Putting safety policy into practice

The board of directors of an organisation should ensure that:

• there is management commitment to following the safety policy;

• everyone in the organisation is aware of the importance of following the safety policy;

• the necessary training and resources are provided;

• the way that the organisation performs ESM is monitored and improved;

• the safety of the organisation’s products is monitored and improved; and

• the organisation is regularly audited to assess its performance with regard to safety.

Awareness is a key factor in the successful implementation of safety policy. Everyone in the organisation should be aware of the importance of safety and of the organisation’s safety policy. The methods for achieving this will vary according to the size and type of the organisation. It may be possible with smaller organisations to provide direct briefing of the safety policy.

With larger organisations, cascade briefing may be more practical. Management should put in place procedures to implement the key components of safety policy. Resources for ensuring successful implementation of safety policy should be made available. This will include personnel with suitable background and training, as well as equipment. Management should provide the opportunity and motivation to all staff to improve the safety of their work.

How to monitor safety policy Management should check that the safety policy is being implemented. Typically, this will be done with a rolling programme, which ensures that every aspect of the policy is monitored over a period of a few years.

Typically, an aspect of the safety policy is monitored on a random selection from all the relevant activities of the organisation. In some cases it may be sufficient to carry out a simple inspection of these activities. In other cases it may be appropriate to commission a formal audit. 

The guidance on safety auditing in Chapter 13 may be used as a basis for such an audit. Management should check that the findings of inspections and audits are acted upon. The way in which the safety policy is implemented should be regularly reviewed to check that it is consistent with good practice, which evolves over time.