MSc occupational safety health and environment
Course Title: She Management and International Quality Standards
Executive summary
This report emphasizes the implementation of ISO guidelines to improve and ensure compliance with the organization’s operations within legal, safety, and health frameworks. Management is key in facilitating employee safety by offering operations and safety training. According to reports, over 374 million people suffer from minor work-related injuries and illnesses, in summary, training is central to the safety of the workers because every hazard occurrence probability will always be reduced with proper training.
Introduction
ISO forms a framework in which organizations refer their occupational health and safety procedures, it acts as a guide and once an organization complies with its guidelines it’s said to be ISO-certified.
Key terms
ISO- International Organization Standardization
OHSMS- occupational health and safety management system
EMS- environmental management systems
PPE- personal protective equipment
ILO- International Labor Organization
Obtaining and sustaining management adherence
Assertiveness is a collaboration effort by the parties involved to maintain health and safety. This involves the employees, the employer, and any other regulatory or welfare organization(s). The management should persuade others to devote themselves to the safety and health guidelines, this is key to the success of the collaborative approach. This can be demonstrated in several ways; explaining to the workers that they can cooperate with the management for prosperity, addressing the common health and safety, and consulting with the employees on the best ways to curb them (Hadi Supratikta, 2024).
The graphical representation below was obtained from Gartner Inc. 2015, where it was observed that 94% of the workers preferred feedback and inputs from their seniors in real-time while 81% pitched for at least 3 months.
Figure 1.0
H & S Williamson Company seemingly lacks this kind of engagement, being in the business actively for 80 years they have stuck with the old technology of production despite the emergence of other modest technologies, lack a clear administrative and departmental structure to deal with their specific issues is as a result of lack of touch between the top leadership and the subordinates, the community has raised several complaints about noise from the company and the management has not addressed it, for example, if H & S Williamson were not concerned with the neighbor’s pleas on noise pollution, they ought to have consulted with other senior management and workers on ways to reduce the noise pollution.
Merits of a certified management systems
Certified management systems are impactful in (i)strengthening administration and leadership, unlike in the past when the management would ensure the standard metrics were met before certifications, the ISO metrics and management systems have since modernized to fit the efficiency of the operations, audits will give intuition about the organization structure, having recourse to the experience and knowledge of the managers and top leadership will help improve sustainability, coherence, safety, and quality (Doru Costin Darabont1*, 2017). (ii) capitalizing on audit reports by prioritizing risk-related auditing as opposed to compliance auditing, the audit reports should include practicable suggestions including resources assessment, H&S Williamson Company management should assess its current systems and adopt the modest production systems such as water-based color systems despite being costly in the beginning. (iii) customer-oriented operations through ensuring customers’ tastes and preferences are included in every aspect, it’s also paramount to take customers through your company activities and hear their suggestions, H&S Williamson should engage the construction companies and developers to be informed about the new designs, and other industry changes (Doru Costin Darabont1*, 2017). (iv) Increasing efficiency by assessing both short-term and long-term market and operations shortcomings, this provides the top-level leadership with the inferences they need to know to ensure optimal allocation of resources to minimize and reduce wastages, this will be achieved when top management ensures assessment of their objectives and the economic factors, for example, H&M Williamson expects to expand its market share by increasing its production, this will need a more modest technology such as water-based color systems which are being used by its competitors and its expensive to acquire. (v) assuaging risk by ensuring an all-inclusive assessment and auditing, aspects such as safety and health, effectiveness, and operations legality, by pointing out these risk areas, it’s possible to identify potential threats and how to curb them, H&S Williamson has a collective responsibility to maintain safe environments by ensuring proper disposal of its waste, where possible segregation to get rid of harmful effluents from getting into the environment when raw, installations of soundproof systems to reduce the noise getting to the neighbors is essential too.
Operations layout and its effect on management systems
Managerial hierarchy has an impact on realizing the goals and objectives of the business, H&S Williamson utilizes a ranking system where it has directors and senior management at the top which passes the command vertically to the bottom, separations are based on the specialization of the workers, e.g. workers for the machine shop, block manufacturing, store workers, maintenance, and office personnel. This layout allows the company to have a close working relationship with the workers which strengthens the employer-employee ties, the specialization makes it easier to audit for accountability and the role of every section of production (Doru Costin Darabont1*, 2017). The success of this layout relies on the success of every section of production, therefore a failure in a single section will adversely affect the entire output, strong management at the top plays a huge role in ensuring efficiency in the company, H&S Williamson’s top management is hereditary which is casual and unmerited, in competencies seen in this company can be based on the nature of the occupants of the top leadership.
Comparing clause 5 in ISO 45001 and ISO 14001
Iso 45001 comprises a set of OHSMS guidelines that provide an organization with a reference for overseeing occupational health and potential threats. Iso 14001 provides organizations with mechanisms for making and executing proper EMS. The 5th clause of Iso 45001 identifies the top management role in framing and maintaining the OHSMS, it defines the role played by both the top management and the workers in ensuring the effectiveness of the OHSMS.On the other hand, Iso 14001 5th clause emphasizes the role of top leadership in creating a successful EMS, if the top leadership shows interest in their environmental responsibility the organization will embrace the same as their business environment culture (Pratikno, 2020). H&S Williamson has the responsibility to provide necessary PPEs in the engineering section where they handle strips and, sheet amongst other hazardous raw materials, in the disposing of waste, separation before disposing is paramount to ensure environmentally hazardous elements don’t get into the eco-system (Pratikno, 2020).
Upgrading and management assessment
Iso clause 9.3 emphasizes the need for management assessments of the systems in place and how to improve their efficiency, this exercise is done by utilizing data available for past activities to identify areas that need further improvement, H&S Williamson Company’s top leadership needs to make use of market reports from their clients, competitors operations analysis, new and more efficient production systems, abolish the hereditary leadership structure and bring on board professionals to stir the company to the next level, further, the company should seek investors to raise money for systems improvements for a larger market share.
Health and safety policy formulation
Iso 45001 emphasizes that employees are entitled to a safe working environment free from hazards and risks, setting up OHSMS guidelines, ensuring legality in operations, reducing OHSMS potential risks, and controlling impending hazards, improvement in OHSMS, and all stakeholders’ consultations in the decision-making process. H&S Williamson has a primary duty to provide safe working spaces for their workers, owing to the engineering works around the production (Mukhlishotul Jannah1, 2020), PPEs such as welding gloves, gas masks, eyeglasses, and welding jackets must be prioritized for safety and hazard prevention. OHSMS guidelines for H&S Williamson should be put in place with a focus on the activities that revolve around the operations, among the guidelines should include a fire station since the nature of the operations can highly birth an inferno, and the introduction of a staff bus will help in ensuring that workers commute efficiently to and from work without delays and inconveniences (Khanif Sharifzуanovich Mullakhmetov¹, 2019), the company should also consider relocating from residential areas to another establishment that it is less likely to interfere with environmental well-being, the company should also ensure that it does not stress the aquatic life surrounding it. furthermore, in decision-making, the company should factor in views of its clientele, competitors’ behavior, employees’ views, and top managers’ observations.
Implementation of a health and safety plan
ILO reports indicate that about 2.3 million workers suffer from occupational-related injuries and diseases every year, this is a worrying trend, and therefore it is necessary to implement safety guidelines such as Iso 45001. (Clause 4) Leadership and management goodwill are the most critical aspects in Iso 45001 implementation since it solely depends on the management’s willingness to adopt and implement it for the welfare of the workers (Khanif Sharifzуanovich Mullakhmetov¹, 2019), it involves synching safety within the company’s culture, timely and effective communications on safety guidelines, H&M Williamson top management should adopt having close ties with the employees on their welfare and areas of necessary improvements, top leadership needs to be timely and efficient when passing safety information to the workers. (clause 6) The formation of an implementation team that includes representatives from all sections involved will play a crucial role in resource allocation, the top leadership should guide them and provide the financial support to run the exercise effectively, this multi-team approach will ensure an all-round report that everyone within the organization will identify with and have a sense of ownership to. (clause 7) the third procedure involves an assessment of the current OHSMS and looking into any disparity with the Iso 45001 requirements (Doru Costin Darabont1*, 2017), if any of the management needs to address it, a review of Iso 45001 compliance is necessary to address occupational safety and health legalities and compliance. implementation of the identified issues will follow a set of procedures that aligns with the goals and objectives of the company, they should also be in line with Iso 45001 guidelines, H&S Williamson top management needs to establish and formulate a well-structured system, ensure effective communication with its workers, well-stated duties and responsibilities and future improvement mechanism. Risk review is a key aspect of Iso 45001, it involves the identification of potential risks and controlling them from the occurrence, H&S Williamson management should address issues such as human-related hazards resulting from machines, raw materials, and chemicals, ergonomic risks such as pathetic conditions at work, phycological e.g. stress. Risk review and Sops should identify guidelines for hazard identification, risk review, and control implementations. Employees training and empowerment through providing relevant knowledge and skills-based courses, finally in the implementation it is important for frequent internal and external audits on the safety and health measures in place to ensure compliance with the Iso 45001 guidelines.
Preparation and resource requirements
ISO 45001 clause 7 requires that the employees be equipped with necessary safety and health training. H&S Williamson needs to regularly assess its health and safety training to audit any potential threat, everyone within the company needs to be trained to ensure that they are at par with the changing environment surrounding their operations, this effort will be enhanced by 7.4 of clause 7 which stresses the importance of safety and health communications
Errors in Iso 45001
Non-conformities are the issues that bring variance from the SoPs. Identification of such can be realized through conducting employee forums and symposiums to discuss business opportunities in their line of work, and internal audits to point out hindrances to OHSMS implementation (Mukhlishotul Jannah1, 2020), furthermore, occurrence audits play a significant role in curbing future risks especially when the management purposes to learn from their shortcomings. Major non-conformities put serious variations from the set SoPs including non-compliance to the set regulations, minor non-conformities also have a variation but less than that of the latter, they include, a lack of participation from the workers.
Similarities between Iso 14001 and 45001
When an organization wants a hybrid management system covering both EMS and OHSMS most clauses on requirements will be similar making it easier to use the two together to have an EHS manual (Mukhlishotul Jannah1, 2020).
The table below from a standard store journal clearly shows the clauses of similarity between the two.
Figure 1.1
The company’s culture and values impact on the management systems
The organizational values and mode of operation are the forces behind its performance, a strong culture will positively impact the business by ensuring prosperity in goals and objectives, it has a long-term ripple impact (Doru Costin Darabont1*, 2017), and a culture that focuses on capacity building and workforce empowerment will birth more effective results in management, on the other hand, a poor culture will lead to deteriorating results on the management systems performance (Khanif Sharifzуanovich Mullakhmetov¹, 2019), H&S Williamson has its top leadership from one family, this exposes the company to the risk of poor ratings since the hereditary management systems lack innovative ideas and plans since they have used the old systems for 80 years and despite the emergence of new systems they are reluctant to change.
Iso 45001 legislation and compliance
Iso 45001 provides a well-laid structure for checking compliance and regulations regarding OHSMS when your organization is working to meet Iso 45001 standards, everyone must be keen on the legal compliances that apply to their organization. Clause 5.2 stresses the need for established management systems and implementation of OHSMS policies which focuses on legal requirement fulfillment, clause 6.1.3 takes keen note of the urge for the leadership to consider legal needs amongst others when framing, implementing and further executing the OHSMS management systems, looking on how the legal requirements affect the needs of the organizations and systems (Mukhlishotul Jannah1, 2020). The two clauses are instrumental in the management system legislation (Hadi Supratikta, 2024). clause 9.1.2 emphasizes evaluation compliance by ensuring systematic reviews and a continuous compliance system check to ensure the organization is at par with any new legal or compliance requirement if a non-compliance is found, the organization should take the necessary remedy to neutralize it. H&S Williamson should seek legal compliance guidelines on waste disposal and environmental pollution.
Plight readiness and retaliation
An efficient OHSMS risk review and hazard assessment should also give a glimpse of potential emergency risks. H&M Williamson Company should identify all emergencies such as fire, work-related injuries, chemical spills, explosions, and natural disasters such as floods and lightning. Clause 8.2 of Iso 45001 stipulates the role of the organization in its preparation for any potential risk, after a risk the management should assess the possible cause and work towards addressing them to avoid future repetition of the risk (Khanif Sharifzуanovich Mullakhmetov¹, 2019), psychiatric services to the victims of the incident, safety documentation should be available in all forms, maintaining hotline contacts both for your team and related authority emergency units, availability of response equipment’s such as fire extinguishers, response unit to attend to any injury, this should include first aid services, response skills to the team, conducting response drills on the identified hazards, and highlighting clear duties and responsibilities for every work (Hadi Supratikta, 2024).
Iso 45001 risk analysis
Previously OHSMS concepts on both curbing and reviewing the risk were absolute. The 2018 Iso 45001 requires the organization to identify hazards and risks associated with its operations and improve OHSMS performance. H&M Williamson should identify possible risks and hazards its workers, clients, and the community are exposed to and address them. The new ISO also requires the organization to be risk-assertive by ensuring that it goes beyond risk identification to correcting its current activities based on the risk analysis. When evaluating a risk probability and impact metrics come in handy, probability refers to the likelihood of the risk from taking place while impact refers to the extent to which the risk will cause damage. ways to ensure that your organization remains at par with risk management includes the creation of an efficient flow of communications between the leadership and the workers by ensuring constant OHSMS feedback to the workers and the organization amicus when top leadership embarks on decision making, they should ensure that the findings reflect their potential risks and hazards and the implementation of the risk mitigation (Hadi Supratikta, 2024), the management must set up a response team by selecting and training an emergency team that will be responsible for risk mitigation, these individuals should periodically communicate with the employees and the management on risk mitigation. When setting organizational goals and objectives risk management should be included as part of an all-time goal, and performance metrics on risk mitigation need to be set and reviewed periodically to assess the organization’s health in terms of risk preparedness. Furthermore, organizations are supposed to own the cost of their risk and develop hybrid approaches toward mitigation.
Organizational milieu and management systems impact
ISO 45001 involves understanding how different internal and external factors affect the efforts of the organization to keep its employees and operations free from safety and health concerns. It entails cross-examining the organization’s size, operations carried out. Reports by ILO indicate that minor work-related injuries and illnesses contribute to 374 million of the total cases reported annually. The organization should assess the worker’s context and develop strategies to guarantee the worker’s safety and health in the workspace. the benefits of this include; legal compliance, a multi-party approach, organization-specific controls and means, enhanced decision-making, efficient mitigation mechanisms, and risk identification efficiency. Frequent context appraisal is key to ensuring effective OHSMS which ensures that workers’ safety is assured, teamwork is strengthened, improves alertness (Doru Costin Darabont1*, 2017). When developing a secure workspace, it is prudent to; point out impending hazards, audit the risks related to the work, formulate mitigation measures for the risks associated, ensure that employees have relevant safety and equipment handling training, and regularly improve the safety measures.
Reflection and conclusion
All workspaces are surrounded by potential hazards, which makes it important to train the employee on the safety guidelines when they go about their operations, the training should be enshrined within the organization’s health and safety manuals. As a health and safety coordinator, training will form the basis of my health and safety programs, training entails from the time a staff joins the organization, training on specific roles and responsibilities, given refresher courses about the work, training on safety equipment handling in times of emergencies amongst others.in conclusion, there will be no success in a safety and health program if training doesn’t take center stage, comprehensive training guarantees non-omission of safety and work details therefore equipping the employee with confidence when carrying out their operations.
References
Doru Costin Darabont1*, A. E. A. a. C. B., 2017. Key elements of implementing an occupational health and safety management system using ISO 45001 standard. Safety and Health at Work, 9 August, pp. 1-7.
Hadi Supratikta, L. A. R. S. F., 2024. Benefits of Implementing ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems and Implementation Suggestion in the Defense Industry: A Literature Review. Journal of Industrial Engineering & Management Research, 3(2), pp. 35-47.
Khanif Sharifzуanovich Mullakhmetov¹, R. D. S. E. M. A., 2019. INFLUENCE OF CORPORATE CULTURE ON THE SYSTEM OF MANAGEMENT IN MODERN. ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES, 7(2).
Mukhlishotul Jannah1, M. F. J. P. B. S. N. A. P., 2020. Effect of ISO 9001, ISO 45001, and ISO 14000 toward. 11(10), pp. 894-902.
Pratikno, Y., 2020. Dinasti International Journal of Digital Business Management, 1(3).
