Leadership and occupational health safety policy implementation

Safety Management Systems Audit

Management Leadership

Strong management and leadership is at the core of safety when it comes to any engineering organization. A leader in management or a manger needs to be someone who is comfortable with both technical issues and business issues and who can meet and guide the separate needs of these departments accordingly. This leader needs to be able to develop a product using the inputs from a group of experts. Such leaders need to have both education and experience in the latest leadership theories and styles. At this organization the leadership does direct and guide the implementation of OHSMS and establishes a clear health and safety policy, as outlined by AIHA (Asse.org). Just as importantly, the management and leadership need to be the ones who assume the overall responsibility for an organization and work hard for it to happen successfully. Rather than yelling at employees for mistakes and shortcomings at my organization, leaders assume responsibility for those mistakes and work to see that they're improved upon through strong leadership and better guidance.

Occupational Health and Safety Policy

The policy for occupational health and safety is very strong at this organization. Current policies and procedures along with new ones are constantly being upheld and evaluated according to a risk assessment matrix. This matrix is a quick and efficient way to determine how hazardous or potentially hazardous a new procedure is. For example, this matrix is used to determine how likely it is that a new tool, policy or method could cause catastrophic injury, disability, minor injury, or negligible accident (asse.org). In this manner, leaders and management members are constantly considering the worst case scenario and possibility, because that is essentially something that they must do to make arrangements to safeguard for the safety of their employees. Aside from giving all employees a copy of the OHS & P. regulations and keeping those regulations well posted, the company also subscribes to the following beliefs: "People are our most valuable asset - we are all committed to ensuring the health, safety and well-being of everyone in the workplace. Everyone has a responsibility for safety. Injuries can be prevented. We work together for a safer workplace by communicating and consulting with each other" (unsw.edu.au). Keeping this king of mentality strong is one of the ways in which the work place embodies a philosophy of safety.

Responsibility and Authority

The chain of command and leadership at this organization is extremely strong. Everyone is aware of who their immediate supervisor is and everyone knows who they can go to with a problem. With that said, the chain of command is never oppressive. Workers who are lower on the totem pole, never feel like they can't speak up about issues which are bothering them or if they have a new idea of how to do something. Together, all are aware of the collective and individual responsibilities and all are working hard to work towards common and separate goals. The leadership is very good with being responsible for their plans and can identify the resources and skill-sets necessary in current staff and staff being recruited. Part of the responsibility of all members is to perform quality control checks and to supervise the installation and proper running of new equipment. Everyone knows their responsibilities, even if their responsibilities are just to delegate to others or to resolve disputes. It is for all these reasons that the company works in a smooth and streamlined manner.

Employee Participation

As already alluded to, because there is a clear balance of power and a great deal of transparency, employee participation is very high. Employees not only participate to ask questions and to share ideas (even at times offering more streamlined alternatives as to how things can be accomplished), but this participation extends to general safety and safety procedures. Employees have a responsibility to participate in simulated emergencies and to demonstrate the proper skills and techniques when acting in a simulated emergency (Stellman, 1998). Part of employee participation is simply demonstrating that one knows how to cooperate with others. The leadership and the employees can often work together to create an employee preparedness committee, and in the case of this organization, they've done exactly that.

Initial and Ongoing Reviews

This organization fully understands that initial and on-going reviews is one of the most important ways to establish accountability. Ongoing reviews can help to maintain project timing, keeping things on schedule, but can also prevent large mistakes that fundamentally take longer time to fix and which will have to be corrected later (Baker, 2010).

Assessment and Prioritization

Employees understand that they're going to constantly be assessed and evaluated; this process goes hand in hand with the review process. Assessing employees in a constructive and healthy way can help them to constantly improve; however, if employees feel like they're being constantly criticized or attacked, the review process isn't helpful. At the organization in question, employees are always made to feel like they're important and make meaningful contributions to the team -- even when they're being assessed. Furthermore, assessment can add to the prioritization process by make communication clearer and more meaningful and move more important projects up the ladder.

Hierarchy of Controls

"Put simply, the principle of the hierarchy of controls is to control the hazard as close to the source as possible" (Diane). Essentially this means communication the clear order that must be followed when choosing among options for controlling health and safety standards (Diane). All employees are aware of it and all of them work hard to implement and follow this hierarchy when relevant.

Design Review

Design review is very much an ongoing process and is essentially to the success and proper functioning of the organization. Design review is vital when tools and equipment are being created, as well as when they're being put together. Design review ensures that everyone is on the same page, and that everyone is continually working towards the same vision with the same goals in mind. Furthermore, not only does this organization eloquently and succinctly employ design review with these goals in mind, but does so in order to prevent headaches later. Gradual and consistent design review means that any design flaws are immediately addressed along the way.

Management of Changes

During this audit it was clearly discovered that the company leadership was adept at managing change correctly. The change management systems that they had in place were all rock solid. Moreover, during development, the management was extremely good at addressing change orders. The management kept up with the change orders as they came in and was able to say which ones were important and needed to be addressed, and which ones were simply superfluous.

Procurement

The procurement department is extremely well-organized and adept at securing all technical tools and forms of equipment which the firm needs. The procurement department works like an extremely well-oiled machine and has in-depth knowledge about all the equipment and supplies that are used in the industry, along with the companies that sell them. The procurement department has solid relationships with a range of other companies and they communicate extraordinarily well together.

Monitoring and Measurement

Monitoring and measurement is continually engaged in on multi-levels so that this is accomplished in the most thorough manner. For example, processes like continuous level measurement, point level measurement, interface level density measurement, mass flow measurement, and continuous measurement are all aspects which are closely watched over, among many other dynamics. Consistent monitoring requires a certain level of vigilance. Team members also need to learn what to look for and what sort of abnormalities will show up during the monitoring process and how to address them.

Incident Investigation

Proper incident investigation is completely essential with any engineering firm, because realistically speaking, incidents are going to occur. Investigating them properly helps all professionals involved better understand how they occurred in the first place and how best to avoid them. "All incidents, whether a near miss or an actual injury-related event, should be investigated. Near miss reporting and investigation allow you to identify and control hazards before they cause a more serious incident. Accident/incident investigations are a tool for uncovering hazards that either were missed earlier or have managed to slip out of the controls planned for them" (osha.gov). Essentially, what the OSHA department of the government is saying that incident investigation are vital so that they can be avoided in the future and so they don't get bigger and more out of control. Incident investigation "is useful only when done with the aim of discovering every contributing factor to the accident/incident to 'foolproof' the condition and/or activity and prevent future occurrences. In other words, your objective is to identify root causes, not to primarily set blame" (osha.gov). One of the best parts about this engineering firm is that they treat all investigation of incidents as an education process, and not as a means of scapegoating others.

Audits

Conducting audits is yet another form of incident investigation except it looks into the whole day-to-day process of each individual department. This firm has always had audits completed by outside agencies and has always worked hard to keep organized documentation and strong record-keeping. In fact, this particular firm tries as hard as possible to view audits as a learning process and a way in which they can better themselves.

Corrective and Preventive Actions

Corrective and preventive actions are truly vital when it comes to uphold safety standards and ensuring proper practices. Both of these elements are part of a multi-step process that the firm is able to embody in word and deed. For example, the corrective process involves things like locating and documenting the main cause of the nonconformity while scanning the entire system to ensure no other nonconformity can occur (asq.org). Furthermore, this organization is able to "analyze the effect such a nonconformity may have had on a product or service produced before the nonconformity was discovered, and take action appropriate to the severity of the situation by either recalling the product, notifying the customer, downgrading or scrapping product" (asq.org). With all the tasks there is always a follow up process to ensure that this is effective. Preventive actions are also vital as they ensure that needless and avoidable mistakes or disasters simply do not occur. One of the ways that the firm in question is able to do this is via the employ process and system analysis. This allows them to "…determine how to build in safeguards and process changes to prevent nonconformance. For example, use a failure mode and effects analysis to identify risks and potential deficiencies and to set priorities for improvement" (asq.org).

Feedback to the Planning Process

Feedback to the planning process is absolutely one of the most vital aspects of planning, as it allows objectivity and response. As stated earlier, this has always been a firm where feedback from all team members has been welcome and asked for.

Management Review

Management Review continues to be one of the pillars of the organization, and something which is used as a strong and balanced form of improvement for the firm. It helps the firm to see areas which can be bettered and where safety is lacking.