OCHS 2200 _ Terms

Safety program

.an organized set of activities

Program

-a “program” can be defined as a planned approach which applies a series of predefined activities with assigned responsibilities undertaken in order to achieve known goals.

3 key parts of a program

1. Goals are identified.

2. Activities are defined to achieve the goals.

3. Individuals are assigned with the responsibility for the activities.

Loss control programs

.Loss control programs address not only injury and illness prevention but also encompass efforts to control property damage and environmental liabilities.

Risk Managment

.Loss control is rooted in a history focusing on injury and illness prevention. Risk management, by contrast, has its roots squarely in the school of business management and is closely associated with financial management.

Types of potential losses targeted by a risk management system

• Losses from liabilities which stem from non-compliance with statutory, criminal, or civil laws

• Net income losses that stem from any event that disrupts the normal business activities for a given period of time and, therefore, increases costs or decreases revenues.

• Property losses that affect any tangible asset that can be owned or possessed (buildings, product inventory, equipment, etc.), and any intangible property such as goodwill, copyrights, patents, and trademarks.

• Personnel losses resulting from death, disability, retirement, or unemployment.

Safety Management Systems

The guiding principle of a Safety Management System (SMS) is the commitment of management, leadership of supervisors, and the engagement of the workforce.

Safety management systems continued*

Safety management systems offer a more effective means for organizations to achieve their safety objectives. The checking or auditing aspect of the Plan-do-check-act cycle uses measureable, observable indicators of a well-implemented safety management system.

Safety management system vs safety program

1. An OHSMS emphasizes system-wide record- keeping, document control and integrated inter-element tracking (and correction) of non-conformance. When non-conformance records are stored in one tracking system, they can be addressed with the same risk-ranking process.

2. Document control across all elements ensures consistent updating so that everyone in all departments is working from the most current operating procedures.

3. Another difference is in the structure of an OHSMS where responsibilities, accountabilities, and the elements of the program are integrated, resource and investment decisions can be more easily allocated to realize the organization’s injury prevention objectives.

4. The management system approach uses the plan-do-check-act cycle (Deming, 1982, 2000). The first step of the cycle is to develop a plan, while traditional safety programs do not necessarily have built-in planning provisions.

5. Finally the “check” or audit aspect of the cycle provides a formal mechanism for continual improvement.

Two reasons for a safely program:

The two reasons for implementing an effective safety program are, therefore, legal and practical.

Legally:

Legally, organizations are required to have a program in place, and the program needs to be effective. Enforcement agencies can use fines or prosecution to penalize non-compliant organizations or to motivate a delinquent organization to institute a program.

Safety is no accident

The workplace is a complicated place with all of its expectations and social interactions. Where safety “fits in” is sometimes not very clear. Mixed messages, unclear responsibilities, production pressures, etc. can create situations that may cause obligations for safety to be in question. The safety program helps to clarify what is necessary to maintain a safe and healthy workplace. Safety is, therefore, no accident!

Federally regulated workplaces are governed by?

Canada Labour Code Part II,

Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) is…

the agency responsible for enforcing the Labour Code Part II and Regulations made pursuant to the Code.

There is no specific federal regulation that requires an employer to have a formal safety program. *

“There is, however, an expectation that employers will manage their organization so that safety is adequately addressed.

Safety programs fulfill organizational business needs in the following ways

• Reduce accidental losses and their corresponding costs to the organization, both in expenses and decreased revenue.

• Eliminate a legal liability that is created by conditions of noncompliance.

• Build good internal working relationships by creating a safety culture, that is, the expectation among workers that they will not be at risk of illness or injury arising from work (more on this in Module 2).

• Improve employee morale and how employees feel about the workplace.

• Have a positive effect on productivity and quality.

• Help establish improved labour relations when the organization can demonstrate a genuine concern for the well-being of employees.

• Reduce the personal liability of supervisors and managers for failing to provide reasonable standards of workplace health and safety.

Employers have the ultimate responsibility

‘:,:Their accountabilities include:

• Providing a safe and healthful workplace.

• Establishing health and safety requirements specific to their workplace.

• Providing training for supervisors.

• Ensuring employees are trained.

• Providing first aid facilities.

• Budgeting for the provision of personal protective equipment.

• Reporting accidents, injuries, and cases of occupational disease to the appropriate authorities.

• Supporting supervisors in their health and safety activities.

• Evaluating the health and safety performance of supervisors.

• Supporting all worthy health and safety initiatives.

• Enforcing all aspects of workplace health and safety.

• Setting a good example., .

Supervisors have administrativeresponsibilities

,

These responsibilities apply to safety as well as other operational requirements and include:

• Training and instructing new employees in safe work procedures.

• Ensuring all employees are adequately trained in the safe performance of their job, and checking their progress.

• Ensuring only authorized, properly trained employees operate equipment or use hazardous chemicals.

• Enforcing all aspects of the organization’s health and safety requirem ents.

• Enforcing legal requirements for health and safety.

• Ensuring personal protective equipment is used correctly and kept in good order.

• Ensuring that equipment and materials are properly handled, stored, and maintained.

• Inspecting for and correcting unsafe acts and conditions.

• Identifying employees with problems such as drugs or alcohol that could affect their performance and following up with interviews and referrals where necessary.

• Reporting and investigating all accidents and incidents.

• Promoting safety awareness in employees.

• Formulating safety rules and coordinating contractor safety for work conducted on site.

• Setting a good example.

Employees have an immediate responsibility -

• Supporting the organization’s health and safety efforts.

• Knowing and complying with all regulatory requirements.

• Following all safe work procedures.

• Reporting unsafe acts and conditions to their supervisor or safety representative immediately.

• Reporting any occupational illness or injury immediately.

• Properly wearing and caring for prescribed personal protective equipment.

• Offering suggestions to enhance workplace health and safety.

• Promoting the safety of their co-workers.

• Participating in the safety committee if requested or elected.

• Setting a good example.

Corporate values, by business necessity, must revolve around the organization’s survival: profits for private enterprises; sustainability within budget for public-sector entities. Bird and Davies (1996) describe how to enlist management support for a safety program by specifying the reasons safety and business survival go hand in hand. These are expressed as the following ten axioms.

1. The Management Control Axiom: The control of accidents is the best way to control their cost and management has the bulk of this control.

2. The Axiom of Economic Association: A manager will usually pay more attention to information when expressed or associated with cost terminology.

3. The Axiom of the Critical Few: The majority (80%) of any group of effects is produced by the relatively small (20%) number of causes.

4. The Key Advocate Axiom: It is easier to persuade decision makers on matters of cost when at least one person within their own circle believes in the proposal well enough to champion the cause.

5. The Past Forecasts the Future Axiom: Unless positive steps have been taken to correct or control past loss experience and if related circumstances continue to exist, you should expect to have similar if not more costly experience in the future.

6. The Mutual Interest Axiom: Projects and ideas involving costs are best sold when they bridge the wants and desires of both parties.

7. The Economic Priority Axiom: A manager will usually give priority response to items possessing the potential for the greatest proportion of results from the least investment of available resources.

8. The Vested Interest Axiom: Managers are predominantly interested in those economic considerations affecting their own budgets.

9. The Axiom of Adequate Information: The timeliness of manager’s decision making is directly related to the adequacy of information they have upon which to act.

10. The Axiom of Dimensional Value: The degree of management attention is directly related to the size of the problem.

There is no set formula for constructing and organizing a safety program, though enterprises have found they cannot do without certain key activities:

• Establishment of policy statement signed by senior management.

• Inspection of premises to prevent and correct hazards.

• Development of supplementary written instructions for tasks with significant risk.

• Discussion of injury/accident trends at management meetings and discussion of how to prevent accidents.

• Investigation of accidents to determine the cause in order to prevent reoccurrence.

• Maintaining records and statistics.

• Establishment of a health and safety committee.

• Training workers to ensure they have the skills and knowledge necessary to perform in a safe manner.

• Provision of first aid services.

• Safe handling of hazardous materials.

• Coordination of multiple employers on site (if applicable: e.g., construction sites with multiple contractors).

name 3 parts of a safety program *

Therefore, there are three key parts to every program:

• Goals: what you are setting out to accomplish has been determined. Goals are usually expressed in a policy or purpose statement, for example: the purpose of conducting inspections is to identify hazards and correct them before they cause harm.

• Actions/Activities: actions are required in order to achieve the goals. For example: Hazard identification, risk assessment, and training

• Responsibilities: people are assigned responsibilities to undertake the activities. For example: Supervisors are responsible to monitor and ensure safe work practices. Others have responsibility too- workers, safety committee members, first aid attendants, and contractors (to name a few)

Why do organizations need a safety program? *

First, it is a legal requirement prescribed by both provincial and federal regulations. Failure to comply can result in fines and/or jail terms. Most provincial legislation define what must be included in the program.

Secondly, a safety program is good business practice. Accidents cost the organization wasted financial and human resources. For example: Injury costs impact the Employer’s Experience Rating that increases their Workers’ Compensation Premiums. Time-loss injuries leave the workforce short-handed and can impact production.  Re-training workers to fill those positions cost time and money. Preventing occupational injuries and illnesses, and property damage, is good for business and has a positive effect on employee well-being.

Why must organizations take initiative to prevent accidents?

Accident prevention takes action. Achieving workplace conditions that are safe and healthy takes effort. This does not come naturally, just as high levels of productivity and high product/service quality do no just happen by themselves.

The employer must establish clear safety goals that defeat production pressures or unsafe short-cuts. The employer must know the laws that govern their business, this includes health and safety legislation. The employer must communicate their expectations and assign responsibilities to achieve their goals.

Operational efficiency is compromised when the safety, production and quality components of work are considered separate. Complicating the desire for a safe and healthy workplace are the competing values and demands of the job.

What are the commonly accepted key activities in a safety program:

Commonly accepted safety program activities include:

• establishment of policy statement signed by senior management.

• inspection of premises to prevent and correct hazards.

• development of supplementary written instructions for tasks with significant risk.

• discussion of injury/accident trends at management meetings and discussion of how to prevent accidents.

• investigation of accidents to determine the cause in order to prevent reoccurrence.

• maintaining records and statistics

• establishment of a health and safety committee.

• worker training.

• provision of first aid services.

• safe handling of hazardous materials.

• coordination of multiple employers on site (if applicable, e.g., construction sites with multiple contractors)

How do values affect a safetyprogram?

  For the safety program to succeed, the desired actions and outcomes of the program must reflect the values of the organization. For the organization to succeed, unnecessary losses must be controlled. The organization, starting with upper management, must therefore hold the safety program efforts in high regard. Failure at this level will almost certainly mean failure of the program. Employees must feel that giving attention, time and effort to safety is part of the job that they will be held accountable for.

Having a strong, effective safety program that is supported by the organization’s management will have a positive effect on personal values held within the organization. The program will first affect what acceptable behaviours are. Then, as behaviours change over time and “the right way” becomes the norm, individual values will adapt and former opponents may become safety advocates r

Safety Culture Notes

• Safety culture is the common value of personnel in the organization in regard to safety.

• Safety values are represented and reinforced through formalized policies and procedures (program).

• Sound, honest leadership is essential to worker buy-in

• Worker buy-in is essential for success

• The measure of whether or not a safety culture exists is observable safe worker behaviours.

3 powerful mechanisms

• Safety leadership, in particular top management commitment and the role of line management.

• Formal policies and procedures that represent the way business is to be conducted.

• Worker behavioural issues, including how required behaviours can influence attitudes and values

Synergistic relationship

There is a synergistic relationship between leadership (influence from the top-down) and behaviour of workers (influence from the bottom­up).“

The three factors associated with behavioural motivation are:

• Timing: soon or not soon,

• Consistency: certain or not certain, and

• Significance: positive or not positive.

Motivation

Motivating behaviours rather than attitudes will help to ensure that the right actions are consistently taken by employees to ensure workplace health and safety.

Accountability and Responsibility

Accountability and responsibility for safety programming are closely linked to program leadership: someone in the organization must define what is required to take place

Safety program success:

1. Safety program roles and responsibilities need to be established to achieve the desired program outcomes.

2. Safety program roles and responsibilities must be assigned.

3. Personnel can only be held accountable for safety roles and responsibilities if safety expectations have been communicated.

4. Attention to assigned program roles and responsibilities is better if there is a buy-in process, preferably one that starts at the initial development stage.

5. When personnel are not held accountable for their safety roles and responsibilities, this neglect communicates that the assigned roles and responsibilities have no value and, therefore, deserve to be ignored.

6. Persons with assigned responsibilities must see the benefits of acting on their responsibilities; only then will personal values be aligned with organizational values.

7. The desired safety program outcomes can only be achieved through the concerted actions of the individuals in an organization. L

“Management has the following characteristics

• Management is an authority relationship.

• The people in this relationship have at least one manger and one subordinate.

• The manager(s) and subordinate(s) coordinate their activities.

• The manager(s) and subordinate(s) produce and sell particular goods and/or services.

Leadership has the following characteristics:

• Z

• Leaders influence relationships.

• Leaders have followers.

• Leaders intend to cause real change.

• Leaders intend changes to reflect mutual purposes

Model correct behaviours and attitudes

• Use the correct work procedures.

• Wear required personal protective equipment.

• Use the correct tools, equipment, and/or machinery when performing or demonstrating a task.

• Operate machinery only if the guards, safety switches, etc. are in place and working properly.

• Lock out machinery and equipment before performing maintenance or repairs.

Commend workers and reward desired behaviours

• Noticing when desired behaviours are demonstrated: when, for example, a job/task is performed properly with the use of correct safety procedures, protective equipment, etc.

• Giving verbal reinforcement for the use of the correct behaviour

Correct and re-intruct

The process incorporates facets of modelling and commending and is as follows:

1. Identify the undesirable behaviour and why it should not be used.

2. Restate your position and the reasons for it in a firm (assertive), non-confrontational manner if the person being corrected disagrees with your observations.

3. Inform the employee of the correct method that is to be used. Explain and/or demonstrate (modelling) the correct behaviour.

4. Check to ensure that the employee understands what changes are required by asking them to demonstrate the correct behaviour. Review and confirm that it is correct.

5. Emphasise to the employee the importance of the employee’s well-being to yourself and the organization, and why the behaviour is required. Show care and concern for the employee.

6. Compliment the employee on being able to correctly demonstrate the correct behaviour (commending).

7. Record your observations for future reference as part of the due diligence process and employee disciplinary process.

8. Issue an appropriate reprimand if the situation warrants it and follow the organization’s policy on disciplinary procedures.

9. Check back later to ensure that the correct procedures are still being used. Look for opportunities to commend the employee on using the desired behaviours.

10. Review the situation with the employee in private during any performance reviews. Note the original behaviours observed and look for opportunities to again reinforce the desired behaviour using positive methods. Take this opportunity to solicit new ideas for making the work better, safer, easier, etc.