Today we are going to discuss safety management systems and specifically some of the global systems that are best known – ANZI, CSA, OHSA's 18000 series and the ILO standard.
There are many benefits to safety management systems, such as being a businesslike approach to safety and being a systematic, explicit and comprehensive process for managing safety hazards and risks. As with all management systems, it provides for goal setting, planning, and measuring performance.
Some have asked the question "Why a Management System?" Safety has been around for a long time, there have been many approaches and people are still getting injured, so this methodology must be considered as an approach. With changing work patterns and associated hazards and risks, we need to have a systematic look at it all. In developed countries we are experiencing a shift in types of industries; new technologies; globalization; an aging workforce. In the developing countries we see a shift from rural to industrial activities. Safety gurus such as Dan Peterson have written many articles about these things and indicate that the only way we decrease the risks is to have a true system. But which system?
A New Canadian standard was put forth in 2005 intended to help organizations reduce or prevent injuries, illnesses and fatalities in the workplace by providing companies with a model for developing and implementing an OHSMS. It is Canada's 1st consensus-based standard. Basically it harmonized with existing standards to facilitate acceptance and use as well as consistency.
This standard emphasizes the Canadian approach by addressing the need for individual participation in the operation of the management system. It is based upon the internal responsibility philosophy and concepts of due diligence, where basically "Everyone is responsible for integrating health and safety into his or her job, and should take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances to avoid losses."
With the Canadian court system and whether it is in the common law (OHandS jurisdiction) or in the Criminal Code, the definition of Due Diligence is basically taking all reasonable care or all reasonable steps in the circumstances to prevent the incident.
Three Levels of Due Diligence or Reasonable Steps
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Level One: Take every precaution reasonable to ensure compliance with external standards – Act and Regulations.
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Level Two: Take every precaution reasonable to ensure compliance with internal standards – Company procedures and rules.
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Level Three: Take every precaution reasonable for any residual risk not covered by above.
As with the CSA standard – at anytime OSHA may use ANSI Z10 as a justification for general duty clause citations. OSHA will be required to consider ANSI Z10 whenever it takes up the development of a Safety and Health management standard in its regulatory agenda. The American National Standards Institute along with the American Industrial Hygiene Association has developed and released Z10 – a voluntary consensus standards for OHSMS. It is the endorsed principles/tool by OSHA through the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP).
