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215 N. Dawson St.
Raleigh, NC 27603

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Phone: (919) 715-2893
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E-mail: ncacc@ncacc.org

Health and safety success starts with a plan

By Bob Carruth
Risk Control Manager

Editor's note: This article is the third in a series that provides a primer for ANSI Z10, the voluntary consensus standard for health and safety management systems approved in 2005. The first two articles appeared in the October and November 2009 issues of CountyLines and are online at www.ncacc.org/rmp.htm.

One of the most important parts of any health and safety management system is planning.

In many organizations, health and safety management systems take on one of two forms. In the first model, there is a strong personality system that is led by a designated safety manager or coordinator, who by the power of his/her personality is able to get a health and safety management system moving forward. In this model, many management and tracking tools are established but often are kept separate from other management and business processes in the organization.

The second model is one where there is no designated leader, but the entire health and safety management system is passed to a "safety committee" that is not provided with any additional guidance. Members are usually left to figure out for themselves what should and needs to get done. This model often becomes reactive in nature depending on what is the most current crisis, be it increased employee injuries, an OSHA audit, or whatever is making news at the moment.

For optimum effectiveness, the health and safety management system in an organization must break free of both of these models of management. The first model only lasts as long as the strong personality remains in place managing the system; the latter model soon crumbles, as those individuals involved in the process usually end their participation, or the process gravitates to the path of least resistance by dealing only with those things easily accomplished (like safety walkthroughs).

There are four basic elements of the planning process:

  • Review information regarding the current health and safety management system: This consists of a management-driven review of relative information that paints a picture of where the organization is. If no health and safety management system exists in the organization, this will be the "baseline" review. If there is an existing system, the review is done to ensure key items are being considered in the planning process. These include, but are not limited to, other organizational management systems that currently exist; hazards, risks and controls currently in place; resources available to the organization; applicable health and safety standards (not just OSHA); and assessments of the system that have been conducted internally or externally.

  • Assess and prioritize issues: The important thing in this element is the establishment of the process by which the issues are identified and assessed. Each issue is addressed individually. Two basic questions should be asked: What is the likely outcome of not addressing the issue? How frequently does the situation occur that led to this issue? By answering these questions and others, it should become clear to the management team where the organization should first focus its efforts. As a result of this exercise, every county and organization will end up with slightly different priorities for action.

  • Establish objectives: Based on the priorities for action determined through the assessment and prioritization process, the logical next step is to turn these identified issues into measurable and achievable objectives. Organizations that have done a thorough job of completing the assessment process can often get sidetracked at this point. The temptation here is to only focus on the "low hanging fruit" that provide quick results but do not address the strategic issues lying beneath the surface. Every effort should be made to make objectives as broad as possible to have the greatest organizational impact. The objectives should be continually updated as new information is provided and improvement in the system is seen.

  • Implement action plans and allocate resources: Once objectives have been identified, they should be compiled and organized into a formal document. This can provide a quick reference to the organization and become the roadmap for continual improvement. This plan should identify responsibilities, resources, timeframes and intermediate steps. Most importantly, senior management must establish the measurements used to determine successful completion.

    • No plan will succeed without the commitment of resources. In this time of reduced budgets and revenues, it may be difficult to find money for a new initiative, but resources may include time and staff assignments to address objectives.

    The next article will take up the meat and potatoes of the health and safety management system: implementation and operations.

    As Risk Control Manager for the NCACC, Bob Carruth manages the operation of the Risk Control Team for the Risk Management Pools. The team assists members with development of safety policies and programs and identification of liability exposures and controls. Carruth is a Certified Safety Professional and is certified as Associate – Risk Management. A current Cabarrus County commissioner, he serves on the Board of Directors for Piedmont Behavioral Healthcare and the Water & Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County.