needs.
iii.
Hold discussions with safety, training, legal, insurance staff, relevant managers, relevant team
leaders and a cross-section of workers / contractors about how Safety Management and Safety
Training is managed –
a.
Ask questions like-What do you do? How do you do it? What are the Safety risks? ,
How are the risks managed?, What Safety training have you had?, What else needs to be
done in the Safety Management & Safety Training areas?, Do you need to upgrade your
safety skills?, What is the best way to upgrade your safety skills, What assistance do you
need from the OHS Manager to help you do your work?, If I was the OH&S Manager
the first things I would do to improve Safety Management and Safety Training are……
b.
There is a requirement to establish the needs of workers, supervisors and managers in
the safety area. A safety climate survey may be applicable
iv.
Hazard Management Plans
Safety management plans are to a certain extent generic, they must be boosted by hazard
management plans that address specific hazards. The following is a recommended process to
develop hazard management plans.
a.
Define the scope of coverage of the hazard management plan
b.
Divide into discrete business activities or processes and list the hazards of these
activities / processes. For example for a gas pipeline construction job the processes /
activities include clearing the right- of- way, digging ditch, stringing out pipe, bending
pipe, weld &x-ray welds, attach sleeves, lower in, backfill, hydro-static test, restore
right-of-way.
c.
Using fault-tree analysis list the causes of the hazards
d.
Apply the 9 box model to ensure pre-event, continuing and post-event controls are in
place
9 BOX MODEL
P Prevention
Monitoring
Contingency
Eqpt, /  Engineering
Procedures
Skills/Competencies
e.
Identify the position that is responsible for ensuring the control actually happens.
f.
Identify the competencies necessary for the person who controls the hazard to be able to
do the required job
g.
Send out the draft hazard management plan for validation and modify as necessary
h.
The hazard management plans must be explained to all employees
i.
Safe working procedures must be developed using job safety analysis and employees
must be trained in the safe working procedures.
j.
Audits must ensure the controls are in place and working.
2.
Incident Reporting / Workers Compensation Management
 Assuming the organization has a well-developed incident reporting system look to this system for
guidance as to the frequency and severity of incidents. Review workers compensation claims
experience and claims management procedures-in some states there are considerable reductions in
premiums available though rapid moves to place injured parties into rehabilitation programmes.
3.
 Legislation
Review the legislative guidelines for each state the organization operates in.
4.
S.M.S. and Safety Training Plan
 Review and if necessary update the objective of S.M.S. and the Safety Training plan.
5.
 Force-Field Analysis
i.
Carry out a Force-Field Analysis (promoting / facilitating forces and constraining / restraining
forces acting on the objectives)
ii.
Use a cross-functional team to carry out the analysis.
6.  Safety Initiatives and Audits
Review previous Safety Management and Safety Training initiatives and audits and the status of
implementation of previous recommendations.
i.
If necessary, use a trained cross-functional team to carry out a Safety audit. Use A.S.4801as the
minimum standard for the safety audit. Need a detailed set of auditing guidelines for the
auditors to use.
ii.
Develop recommendations arising out of the audit, a plan for implementing the
recommendations and a means of following up to ensure the recommendations are implemented
iii.
Consider the wisdom of utilising one of the commercially available OHS audit systems
7.
Safety Training
Review the current approach to Safety Training, a Safety Training needs analysis may be necessary.
i.
In particular, ensure induction training, training of team leaders and training of contractors is
appropriate. May need a contractors induction course that it is mandatory for all contractors to
attend prior to commencing work with the organization.
ii.
Consider the need to conduct a Hazard Identification / Risk Assessment / Hazard Control course
for designated risk assessment teams and once risk assessment teams are trained have them
carryout risk assessment on, initially, the identified high risks.
8.
Consultative Mechanisms
Review the operation of Safety consultative mechanisms.
9.
Safety Responsibilities
Review how Safety Management and Safety Training responsibilities are incorporated in position
descriptions and the performance appraisal process.
10.
Contract Specifications
 Review safety specifications in contracts. Probably need a Contractors Safety Manual that outlines in
some detail the organizations expectations of contractors in safety. Contractors must submit a Safety
Plan as part of securing the contract and these Safety Plans must be audited.
11.
Emergency Response Plans
 Review Emergency Response Plans and ensure they are practiced.
12.
 Safety Procedures
Review Safety procedures to see if they are used and useful in the “real world” Training in Job Safety
Analysis may be necessary to develop appropriate procedures.
13.
Benchmarking
Identify Safety potential benchmarking partners and make initial contact
14
Safety Communications
Analyse current safety communications, avoid communications from on high, instead use supervisors
to get the message across to the troops and frame the messages to be relevant to the troops immediate
work area. Consider the need for regular safety meetings
15.
Safety Management System / Safety Training Plan
 Develop a new Safety Management System (incorporating hazard management plans) and a new
Safety Training Plan (incorporated in the Quality Assurance system).
i.
The Safety Management System may contain internal standards of OHS excellence such as
visitor safety, contractor safety, compliance with statute law, use of personal protective
equipment, management commitment, hazard identification/risk assessment, safe working
procedures, loss prevention and control, employee involvement, emergency procedures,
accident investigation, education/communication, inspections, health and fitness, injury
management.
ii.
There must be stated goals for the S.M.S., preferably expressed as positive performance
indicators. Need a name for the S.M.S., possibly a competition for the name.
iii.
Once the new S.M.S. is developed its implementation must be the subject of regular, rigorous
audits
A Health & Safety Manual with sections for both strategic and operational implementation of the
S.M.S. will be an outcome of this work. A manual of Standard Operating Procedures will also be
necessary .Remember a safety professional achieves more by what he facilitates others to do than he /
she does themselves.
For more detailed advice please refer to the papers “What Makes a Safety Programme Fly” and “The
Hazard Management Process” by this author.