Research commissioned by IOSH has resulted in practical guidance to help organisations develop relevant and effective health and safety rules and procedures by improved control of risk.
The ‘Management of safety rules and procedures’ guidance, aimed at senior occupational safety and health professionals, takes a practical look at how health and safety management systems can be reviewed and improved. It sets out a process and practical examples for achieving good practice in managing safety rules.
IOSH’s Dr Luise Vassie commented: “This research confirms why the views and opinions of workers are so important when introducing health and safety systems – they, after all, are the ones with on-the-job experience of their company’s operations. It shows that employees’ needs can be matched with good health and safety practice.”
Professor Andrew Hale, chair of Health and Safety Technology and Management (HASTAM), which carried out the research with the University of Ballarat, Australia, said: “This is about providing a framework for people who manage health and safety, to assist them in achieving a higher level of protection.
“We wanted to help companies reduce the number and complexity of rules, without leaving people more open to risks from the work they do. [The guidance] is also about shrinking the gap between rules and reality, making them applicable in practice and clear to everyone.”
Dr David Borys, of the University of Ballarat, explained that the guidance “acknowledges that rules need managing and should arrive out of an explicit process that can be known to all, and audited. But it also recognises that they need to be formed from knowledge at the sharp end – from those workers who operate the processes.”
Dr Vassie added: “We hope this research will help people take a look at their procedures, review them and assess whether they fit the needs of the company they work for, and the sector they work in.”
A copy of the research can be found at: http://www.iosh.co.uk/rulesandprocedures
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