Effectiveness of Health and Safety Management Systems Assignment Questions

1.2  Evaluate proactive safety management models.

1.3  Critically assesses the main differences between traditional and proactive safety management models.

• Traditional safety (sometimes called ‘Safety I’)
  • focus on the absence of danger where as few as possible events/actions go wrong (the absence of accidents, errors and violations)
  • often reactive
  • main focus is compliance
  • negative outcome KPIs eg, number of incidents, counting/reporting on accountabilities

• • people mainly seen as part of the problem/cause
  • performance variation – should be avoided wherever possible
• Proactive safety management (sometimes called ‘Safety II’ and ‘Safety Differently’)
  • extension of traditional safety with a different focus (safety is the presence of positives and not the absence of negatives)
  • ethical responsibility (removing unnecessary bureaucracy – devolve, declutter, decentralise)
  • reduces risk-based decisions to lowest possible level
  • continuous learning
  • people seen as the solution/an essential resource – treat people as experts; talk to the workforce regularly (ask them what they need); listen to the workforce (there may be more than one way to do a job safely)
  • the benefits of investigating the positives (what goes right rather than what goes wrong)
  • the four varieties of human work (work as imagined, prescribed, disclosed, done)
  • work as done: – builds trust in the workforce – can identify risks and where potential incidents could come from – events become more foreseeable – learning to improve by analysing normal work
  • look at low likelihood but high consequence events (unlikely to be considered in ‘traditional safety’ as events have not happened)

• • resilience – workers’ ability to recover from adverse situation, change and absorb disruptions without failure occurring
  • performance variation – useful and unavoidable; to be monitored and managed; encourage sharing.

2.2  Evaluate the importance of both internal and external influences on health and safety within an organisation.

2.3  Describe the operational management principles that set the direction for effective safety systems.

2.4  Discuss how effective communication impacts on the implementation of improving safety management systems.

• The internal influences on health and safety within an organisation eg, finance, production targets, trade unions, organisational goals and culture.
• The external influences on health and safety within an organisation e.g., legislation, Parliament/ HSE, enforcement agencies, courts/tribunals, contracts, clients/contractors, trade unions, insurance companies, public opinion.
• How does ‘horizon scanning, benefit the organisation and the safety professional to evaluate, influence and guide the HSM.
• Ensure the role of stakeholders is referenced and evaluated.
• The influence on communication which is driven by improved knowledge management.

3.2  Describe the relevance and importance of resourcing to implement the health and safety strategy.

3.3  Evaluate a range of communication skills for health and safety professionals.

• Mendelow’s matrix, Stakeholder Analysis: Importance/Influence Matrix
• Stakeholder engagement – encourage creative ideas and innovation, review opportunities for further improvements and collaboration, and identify best practice.
• Identify resources needed to implement the health and safety strategy, including: a. budget b. timescales c. staff availability d. competencies e. training and development

• The importance of effective communication, how this is represented, and providing feedback.
• Developing communication skills in a range of people to create an inclusive, empathetic, and professional work environment.