Planning for implementation
Why planning is essential
Planning is essential for the implementation of health and safety policies. Adequate control of risk can only be achieved through co-ordinated action by all members of the organisation. An effective system for health and safety management requires organisations to plan to:
- control risks
- react to changing demands
- sustain positive health and safety attitudes and behaviours
Effective planning
Effective planning is concerned with prevention through identifying and controlling risks. This is especially important when dealing with health risks that may only become apparent after a long period of time.
In addition to setting your policy, planning should include steps to ensure legal compliance and procedures for dealing with emergency situations. It should involve people throughout the organisation.
Planning the system you will use to manage health and safety involves:
- designing, developing and implementing suitable and proportionate management arrangements, risk control systems and workplace precautions
- operating and maintaining the system while also seeking improvement where needed
- linking it to how you manage other aspects of the organisation
In order to plan successfully, you need to establish:
- where the organisation is now, by considering accurate information about the current situation
- where you need to be, using legal requirements and benchmarking to make comparisons
- what action is necessary to reach that point
