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 and
planning action
priorities.This process is the essence of successful safety and health
management.
Element
2:Workplace Design and Engineering
Safety and health
issues are most easily and economically addressed
when facilities,
processes and
equipment are being designed. Organizations must incorporate safety
into workplace
design, production processes and
selection.They also need to evaluate
and 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 and
health goals,
minimize exposure to hazards and promote safe practices.
Element 3: Safety
Performance Management
As in all areas
of operations, standards must be set for safety performance. They should
reflect
applicable regulatory requirements, additional voluntary guidelines and best
business practices. We describe how
managers, supervisors and employees
can be made
responsible and held accountable for meeting standards within their
control. We look
at how job performance appraisals can reflect performance in safety
and health, as
well as in other areas.
Element 4:
Regulatory Compliance Management
The Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Mine Safety and
Health
Administration (MSHA) and state safety and health agencies establish
and enforce
safety and health regulations.Other agencies, such as the Environmental
Protection
Agency, also issue and enforce regulations relating to safety and health
in the United
States. We discuss key aspects of international regulations in the European
Union, Canada and
Mexico. Staying informed about and complying with regulations
are essential
goals of safety and health programs.We also look briefly at conducting
regulatory compliance inspections.
Element 5:
Occupational Health
Occupational
health programs range from the simple to the complex. At a minimun,
such programs
address the immediate needs of injured or ill employees by providing
first aid and
responce to emergencies. More elaborate medical services may incude
medical
surveillance programs and provision for an in-house medical capability.
In addition, some
companies are beginning to focus on off-the-job safety and health
through employee
wellness and similar programs.
ELEMENT 6:
Information Collection
Safety and health
activities, including inspections, record keeping, industrial hygine
surveys and other
occupational health assessments, injury/illness/incident investigations
and performance
reviews, produce a large quantity of data. Safety and health professionals must
collect and analyze this data. Small incidents often provide early
warning of more
serious safety or health problems. Complete and accurate records
can be used to
identify hazards, measure safety performance and improvement, and
through analyses,
help identify patterns.
ELEMENT 7:
Employee Involvement
Design and
engineering controls are limited in their ability to reduce hazards.
Companies now
understand that their real assets are people, not machinery, and
they also realize
that employees must recognize their stake in a safe and healthful
workplace. As
employees become more involved in planning, implementation and
improvement, they
see the need for safer work practices. Solutions to safety and
health problems
often come from affected employees. We look at how employees
can contribute to
safety and health objectives through safety committees and teams.
ELEMENT 8:
Motivation, Behavior, and Attitudes
Movtivation aims
at changing behavior and attitudes to create a safer, healthier workplace. This
elements describe two general approches organizations use
to motivate
employees and stresses the role that visible management leadership
plays in changing
unsafe or unhealthy behaviors and attitudes. It also describes
three
motivational techniques: communications, incentives/awards/recognition and
employee surveys.
ELEMENT
9:Training and Orientation
New and transferred
employees must become familiar with company policies and
procedures and
learn how to perform thier jobs safely and efficiently. The use of
on-the-job,
classroom and specialty training can contribute to a successful safety
and health
program. A complete program includes hazard recognition, regulatory
compliance and
prevention. The training is reinforced through regular follow-up
with both new and
veteran employees.
ELEMENT 10:
Organizational Communications
Effective
communication within the organization keeps employees informed about
policies,
procedures, goals and progress. We see how to spread the word about
safety and health
programs inside the company through the use of bulletin board
notices,newsletters,
meeting and other devices. Effective two-way communications
between employees
and managers is critical as is publicizing safety and health
information in
the community.
ELEMENT
11:Management and Control of External Exposures
Todays safety and
health programs must address risks beyond the organizations
walls. We
described the kinds of contingency plans and "what if" worst-case
scenarios
that are part of
planning for disasters, contractor activities and product and other
liability
exposures.
ELEMENT
12:Environmental Management
Environmental
management often requires a complete program of its own and is
addressed 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 comprehensive
programs. We
discuss the minimum that an environmental program should cover,
including
compliance monitioring and contingency planning for emergencies. More
aggressive
environmental management incorporates pollution prevention and an
active role in
environmental improvement.
ELEMENT
13:Workplace Planning and Staffing
Safety and health
considerations are important when planning for and staffing the
companys work
force. We consider issues such as work safety rules, employee
assistance
programs and requirements resulting from the American with Disabilities
Act.
ELEMENT
14:Assessments, Audits, and Evaluations
Every
organizations needs tools to measure conditions, monitor compliance and
assess progress.
A variety of evaluative tools can be used to meet the needs of
the
organizations, including self- assessments, third-party assessments and
voluntary
regulatory
assessments. Numerous resources are available for conducting assessments
audits and
evaluations, including the companys own trained internal staff, consultants
and OSHA and
other agencies.
The Continuous
Improvement Model is a framework for safety presented in the
National Safety
Councils Agenda 2000 Safety Health Environment Program.
The 14 Elements
are the materials that fit within the framework. Continuous
improvement is a
process-oriented business approach that emphasizes
the contributions
people make to long-range, permanent solutions to problems.
It is the
cornerstone of total quality management. Applying the process that forms
the Contiinuous
Improvement Model requires understanding causes before
designing
solutions.Improvements may be dramatic or incremental. In any event,
the model helps
ensure that occur regularly.
The Continuous
Improvement Model
Phase 1:
Management Commitment and Involvement
The first phase
is to make a management commitment and to gain managements
involvement.
Companies with successful safety and health programs have active
senior management
participation. Without this active involvement, mid-level
managers and
front-line supervisors tend to ignore safety and health as an issue.
Senior management
signals its commitment by stating a position that is
communcated
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.
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