Chapter 3 - Safety and Health Strategy, Policy & Culture

SAFETY AND HEALTH STRATEGY POLICY AND CULTURE
CHAPTER 3
SAFETY AND HEALTH STRATEGY POLICY
AND CULTURE
European Safety Council - International Diploma in Health and Safety Engineering Page 83
Contents
Element 1- Integrating safety with management functions ................................................................................................. 85
1.1 Relationship between safety culture and management practices ............................................................................. 85
1.2 The importance of engaging individuals and groups .................................................................................................. 87
1.3 The impact of practical and statutory safety and health requirements ..................................................................... 88
1.3.1 The Systematic Management of Work Health and Safety. .................................................................................. 89
Element 2- Management techniques to promote safety ..................................................................................................... 92
2.1 Management techniques ............................................................................................................................................ 92
2.2 Barriers to develop effective policies.......................................................................................................................... 95
Element 3- Challenges in organization safety ....................................................................................................................... 97
3.1 Factors affecting organizational safety and health arrangements ............................................................................. 97
3.2 The incorporation of law ............................................................................................................................................. 98
3.3 Barriers to effective policies and safety and health cultures.................................................................................... 101
3.4 Goals and performance targets ................................................................................................................................ 102
3.5 Organizational arrangement for contract and shared workplace ............................................................................ 105
References .......................................................................................................................................................................... 107
Element 1- Integrating safety with management functions
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this section learners should be able to;
• State the benefits of a positive safety culture as well as the consequences of a poor safety culture
• Identify the relationship between management practices and safety culture
safety culture of an organization is the product of group and individual values, attitudes, perceptions,
competencies and patterns of behavior that determine the commitment to and the style and proficiency of an
organizations health and safety management. As such safety culture is entrenched from top-bottom and
practiced from bottom-top. Safety practices vary across organizations and industry but with an overall view of
mitigating and tackle incidents and accidents that could arise from interactions within a space per time. Safety
culture therefore seeks to entrench an attitude and consciousness of safety practices in all within organization
from management to staff to visitors and third party.
There are key attributes that characterize organizations with a positive safety culture, these often includes
• A good sense of communication founded on mutual trust
• Shared perceptions and awareness on the importance of safety and health
• Confidence in the efficacy of preventive measures enshrined in safety values.
An organizations culture towards safety outcomes can have a heavy influence on safety management systems
within the organization as well as impact overall productivity. Many organization talk about “safety culture”
when referring to the inclination of their employees to comply with rules or act safely or unsafely. However, it
is worthy of note that the management culture and style plays a significant role towards implementation for
example a natural, unconscious bias for production over safety or a tendency to focusing on short term and
being highly reactive rather than proactive.
Symptoms of a poor cultural (safety and health) factors include;
• Widespread, routine procedural violations
• Poor compliance to company safety procedures, sometimes orchestrated by poor procedure design
• Prioritizing continually production\productivity over sustainability and safety.
An effective safety culture ensures that every organization remains optimally functional reducing, downtime,
accident time and other legal implications associated with such safety breeches. Therefore for an effective
culture, every organization must be seen to form, accept, embrace and monitor her own safety practices
across board as is seen to apply to the organization.
1.1 Relationship between safety culture and management practices

There exist a symbiotic relationship between organizational health and safety and proficiency. This is because
an optimized safety culture will ease management burden resulting from continued breakdown in operations
resulting from accidents. A high level of safety for all employees and third party is important in itself because it
reduces the liability, reputational risk and the danger of burdensome regulations and litigations.
It is therefore little surprise that companies with superior organizational health and safety records are those
that align themselves most successfully around a clear strategy, execute it well and renew themselves
overtime on these commitments.
Successful actions to improve safety predictably in management include
• A stricter or harder health related practices such as habit-enforcing incentive systems
• Integrating into staffs a more responsible culture of taking ownership of safety problems by leadership
in search for solutions which includes working with safety department and authorities concerned.
Worthy of note also, is the fact that organizational safety improves financial and operating results. To achieve
a high state of safety maturity, a culture of interdependence must be adopted in corporate cultures which
must be geared at entrenching a sense of genuine responsibility amongst workers. The department in charge
of safety must have safety and health representatives across the different department liaising and giving daily
reports on behalf of their department to the safety department and officers.
Management practices associated with good safety outcomes are very instructive and could include.
1. Financial and non-financial incentives
Consequence management which is creating accountability by linking rewards and consequences to
the performance of individuals and teams is a critical management practice associated with safety.
Interestingly, however, two practices which are providing financial incentives and recognition as well
as no financial rewards and recognition. It is important to identify, reward and explicitly recognize the
sort of behavior that encourages safety, not least because it forces managers to think through what
kind of behavior is required.
2. Employee Ownership of solutions and learning
Bottom-top innovation involves encouraging and rewarding employee participation in the
development initiatives. Top-Down means that senior leaders actively and publicly champion and
sponsor high priority initiatives. Both are particularly correlated with safety. Knowledge sharing and a
culture that emphasizes creativity and entrepreneurship are other key ingredients.
3. Leading with values
Line ownership is an effective bulwark against accidents. The use of “near miss” programs, which
encourages employees to identify hazardous situations and propose solutions before safety is
jeopardized. Engaging employees in the identification of problems and involving them in the design of
solutions raises the organizations awareness, lower its tolerance for risk and improves the chances of
actually adopting a solution.
Supportive leadership, exemplified by leaders who build positive environment marked by harmonious
teams and care for welfare of employees. Change programs of all kinds, including those designed to
improve safety, can succeed only when employees see their leaders as authentic, where actions
follow words, employees take note. By promoting safety as a value –as something that follows you
home-leaders create a true sense of commitment and increase the chances of fostering convictions
amongst employees and third party. Supportive leaders also help to create the learning culture
essential for improving safety. Ultimately, organizations focused on safety want employees to speak
up and share their concerns with one another and that can’t happen without support.
Companies need to balance traditional hard incentives with actions such as providing supportive
leadership and encouraging employees ownership.
Irrespective of industry, profession and practice, a coordinated synergy between management and safety,
health& environment is required in entrenching safety and health cultures within the organization. These
practices such as routine drills between safety department and employees with the inclusion of management
on health practices such as first aid actions, mouth to nose, mouth to mouth and other basic health practices
as stated by the red cross society and safety drills such as first reactions in the case of emergencies of various
forms, incident recognition and report, accident control and mitigation. These will be measurable objectives to
achieving any organizations long term goals.
Exercises
1. State the management practices that are associated with positive safety culture
2. Explain the relationship between management practices and safety culture.
3. Give the characteristics of a positive safety culture.
4. Outline the consequences of a poor safety culture.
1.2 The importance of engaging individuals and groups

Learning Outcomes
• State what is meant by safety processes and give the importance of consultation and the involvement
of individuals in safety processes.
understand and fully communicate the importance of engaging individuals and groups in the design and
implementation of safety and health processes so as to inculcate the culture of safety into staffs and
personnel, let us take a look at safety and health processes vis a vis the organizations goals and how they
reflect on them. Safety must be viewed collectively across board as a responsibility for a greater yield.
• Safety and health processes
A process or procedure sets out the steps to be followed for work activities. They are usually written to
provide clarity and certainty at the workplace and demonstrate compliance. They should clearly
establish the role of health and safety representatives and other institutions or group involved in the
activity. The process should be easily accessible, for example by making them available on notice
boards and intranet sites. Many workplaces are by law required to have health and safety committees
which assist develop standards, rules and procedures for health and safety that are to be followed or
complied with at the workplace. With reference to risk management, a procedure is a form of
administrative control or a method of work, a process designed, and intended to reduce risk.
Safe work practices are generally written down techniques outlining how to perform a task with
minimum risk to people, equipment, materials, environment and processes. Safe job procedures are a
set of specific steps that guides an employee through a task from initiation to completion in a
chronological order. Safe job procedures are designed to address the need to reduce the risk by
minimizing potential exposure.
Development:
Safe work practices should be developed as a result of completing a hazard assessment and should
reflect closely the activities most regular in the company’s type of sector of business. The inclusion of
management and workers is key to drafting procedures, as they have been a part of hazard
assessment, accident investigation and\or as a supplement to a safe work practice.
Delivery:
All safe work practices should be kept in a location central to the work being performed and readily
available to the work place. Some safe work practices will require specific job procedures, which clearly
establish in a chronological order each step in a process. They should be inculcated in the company’s
worker orientation program. All workers should be made aware of the establishment of safe job
procedures and see to it that they are in effect, are written down and must be followed. In building
your collection of safe practices\procedures, it is useful to do so incrementally, by starting with a few
key operations and adding to them as needed. Avoid repeating clear regulatory requirements.
A few samples to developing safe practices or procedures for a construction company for example.
• Contractor H&S checklist
• Contractor performance checklist
• Documentation checklist
• Safe-job procedures review
• Safe work practices review
• Written procedures checklist
Going by the above, it is important to realize that engaging individuals and groups in the form of committees
and supervisory groups increase their stakes and commitment to enforcing and realizing organization’s safety
culture.
Exercises
1. Explain what is meant by safety processes
2. State the benefits of consultation and the involvement of individuals in safety processes
1.3 The impact of practical and statutory safety and health requirements
Learning Outcomes
Identify the impact of statutory safety and health requirements on organisational input, processes and
outputs.
Process Improvement Model
In the process improvement model, Positive Performance Indicators could be assumed as one of the following:
Inputs (key activities)
Input Positive Performance Indicators are measures of what actions or initiatives have been undertaken in the
workplace to improve Work Health and Safety and can provide useful information on participation, leadership
and communication. Although they are seen as good indicators of commitment and effort, they are not
indicators of the effectiveness of the activities. In practical terms, organizations will need to define those
activities in their safety management system that needs to be promoted and reinforced. A focus on these
activities can be used to visibly drive the safety culture in the workplace. Positive Performance Indicators can
be developed for these activities.
Processes (monitoring key risks)

Process Positive Performance Indicators are measures that are used to monitor the major risks in an
organization. These can be developed by identification of the key contributors to the outcomes of concern and
developing measures to monitor behaviors and practices.
• For example, if a high number of injuries from hazardous manual tasks were an ‘outcome of concern’ and
key contributors to this occurrence were factors like poor manual handling techniques and infrequent use of
lifting aids, then performance measures would be developed to monitor these practices.
• In developing Positive Performance Indicators of this type, organizations should focus on all core risks and
ensure that measures are in place to provide an indication that risk control practices are being followed.
Outputs (milestones)
Output indicators are used to measure outcomes in terms of the achievement of objectives, and on the
progress towards the achievement of targets and higher level goals.
• For example, if the goal is that within a particular time period, storage and handling requirements for
hazardous materials are understood by staff, a suitable indicator of this type would be number or % of staff
competent in the storage and handling requirements for hazardous substances.
1.3.1 The Systematic Management of Work Health and Safety.
In order to improve the level of Work Health and Safety Performance, a systematic approach needs to be
undertaken. The focus of Work Health and Safety management has to shift from an outlying position (where
the safety management system is not integrated into the overall management system of the organization) to
one of total integration into an organization’s management systems. For this to occur, managers must see
good Work Health and Safety Performance as a critical part of good sustainable business practice.
To achieve this, a reliable system for Work Health and Safety Performance measurement, in terms of
evaluating the systematic management of Work Health and Safety in the workplace, will need to be developed
and used. This is the role of Positive Performance Indicators.
It should be noted that, unless an organization has a systematic approach to the management of Work Health
and Safety, and in particular to the planning of prevention activities, then Positive Performance Indicators will
be of little assistance.
This step by step approach can take many forms but usually consists of a number of key elements that
together are often referred to as a Work Health and Safety Management System. There are many variations of
Work Health and Safety Management System in use, but all have the following principles:
• Leadership commitment
• Planning
• Implementation
• Measurement and evaluation
• Reviewing and revising the system to facilitate continual improvement

The format of a Work Health and Safety Management System will be based on the core functions of an
organization and appropriate to the specific needs of that organization.
The type and complexity of the Work Health and Safety Management System in place may range from highly
developed systems that are independently audited against a formal standard for certification (AS 4801), to less
structured informal management processes. Smaller organizations with limited Work Health and Safety
resources are likely to have a basic management system, but in all cases the systematic management of Work
Health and Safety should have the process of risk management principles at its core.
• The identification of hazards, assessing the risk associated with those hazards and applying measures to
control the risks should form the focus of Work Health and Safety management support in any organization,
irrespective of its size.
• Other important components in a Work Health and Safety Management System include responsibility and
accountabilities of key staff, competencies for managers and workers, policies and procedures, emergency
preparedness, monitoring and review, and plans for continual improvement.
Accordingly, the type of Work Health and Safety Management System that an organization has in place, and
the nature of the risks that it needs to control, will ultimately determine the types of performance measures
that it will need to develop to evaluate the effectiveness of that system.
Categories of Positive Performance Indicators
While individual Positive Performance Indicators will need to reflect the characteristics of Work Health and
Safety problems and strategies applying to particular organizations and workplaces, there are a number of
core categories of Positive Performance Indicators that are common to most large organizations. For the
purposes of this guide, the categories of Positive Performance Indicators outlined below represent those
principles and core elements incorporated into the Work Health and Safety Management System model for
continual improvement.
• Commitment and policy – This measures demonstrated commitment by organizations to improve Work
Health and Safety Performance.
• Planning – This assesses what procedures and actions are in place to eliminate workplace injury and disease.
• Implementation – This evaluates the capability and support mechanisms that are necessary to achieve Work
Health and Safety objectives and targets.
• Measurement and evaluation – assesses the extent to which workplace health and safety is monitored and
evaluated so that issues can be identified and corrective action taken.
• Review and improvement – evaluates the effectiveness of the Work Health and Safety management system,
and its continuing suitability.
Exercises
Account for the impact of statutory safety and health requirements on;
1. Inputs
2. Processes
3. Outputs
Element 2- Management techniques to promote safety
2.1 Management techniques

Learning Outcomes
• Explain the factors to be considered when developing a successful safety and health system
Workplace is an important setting for health and safety protection and promotion towards disease and
accident prevention. Every employer has the responsibility to maintain a safe and healthy workplace. A
safety and health management system can enable you focus your efforts on ways to promote, monitor and
improve working environment. The objective is to set policies on dos and don’t in the organization geared
at preventing accidents and diseases. Every organization has a peculiar safety system, which is a reflection
of their business values, hazards of work, and safety and health management of employees. So if the
organization is small and low risk industry, your system may simply involve listening to your employees
concerns and responding appropriately to them but in the case of a large business in a hazardous industry,
notebooks containing well written policies and procedures with a full time safety director for
implementation.
In developing a successful safety system, the following must be taken into recognition;
• A Management committed to making the program work
• An involvement of Employees in the program
• A system for hazards identification and control
• Compliance with OSHA regulations
• Training on safe work practices
• A Mutual respect, caring and open communication in climate conducive for safety
• Continuous improvement
❖ Make commitment;
It is key to put as much energy into your commitment to safety and health as you put into other important
part of your business. Ensure to include workplace safety and health in your business plan and integrate it
into all facets of the business. This is achievable by the following
•Adequate Commitment of the resources (time, money, personnel) needed to protect employees
•Prioritize safety topics in meetings
•Encourage employee participation in safety and health
•Equip employees with knowledge that they will be expected to follow safe work practices if they
work for your business and follow them yourself
• Respond to all reports of unsafe or unhealthy conditions or work practices
• If injuries or illnesses occur, carry out an investigation
• Go beyond the regulations, address all hazards, whether or not they are covered by laws.
❖ Involve employees;
To realize a safe and healthy workplace, employees have a key role in the success of the program as safety
and health is everyone’s responsibility. Active encouragement of employees involvement is required if you
want your program to succeed. Workers must be held accountable and ensure everyone does their part.
To achieve this,
•Set up an active workplace safety and health committee
•Make daily safety inspections part of some employees job
•Keep employees informed about safety inspections, injury and illness statistics and other safety
related issues
• Assign everyone a meaningful activity that supports safety
• Value employee input and feedback. Employees know more about safety problems and solutions
than managers do
• Ensure employees help review and improve the program
• Hold employees accountable by including safety and health responsibilities in job descriptions.
Make following safe work practices part of performance evaluation
• Devise forms of discipline for employees who behave in ways that harm themselves or the other.
• Set up a clear system for reporting hazards, injuries, illnesses and close calls
• Recognize employees who contribute to keeping workplace safe and healthy/
❖ Identify and control hazards
Before you can control hazards, you need to know what the hazards are. Here are some ways to identify
health hazards;
• Carry out a review records of accidents, injuries, illnesses and calls
• Review available OSHA logs, first aid logs, workers compensation, reports and close calls
• Investigate for trends or patterns in kinds of injuries or illnesses , parts of body, time of day/shift,
location, equipment, protective equipment, department
• Survey employees
• Review investigation reports from enforcement inspections, insurance surveys or consultations
• Learn the OSHA regulations that have to do with your workplace once you know the hazards, you
can decide how to control them
• Prioritize the hazards you found into which are most likely to cause serious injury or illnesses,
which is an easy and immediate fix, and make a plan if long term to fix it
• Develop a plan for correcting the hazards; conduct job hazard analysis to identify how best to
correct the hazards
• Research out best practices from companies in your industry
• Control hazards through the use of engineering control to eliminate the hazards through safe tool
facilities and equipment. And administrative control don’t remove hazards but reduce the
exposure by changing work practices for instance rotating workers ,rest\breaks and training
programs. These are the best controls.
❖ Comply with regulations;

Employees must identify with OSHA regulations that apply in their workplaces and comply with them. Safe
work class consultations can help with this though;
• Developing required programs

• Carry out maintenance of the OSHA 300 log as whenever required.
❖ Train employees;
Train personnel about the hazards they may be exposed to at work and how to protect themselves. Keep
records of all training and emergency procedures through;
•General safety orientation for new employees starting new jobs, including company safety
regulations and emergency procedures
• Specific training on the hazards of their jobs and how to do their jobs safely.
• Retraining as required by the standards, when jobs change, when employees return from long
distance as needed to ensure employees know how to their jobs daily
❖ Support a culture of safety
For workers to hold safety as a value, they actively care about themselves and others. Mutual respect is
the norm and can be achieved thus;
• Set up an effective two way communication so as to respond to the needs and concerns of
workers
• Ensure management goes beyond the regulations to ensure a safe workplace
• Encourage workers to go beyond the call to duty to ensure a safe work place
• Create activities that support a work environment that fosters trust, creativity and general
wellbeing.
❖ Continually improve your system

Review your programs strengths and weaknesses. Does it accurately reflect how you want to manage
safety and health? To do this;
• Apply OSHA’s safety and health program assessment worksheet to assess progress
• Carry out Review annually as required
• Investigate accidents, injuries, illnesses and close calls as they occur
• Conduct frequent(daily, weekly as needed) inspection of specific equipment and processes
• Monitor your injury and illness statistics
• Document all your safety efforts
• Carry out a change analysis by reviewing new and changed processes, materials, facilities and
equipment for hazards
• Make sure hazard correction systems are in place and working
• Monitor effectiveness of training
• Pay attention to staff, as to if employees know the hazard of their jobs and if management enforce
work practices and praises safe behavior.
Exercises
1. Explain the techniques for successful development of an organization’s safety and health system.
2.2 Barriers to develop effective policies

Learning Outcomes
• Account for the barriers to successful development of a Safety policy in the organisation.
Developing and enhancing a strong company safety culture can change the landscape of an organization
and pay incredible dividends. Without active participation by all members of an organization, a safety
culture will not evolve and the safety management system cannot reach its full potential. If team members
resist participating in the safety process, consider addressing common barriers.
❖ Attitude;
The attitude of an organization from top to bottom affects the success of a safety management system. It
is important to acknowledge that employees will resist change unless that change is framed with a positive
outcome for them as individuals. These are specific attitudinal obstacles and misconceptions to address for
both leaders and employees and include;
• Lack of trust
• Climate of fear
• Uncertainty of constant change
• A history not conducive to employee involvement
• Employees who focus on their co workers imperfection
• Amount of time and effort involved
❖ Roles and responsibilities
Roles must be established, communicated and upheld to have a successful safety management system. It
is important to involve individuals in the planning process as well as the execution to ensure buy-in and
organization-wide approval. Resistance to your safety system can result from;
• Lack of demonstrated commitment from top leadership
• Lack of responsibility from top management
• Not involving the unions
• Resistance from any of the partners(supervisors, managers, support, people, unions or labor)
• Failure to redefine the role of leadership
❖ Training
When making changes to a system or rolling out a new system, you need ample time to train a core team
of experts and then additional time for people to change old habits, ask questions and make adjustments.
The success of a safety management system can be challenged by
• Inadequate training
• Team members being assigned or assuming too much responsibility
• Inadequate time for training to take root leading to employee frustration and fear of getting it
wrong
❖ Infrastructure
It is important to build the right environment for a safety management system. It is not something that can
happen overnight and will not be adopted homogeneously across an organization. It takes constant
communication and systems fail often times when they encounter these problems;
• Systems and structures not designed to support teams
• Too little or too much structure
• Failure to communicate what is happening
• Not allowing enough time to change
• No transition plan
• Lack of attention given to even the smallest improvements
❖ Bureaucracy
• Difficulty in complying with the legislation for demanding various documents,
• lack of consistent business support policies
• Lack of technical support control authorities
• Lack of public policies focused on OHS conditions
• Difficulty to comply strict safety regulations.
Exercises
1. How does the following influence the successful dear of an effective safety and health policy;
• Attitude
• Roles and responsibilities
• Training
Element 3- Challenges in organization safety
3.1 Factors affecting organizational safety and health arrangements

Learning outcomes
At the end of this section, learners should be able to;
• Outline internal factors affecting organizational safety and health arrangement
• State external factors affecting safety and health arrangement
• Explain change factors and how they affect safety and health arrangement
Every organization has its own safety culture, almost everything that affects an organization ability to compete
and respond successfully to changes in the external environment. Ultimately the organization success or
failure is an aspect of that culture. The internal factors determine how the organization moves forward both
as a self-contained organizational entity and in response to its external environment.
Internal factors
• Mission; why does an organization exist? What is its purpose answering these fundamental questions
describes an organization’s mission. A successful organization has a clear sense of its ultimate purpose
and knows how it intends to fulfill that purpose.
• Leadership; great leaders serve as inspiration and provide direction often exemplary persuasion. After
30 years of brutal and isolating imprisonment nelson Mandela for example returned to South Africa to
lead the country. It would have been justified if upon gaining power; Mandela had retaliated for
brutality of South Africa’s regime. He however advocated communication, understanding and
forgiveness. These are leadership skills that achieve long term and short term goals with minimum
incidence\accident.
• Communication; successful organizations advance on robust communication practices where teams
and team leaders communicate freely and often to improve results, this two way communication up
and down the hierarchical structure extends from top to bottom. Organizations with communication
deficiencies often have rigid leadership structures that destroy trust
• Organizational structure; At some point, most organizations had highly hierarchical structures, with
many layers of leadership and management defining the organization from top to bottom. More
recently, there is a growing understanding that organizations with flat-structures i.e. few hierarchical
strata from top to bottom out perform organizations with hierarchical structure.
• Learning; learning is one of the most fundamental human activities and it accounts directly for the
success of any organization. As technological advances lead to faster rates of change, successful
organizations need to find a way to respond that encourages innovation and builds into every
employees experience the opportunity to learn and explore. Today’s most successful organizations are
essential learning organizations
External factors
External factors affecting an organization may be safety standards, laws, trade associations, government
agencies, political, economic, social or technological and impact directly on the internal factors of the
organization.
Exercises
1. Explain the internal factors affecting safety and health arrangement in an organization
2. List the external factors capable of affecting safety and health arrangement
3.2 The incorporation of law

Learning outcomes
At the end of this section, learners should be able to;
• Identify relevant safety and health laws incorporated into safety and health police s an
management systems
The main health and safety regulations are;
1. THE MANAGEMENT OF SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK AS REGULATED BY 1993
Also referred to as the 'Management Regs', came into effect in 1993. The Main duties of the employer under
the Regulations include:
• making risk assessments to the health and safety of its workforce, and to acting upon identified risks,
so as to reduce them;
• placing competent persons to oversee workplace health and safety;
• equipping workers with information and training on occupational health and safety; and
• Operating a written health and safety policy.
2. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) as Regulated by 1992
The main requirements of these Regulations require employers to provide:
• Adequate lighting, heating, ventilation and workspace (and keep them in a clean condition);
• Provide Staff facilities, including toilets, washing facilities and refreshment; and
• Ensure Safe passageways, i.e. to prevent slipping and tripping hazards.
3. The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) as Regulated by 1992

The main provisions here apply to display screen equipment (DSE) 'users'. These users are workers who are in
the habit of using a computer as a significant part of their normal work. This includes people who are regular
users of DSE equipment, or depend on it as part of their job. This covers you if you use DSE for an hour or
more continuously, or you are making daily use of DSE.
Employers are required to:
• Make a risk evaluation of workstation use by DSE users, and reduce the risks identified;
• Make sure DSE users take 'adequate breaks';
• Make Provision for regular eyesight tests;
• Provide health and safety information;
• Provide adjustable furniture (e.g. desk, chair, etc.);
• Demonstrate that they have adequate procedures designed to reduce risks associated with DSE work,
such as repetitive strain injury (RSI).
4. The Personal Protective Equipment at Work as Regulated by 1992

The main provisions require employers to:
• Make sure that suitable personal protective equipment (PPE) is provided free of charge in any place
there are risks to health and safety that cannot be adequately controlled in other ways. The PPE must
be 'suitable' for the risk in question, and should include protective face masks and goggles, safety
helmets, gloves, air filters, ear defenders, overalls and protective footwear; and
• Provide information, training and instruction on the use of this equipment.
5. The Manual Handling Operations as Regulated by 1992
Employers are under these Regulations required to:
• Avoid (so far as is reasonably practicable) the need for employees to undertake any manual handling
activities involving risk of injury;
• Make evaluations of manual handling risks, and try to reduce the risk of injury. The assessment should
consider the task, the load and the individual's personal characteristics (physical strength, etc.); and
• Provide workers with information on the weight of each load.
6. The Provision and Use of Work Equipment as Regulated by 1998
The main provisions require employers to:
• Make sure the safety and suitability of work equipment for the purpose for which it is provided;
• Adequately maintain the equipment, irrespective of how old it is;
• Avail information, instruction and training on the use of equipment; and
• Protect employees from dangerous parts of machinery.
7. The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences as Regulated by 1995
Under these Regulations, employers are required to report a wide range of work-related incidents, injuries
and diseases to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), or to the nearest local authority environmental health
department. The Regulations require an employer to record in an accident book the date and time of the
incident, details of the person(s) affected, the nature of their injury or condition, their occupation, the place
where the event occurred and a brief note on what happened.
The following injuries or ill health must be reported:
• The death of any person;
• Specific injuries including fractures, amputations, eye injuries, injuries from electric shock, and acute
illness requiring removal to hospital or immediate medical attention;
• Over-seven-day injuries, which involve relieving someone of their normal work for more than seven
days as a result of injury caused by an accident at work;
• Reportable occupational diseases, including:
o Cramp of the hand or forearm due to repetitive movement;
o Carpal tunnel syndrome, involving hand-held vibrating tools;
o Occupational asthma;
o Tendonitis (types of tendon injury);
o Hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS), including where the person’s work involves regular use
of percussive or vibrating tools; and
o occupational dermatitis;
• Near misses (described in the Regulations as 'dangerous occurrences'). The HSE has produced a list of
the kinds of incidents regarded as 'dangerous occurrences'.
8. The Working Time Regulations 1998 (as amended)
These Regulations enforce two European Union directives on the organization of working time and the
employment of young workers (under 18 years of age). The Regulations cover the right of employees to
annual leave and to have rest breaks, and they limit the length of the working week. Key protections for adult
workers include:
• A 48-hour maximum working week. Employers have a contractual obligation not to coerce a worker to
work more than an average 48-hour week (unless the worker has opted out of this voluntarily and in
writing);
• Minimum daily rest periods of 11 hours, unless shift-working arrangements have been made that
comply with the Regulations;
• An uninterrupted 20-minute daily rest break after six hours' work, to be taken during, rather than at
the start or end of the working time.
Extra protections is available to young workers (workers aged 15 to 18). In particular, young workers:
• They are entitled to a daily uninterrupted rest break of 30 minutes after working more than 4.5 hours;
• Are entitled to an uninterrupted 12-hour break in each 24 hour period of work.
• Are entitled to weekly rest of at least 48 hours in each seven-day period (and unlike adult workers,
they cannot be made to take this rest over two days averaged over two weeks); and cannot normally
work more than eight hours a day or 40 hours a week. These hours cannot be averaged out. There is no
'opt-out' for young workers.
All full-time workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday each year, reduced pro-rata for part-time workers.
These basic limits on the working week make a vital contribution to health and safety at work.
• Employers have the right to ask their staff to enter into a written agreement to opt out of the 48-hour
limit, for a specific period or indefinitely.
• However, if such an agreement is opted into, a worker is entitled to bring the agreement to an end
without the employer's consent.
3.3 Barriers to effective policies and safety and health cultures

While your company may strive to raise safety awareness and help employees develop a safety-first
mentality, there are things you may be doing (or not doing) that are secretly preventing your workplace
from becoming safer and better.
Here are five crucial factors that often hinder workplace safety:
1. Unclear Safety Rules & Expectations
• Federal laws require companies to adhere to certain safety measures and standards of hazard control.
However, safety rules expressed in legalese may not always be easy to understand. Instead of posting
the “law” around your workplace, summarize safety rules and expectations in clear, concise terms.
• If you haven’t done so, have team leaders, managers, or supervisors to take time to explain safety
procedures to employees in person. That way, employees can ask questions and clarify any
misunderstanding or ambiguity on the spot.
2. Lack of Enforcement
• Companies can't enforce safety rules with a few pieces of paper. They need people to make sure that
the rules are not only followed but respected. Besides ensuring that company leaders are diligently
enforcing and explaining safety rules, businesses should encourage every employee to report unsafe or
potentially hazardous conditions and activities to their superiors without fear of repercussion.
3. Little or No Motivation to Be Safe
• That may sound ironic; after all, who doesn’t want to be safe? Yet, it's not always easy to be safe,
especially when you are trying to accomplish numerous tasks with very little time. In stressful
situations, it is easy to shove safety under the rug and hope for the best.
• However, companies can motivate workers by giving not only verbal encouragement but also awards
and recognition to those who have consistently upheld safety values.
4. Long Work Hours & Excessive Workload
• Mistakes are most prone to happen when people are in a rush, tired, or both.
• In addition to wisely delegating an appropriate workload to your employees, it's paramount to have a
reasonable shift schedule and give your employees enough rest hours.
• According to a government study, “moderate sleep deprivation produces impairments in cognitive and
motor performance equivalent to legally prescribed levels of alcohol intoxication.” The study found
subjects who went 17 to 19 hours without sleep had the equivalent of a blood alcohol concentration
of 0.05% and a response time 50% slower than normal.
• To ensure optimum cognitive ability and performance, it's vital for employers to establish a shift
schedule that gives employees enough time for quality, uninterrupted sleep. Employees perform best,
says WorkSafe BC, with at least 7.5 to 8.5 hours of sleep per night.
5. Settling for 'Good Enough'
If diligence and alertness are the characteristics of a safety champion, then complacency is safety’s deadly
foe. According to Safety Toolbox Topics, complacency is one of the most troubling problems workers face.
• Once workers settle into a routine, it's easy to get comfortable and become oblivious to obvious
problems.
• To avoid complacency, companies should give workers constant safety feedback during shift hours and
meetings. Additionally, offering safety drills and training to all employees will also help reinforce the
importance of safety and help everyone stay ahead of the curve.
3.4 Goals and performance targets

. What is Work Health and Safety Performance?
Work Health and Safety Performance can be described as a measure of the level of effectiveness of business
activities aimed at the prevention of injury and disease to persons in the workplace. Dependent upon what
aspects of Work Health and Safety Performance are being measured, the evaluation may demonstrate:
• Historical Work Health and Safety Performance and trends;
• Compliance with legal obligations;
• Visible commitment in the provision of duty of care responsibilities; and
• Adoption of best practices commonly used within the industry.
Why is it needful we Measure Work Health and Safety Performance?
Inasmuch as Legislation now requires organizations to implement performance standards to measure the
effectiveness of the safety management system, it also makes good business sense to measure an
organizations performance to determine whether objectives or targets set, are being achieved and Work
Health and Safety is continually improving.
Measuring Work Health and Safety Performance, using performance indicators, provides information on the
effectiveness of processes in place to reduce the occurrence of workplace injury/disease.
Evaluating activities and initiatives and recording the level of success aimed at preventing workplace injury
and disease will identify how an organization is performing and additionally, identify areas where Work Health
and Safety can be improved.
It also provides effective immediate feedback to workers and management as to whether or not the things
that should / could be done are being done. This information provides an indication of management
commitment to Work Health and Safety improvement.
4. Objectives and Targets
Objectives and targets can assist you in implementing your Work Health and Safety policy and provide
milestones towards improved management of Work Health and Safety. There should be no difference
between the commitments in the policy and those in the objectives.
They should cover your significant impacts and meet your commitment to continual improvement
(particularly if you are aiming to achieve a formal Work Health and Safety standard).
Objectives will not be achieved if personnel either do not understand, or do not want to support the goals, so
it’s important to get staff involved in the process of setting the objectives from an early stage to gain
commitment. Objectives and targets are not static and will need to be reviewed and updated regularly
according to the progress and continual improvement of the Work Health and Safety management system.
Examples of Key Work Health and Safety Objectives:
• To achieve a work day and go home from work without injury and illness.
• To develop and communicate Work Health and Safety objectives, principles, expectations and requirements.
• To provide a uniform approach to the management of Work Health and Safety requirements. • To set out
the program goals, targets and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
• To set out contractor performance requirements to ensure Work Health and Safety compliance.
• To define responsibilities and hold accountable all personnel to ensure effective implementation of the
Work Health and Safety Management Plan.
• To establish and reinforce relationships between the Work Health and Safety Management Plan, site
procedures and relevant standards.
• To actively facilitate communication with, consultation with and the participation of all staff (including
managers, supervisors, and workers) in Work Health and Safety matters relevant to their scope of operations.
• To identify, assess and implement control measures for workplace hazards and risks within our control (so
far as reasonably practicable).
• To make sure processes for the effective management and reporting of Work Health and Safety incidents.
• To facilitate the continuous improvement process of Work Health and Safety.
• To provide information and training for personnel at all levels to meet responsibilities.
Targets are the platforms to achieving the overall ‘goal’ of a Work Health and Safety objective. A Work Health
and Safety target is a detailed performance requirement, measured where practicable, which needs to be set
and met to achieve objectives.
Both the individual targets and the overall ‘goal’ objectives should be SMART:
Specific
• The broader the objective, the more complex the series of targets needed to address it. Efforts should be
made to narrow it down.
Measurable
• It is appropriate to choose the right Work Health and Safety Performance indicators for the desired
outcome.
• Inquire on how will the impact look once the objective has been achieved?
• can the outcome be quantifiable?
Achievable
• Long term goals will encourage high performance; however, unachievable goals will be a discouragement.
Realistic
• Close monitoring of set objectives and targets to help assess their success and whether the expected
progress is being made.
Time-bound
• If there is no set date you expect the above outcomes to be met, then their impact is lost. Endeavour to set
dates that will give results in time for regular management review meetings.
A performance indicator can be defined as a statistic or other unit of information which reflects, directly or
indirectly, the extent to which an expected outcome is achieved, or the quality of processes leading to that
outcome. In order to measure particular areas of an organization’s Work Health and Safety Performance, it is
needful that performance indicators need be developed for areas that are to be measured.
Performance indicators can be either:
• Quantitative – This is an indicator that can be counted or measured and is described by numbers or
statistics. For example, number of safety audits conducted, injury frequency rates.
• Qualitative – This is an indicator that would describe or assess a quality or a behavior. An example is a
worker rating of management commitment to achieving best practice in Work Health and Safety.
Measurement of safety performance indicators can be focused on outcome or process.
Outcome indicators also known as (lagging indicators) focus on the measurement of loss, such as lost time
injury frequency rates (LTIFRs), workers’ compensation costs or fatality / incidence rates.
These indicators are intended generally measure failure to control or manage risks. However, outcome
indicators are limited in their use as the numbers recorded are generally low which makes establishing trends
difficult. They also do not give indication on how to address key risks and are therefore not appropriate for
identifying problem areas.
Positive performance indicators (PPIs) (leading indicators)
Positive Performance Indicators are designed at evaluating how successfully an organization is performing in
its management of Work Health and Safety by assessing the processes that provide good Work Health and
Safety outcomes and highlight the areas where systems and procedures could be improved. They can be
developed on an organization / industry basis, or on a departmental / workgroup basis, and normally involves
due consultation with workers and other stakeholders in the development of relevant measures. Examples of
Positive performance indicators include:
• The number of safety audits conducted;
• The percentage of non-compliance identified and corrected as a result of a safety audit;
• The percentage of workers receiving Work Health and Safety training
• Hazard reporting system.
When Positive Performance Indicators are used alongside with outcome measures, they can offer a
comprehensive overview of Work Health and Safety Performance and aid the investigation for the underlying
causes of work-related injury and illness. It is important that organizations develop and apply a balanced
combination of both outcome indicators and Positive Performance Indicators to effectively measure Work
Health and Safety Performance.
3.5 Organizational arrangement for contract and shared workplace
Shared Workplaces
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 requires that where two or more employers
share a workplace (either on a permanent or temporary basis), all involved should co-operate and co-ordinate
their activities to ensure that all their health and safety obligations are met. Examples within organizations
include management and employees using same operation facilities. In a situation where one employer is in
overall control of the shared area, the other employers should assist the controlling employer in assessing
shared risks and coordinating any necessary control measures, by primarily providing information. In the event
where there is no single employer in control, joint arrangements need to be agreed by all parties and put in
place. This guidance applies primarily to situations where different employers share a work place but it is
recommended that it is also followed where employees and students work in areas within the organisation
beyond those normally occupied and/or controlled by their line manager, for example in another department.
DEFINITIONS
Host:
• He who Controls the premises i.e. entire building
• He who Manages the shared workplace e.g. laboratory
Guest:
• Manager and/or employees or students from another department or employ
• Employee or student from another department or employer
Shared workplace:
• An Entire building
• A Specific floors/areas within a building
• A Specific rooms within a building
RESPONSIBILITIES
Heads of Units are responsible for the safe management of work within their departments and should ensure
that they have set out and maintain formal arrangements for co-operation with other departments or
organizations. This implies both ensuring that there are adequate arrangements in place to address the safety
of guest employees working in the department, as well as the safety of their staff who work in other host
departments or in premises controlled by another employer.
Heads of units cannot legally devolve completely or delegate responsibility for the health and safety of their
staff to a third party but it might be possible to reach agreements with other employers to share, or take on,
certain responsibilities for health and safety of their employees. In situations where there is no controlling
employer, a named, competent individual should be appointed to co-ordinate health and safety arrangements
in the shared workplace.
DOCUMENTATION
Arrangements detailing the agreed procedures for managing health and safety in a shared workplace should
be documented. Although there may be a commercial contract in place e.g. where the University pays for
services or facilities provided by another employer, it is recommended that the detail of health and safety
arrangements is covered separately, although there may be reference in the contract in general terms. For
situations where University staff are working in other University Departments, documentation may be as
simple as a short paragraph in the written arrangements for safe working under the heading "co-operation
between organizations", stating that all visiting workers will follow the Department's local rules for safe
working, with visitors signing to that effect. Where different employers are involved, this should be
supplemented with more formal documentation setting out the relationship between the different employers
and their respective roles and responsibilities - a suggested format and an indication of topics to be covered is
given in the checklist at the end of this guidance. Where there is no controlling employer, a joint health and
safety policy should be prepared and agreed, and a joint local health and safety code of practice prepared for
use by all those working in the shared area, using the headings in the suggested format as guidance. The
document should be signed off by the Head of the University Department involved and the relevant line
manager(s) of the other employer(s).
References
www.hse.gov.uk\successful health and safety management
www.nhsggc.org.uk\heath and safety management manuals
https://www.cbia.com/news/hr-safety/five-crucial-barriers-to-workplace-
safety/https://www.ucl.ac.uk/safety-services/a-z/shared-workplaces
www.ihsa.ca\safework practices
www/mckinsey.com\the symbiotic relationship between organization health and safety
www.safetyworksmaine.gov\managing safety and health
www.doresearch.stanford.edu\health and safety principles, responsibilities and practices
http:\\blog.nsc.org\barriers to an effective company safety culture
www.smallbusiness.chron.com\internal and external factors affecting management.

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Chapter 3 - Safety and Health Strategy, Policy & Culture

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SAFETY AND HEALTH STRATEGY POLICY AND CULTURE

Element 1- Integrating safety with management functions

1.1 Relationship between safety culture and management practices

1.2 The importance of engaging individuals and groups

Processes (monitoring key risks)

• Reviewing and revising the system to facilitate continual improvement

Element 2- Management techniques to promote safety

2.1 Management techniques

❖ Comply with regulations;

• Developing required programs

❖ Continually improve your system

2.2 Barriers to develop effective policies

Element 3- Challenges in organization safety

3.1 Factors affecting organizational safety and health arrangements

3.2 The incorporation of law

3. The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) as Regulated by 1992

4. The Personal Protective Equipment at Work as Regulated by 1992

5. The Manual Handling Operations as Regulated by 1992

Employers are under these Regulations required to:

• Provide workers with information on the weight of each load.

6. The Provision and Use of Work Equipment as Regulated by 1998

The main provisions require employers to:

• Adequately maintain the equipment, irrespective of how old it is;

• Avail information, instruction and training on the use of equipment; and

• Protect employees from dangerous parts of machinery.

7. The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences as Regulated by 1995

The following injuries or ill health must be reported:

• The death of any person;

• Reportable occupational diseases, including:

o Cramp of the hand or forearm due to repetitive movement;

o Carpal tunnel syndrome, involving hand-held vibrating tools;

o Tendonitis (types of tendon injury);

8. The Working Time Regulations 1998 (as amended)

• Are entitled to an uninterrupted 12-hour break in each 24 hour period of work.

3.3 Barriers to effective policies and safety and health cultures

1. Unclear Safety Rules & Expectations

3. Little or No Motivation to Be Safe

4. Long Work Hours & Excessive Workload

5. Settling for 'Good Enough'

3.4 Goals and performance targets

• Historical Work Health and Safety Performance and trends;

• Compliance with legal obligations;

• Visible commitment in the provision of duty of care responsibilities; and

• Adoption of best practices commonly used within the industry.

Why is it needful we Measure Work Health and Safety Performance?

4. Objectives and Targets

Examples of Key Work Health and Safety Objectives:

• To facilitate the continuous improvement process of Work Health and Safety.

• can the outcome be quantifiable?

Performance indicators can be either:

Positive performance indicators (PPIs) (leading indicators)

• The number of safety audits conducted;

• The percentage of non-compliance identified and corrected as a result of a safety audit;

• The percentage of workers receiving Work Health and Safety training

• Hazard reporting system.

3.5 Organizational arrangement for contract and shared workplace

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