PART 5 - HOW YOU REVIEW YOUR HEALTH AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

QUESTION SET

1. Do you routinely review health and safety performance and:
   1. Does it cover all departments in the company?
   2. Does it take into account the results of active monitoring (self-inspection)?
   3. Does it take into account reactive monitoring incident, accident and ill-health experience (investigation)?
   4. Does it include the results of independent auditing of health, safety and environmental management systems?
   5. Does it identify areas not meeting policy and targets at agreed standards?
   6. Are the review results presented at the highest level in the company?
2. Are conclusions on performance and any need for improvements to policy, standards or targets identified?
3. Are targets for future health and safety performance set and incorporated into action plans?
4. Are actions identified with individuals and progress tracked and actions completed?
5. Are the results of the review communicated to all levels of the company?

HELP SET

References

1. Managing Health and Safety: Five Steps to Success, INDG275 HSE 1998.
2. Successful Health and Safety Management, HS(G)65, HSE 1997, ISBN 0 7176 1276 7.
3. Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, Code of Practice and Guidance, L21, HSE 1999, ISBN 0 7176 2488 9.

• Every employer must have arrangements for the review of the health and safety arrangements (MHSW Regs.). All monitoring results, including those from the SMS audit, should be reviewed by senior management to determine whether the Policy is still valid and the remainder of the SMS is adequate to meet the policy objectives. We are concerned here with improvements to policy, health and safety programme and SMS standards. The Policy should refer to the procedure for review of the SMS.

• Every employer who employs five or more persons must record the review (MHSW Regs.).

• The policy should refer to the review document e.g. an annual review of safety.

• Review recommendations should form the basis of a company action plan to improve the SMS. This will identify specific actions against individuals with milestones for tracking actions. The completion of actions should be included. The Policy should refer to the procedures for this.

• The conduct of a review is an essential requirement under Regulation 4 of REF 3. This Regulation refers to "effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures". The purpose of the review is to identify and correct any shortcomings in the company's arrangements for securing health and safety at work.

• The support and genuine commitment of the top management in a company is the starting point for managing health and safety performance. Such support and commitment can be measured by the importance given to the health and safety review.

• Precisely how the review should be conducted or reported will depend on the structure of the company, but it is essential to ensure that all activities - including peripheral and off-site activities if relevant (e.g. warehousing, transport, mobile staff).

• What is required here is a text of management systems for health and safety to see whether they (1) exist, (2) are adequate and (3) are actually used. A full in-depth audit will be very time consuming and may be best carried out by external specialised auditors. It is also however equally valid to conduct a sample audit of part of the company - e.g. a department or a particular level of management.

• Health and Safety targets can be set in terms of compliance with particular standards or achieving certain actions (e.g. conducting training courses). It is also possible to set numerical targets in terms of incidents and self-inspection reports.

• The setting of achievable targets is recommended. These should be discussed in advance with the managers concerned.

• Communication of results helps staff to identify with the company's health and safety aims and develops the "safety culture".