Health and safety management systems

A formal management system or framework can help you manage health and safety; it's your decision whether to use one or not. Examples include:

• national and international standards such as:
  • ISO 45001:2018 Occupational health and safety management systems – Requirements with guidance for use (HSE's position statement on ISO 45001)
  • BS EN ISO 9001:2015 Quality management system
• in-house standards, procedures or codes
• sector-specific frameworks such as the:
  • Energy Institute's High-level framework for process safety management
  • Chemical Industries Association's Responsible Care framework

Although the language and methodology vary, the key actions can usually be traced back to Plan, Do, Check, Act.

Documentation

Keep health and safety documents functional and concise, with the emphasis on their effectiveness rather than sheer volume of paperwork.

Focusing too much on the formal documentation of a health and safety management system will distract you from addressing the human elements of its implementation - the focus becomes the process of the system itself rather than actually controlling risks.

Attitudes and behaviours

Effectively managing for health and safety is not just about having a management or safety management system. The success of whatever process or system is in place still hinges on the attitudes and behaviours of people in the organisation (this is sometimes referred to as the 'safety culture').

The examples in Are you doing what you need to do? against the key areas of 'What it looks like when done effectively' indicate positive health and safety attitudes and behaviours. On the other hand, the examples provided of 'What it looks like when done badly or not at all' could indicate underlying cultural issues.