Establishing effective safety committee structures.

How should a safety management system be structured? A good place to look for an answer to this question is in the three generally recognized safety and health management standards:

1. ANSI Z10 -- Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems

2. OSHAS 18001 -- Occupational Safety and Health Assessment Standard

3. OSHA Voluntary Management Guidelines 

All three of these standards have similar elements that should be implemented to achieve effective results. Those similar elements include training and education, hazard recognition and control, planning and management review. However, in all three standards, the two key elements recommended are management leadership and commitment, and employee involvement and acceptance of the safety and health management system. Therefore, it stands to reason that any effective safety and health management system should include as a minimum those two elements.

A SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

The industrial safety movement began in the United States in the early 20th century after notable incidents such as the Triangle ShirtWaist Factory fire in New York City in 1911 that killed over 100 workers. A small number of companies began to assign the safety function to a supervisor. This person was primarily expected to be the "safety cop" by encouraging employees to work safely and follow safety rules. However, this person had very little authority to implement change in safety and health because this person was a staff function--the line organization continued to hold the authority for change. This format of safety manager as the "safety cop" without adequate involvement by the line organization continued into the 1970s.

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However, the 1960s did see a movement to establish safety committees to attempt to get employees involved in safety and health. Experience indicates that, unfortunately, the majority of these committees did not have leadership, direction or even the knowledge to know how to proceed. Nevertheless, these committees were the seeds for safety improvements.

In 1970, President Nixon signed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration law and the federal agency OSHA became effective on April 29, 1971. Now, the "safety cop" had some legal teeth to get changes implemented, but the line organization still had control of the organization. Change was slow.

The line organization was not adequately involved in the safety and health management system. It was a common belief at the time that if there was a safety problem, it was the responsibility of the safety manager to solve it. In addition, the vast majority of the OSHA standards covered workplace conditions such as ladders, machines, electrical circuits, etc. and very few OSHA standards actually required proper systems to manage safety.

The OSHA standards were not very helpful to the safety manager concerning the type of management system that should be established. But safety committees improved due to a need to comply and more of management began to be involved in these committees. Joint labor/management safety and health committees began to form with good input from unions.

The 1980s became known as the decade of self-directed work groups and safety circles. Edward Deming, a well-known quality guru, had used the technique of quality circles to improve production quality. A number of safety managers began to experiment with using safety circles (also known as safety committees) to get more workers involved in the safety process.

Self-directed work groups was a style of lean management, without layers of supervisors and managers. The work group was responsible for all aspects of manufacturing, including production, quality, raw materials, cost control and safety. The positive outcome of self-directed workgroups was that these groups had to become more knowledgeable about safety because they were responsible for producing a quality product without anyone becoming injured or sick on the job.

These workgroups also caused more employees to be involved in the safety and health process. Since management was so lean in these types of organizations, the few managers available were, by necessity, also involved in safety.

The 1990s became known as the decade of behavior-based safety. The positive aspect of behavior-based safety was that it required employees to conduct observations in the field of other employees at work. Poor work practices began to improve. Behavior-based safety was a technique that could get all workers involved in the safety process.

However, in many behavior-based safety processes, there were two glaring deficiencies: 1. Management did not take part in the behavioral observations; therefore, leadership and management involvement was weak. 2. A behavior-based safety process was not a safety management system. Weaknesses in the management systems were sometimes not addressed. In some cases, there wasn't even a mechanism to address the system problems that were uncovered during observations.

For example, a behavioral observation might be that lockout/tagout was not being used properly. To correct this deficiency, management systems would need to be in place to assure that lockout/tagout procedures are developed, that employees are trained and educated about these procedures, and that periodic audits are conducted to assure that lockout/tagout is being used effectively.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the safety profession realized these weaknesses and began to develop consensus safety and health management standards; hence the development of ANSI Z10 and OSHAS 18001. OSHA was ahead of the curve and published their safety management guidelines in 1989.

Therefore, a 21st Century safety and health management system will include the elements of all 3 of these standards and especially management leadership and employee involvement. Do you have a 21st Century safety management system?

CENTRAL SAFETY/TASK GROUP SAFETY MANAGEMENT

One highly effective 21st Century safety management system incorporates all elements of these 3 standards. The system has various names, but its core idea is that there is a central committee of ranking managers to provide leadership in safety and health, task groups or subcommittees of middle and first line managers, and hourly employees assigned to participate in the safety system (see Figure 1).

All components of safety and health must be properly managed by the line organization. Professional safety and health staff should be available as an in-house resource to help guide the line organization. The line organization is responsible for production, quality, and cost control. Therefore, it stands to reason that the line organization is also responsible for safety and health. Do you have an organization that gets the line organization involved in managing safety and health?

THE 8 CORNERSTONES OF SAFETY MANAGEMENT

All issues in safety can be assigned to one of 8 cornerstones for management purposes. Those 8 cornerstones are:

* Safety Promotion: Use various techniques to keep safety in front of the work force, such as posters, flyers, contests, etc.

* Rules and Procedures: They must be developed, implemented, feasible, and periodically reviewed.

* Training and Education: This is needed for new employees, established employees, new processes, new equipment, and new rules or procedures.

* Inspections and Audits: This covers facility, equipment, processes, tools, and inspections.

* Incident Analysis: Do thorough root cause analysis to find all causes of an unwanted event so that controls can be implemented.

* Emergency Preparedness: Recognize and plan for the proper response to an emergency.

* Health: Effective systems are needed to maintain employee health.

In a 21st Century safety management system, leaders manage each of these 8 cornerstones through commitment, sincerity, and action. In addition, in a 21st Century management system employees are involved in helping to manage each of these 8 cornerstones through active participation, acceptance of stated safety principles, and adherence to safety policies and procedures. A central committee of higher management provides the leadership and commitment. Task groups of middle and lower managers and employees provide the participation and acceptance.

This structure provides a system that will deal with the safety and health issues that must be managed in any organization. However, one of the key weaknesses that can occur in any safety management system is failing to assign responsibilities.

ASSIGNMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES

Each manager, supervisor, and employee in every organization has a safety responsibility. In the broad view of responsibilities, everyone is responsible to understand the hazards of the job, institute control measures to mitigate hazards, and follow the control measures to avoid unwanted events such as injury, illness and property damage.

Beyond these broad responsibilities, each person in the organization should also be assigned more specific safety responsibilities. Upper management is responsible for providing leadership and the resources to achieve a safe workplace. First and second line supervisors are responsible for leadership and holding employees accountable for understanding and following proper safety procedures.

For example, forklift drivers should have the responsibility to inspect the forklift before use and to assure that wheel chocks are placed under trailers and railcars. Employees who handle corrosive chemicals should have the responsibility to test eyewashes and showers. Employees who operate machinery should have the responsibility to test emergency stops and inspect machine guards routinely. The list goes on and on.

All of these responsibilities must be overseen, reviewed, audited, and improved where needed. This role can be filled by the central committee and especially those who oversee the 8 cornerstones of safety management. Task groups can be assigned to oversee each of the 8 cornerstones. Another approach is to have Individuals on the central safety committee or joint labor/management safety committee oversee the 8 cornerstones.

For example, a committee member or task group can be assigned to oversee rules and procedures. This person or task group should oversee the development of safety rules, monitor how the rules are implemented, and periodically review them for clarity, feasibility and correctness. When a task group is used, individual group members can be assigned to review specific rules and to audit the effectiveness of various rules.

For example, one member of the group could be trained about fall protection and then be assigned to audit the use of fall protection. Another member of the group could be trained about grinder safety and then audit the use of grinding equipment. There are an unlimited number of safety issues that should be implemented and monitored.

Use the members of the safety committee to oversee and monitor the most important issues at the organization and use other individuals not on the committee to oversee other issues. All of these individuals will report findings and recommendations to higher level personnel. This gets upper management involved and making decisions about safety and health. This technique also gets employees involved by learning about safety issues, becoming responsible for safety issues, and accepting the need for and understanding the reason for safety rules and procedures.

PROTECTING YOUR MOST IMPORTANT RESOURCE

How bad can someone get hurt where you work? They can die, can't they? You shouldn't dwell on this, but you shouldn't forget it either. Management is not expected to make "Safety First!" But there is a moral obligation to make safety as important as production, quality, cost control, and personnel relations. How does that happen? Management must lead, plan, organize and control safety as effectively as these other functions. Employees must accept and understand their safety responsibilities and roles, and participate in the safety systems as effectively as they participate in these other functions.

This occurs most effectively through committees. Emphasizing the two key elements of safety management--management leadership and employee involvement--will provide you a 21st Century safety and health management system that will protect your most important asset--your employees.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

David F. Coble, MS, CSP is president of Coble, Taylor & Jones Safety Associates, Cary, North Carolina, USA. He has 32 years of safety experience--12 years with NC OSHA and 20 years in consulting. He has a Master's degree in Safety Management from the University of Arizona. He is a director, Board of Certified Safety Professionals, member of the ASSE Standards Development Committee, and chair of the ASME B15.1 Committee. Contact him by phone at + 1 919-466-7506, or by email at [e-mail]

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DAVID F. COBLE, CTJ SAFETY ASSOCIATES

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

* Why management leadership and employee involvement are critical to safety.

* A brief history of safety management in the United States.

* The 8 cornerstones of safety management

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

* "Process Safety Management And How It Is Relevant To Pulp And Paper," by Tom Boughner, Solutions!, September 2005, page 38. Note: The print version of this article is a one-page summary of a longer version that is available on the Internet. To read the full version of above article, enter the following web address in your browser: http://www.tappi.org/index.asp?pid=33240&ch=1.