Category: Global OH&S Issues
Worker Health & Safety Principles
I have been spending time reviewing the draft of a new ISO document – Guide 82 – Guide for addressing sustainability in standards. (For standards geeks, this document was recently circulated as Committee Draft 2 and is intended to be a guidance document for ISO standard writers.)
In reviewing this document, I noted that one of the intents of this document is to list general principles of sustainability. To accomplish this goal, the document lists principles associated with several topics from environmental labeling and sustainable buildings to risk management and social responsibility.
In reviewing these lists of principles for other areas, I realized that I was not aware of a comparable list of worker health and safety principles. As I discussed this with other OH&S professionals, they were not aware of any generally-recognized list of worker health and safety principles either.
I thought about it and came up with the following list of seven principles (modeled after the list of Quality Principles set out in ISO 9000).
Worker Health and Safety Principles
1. Health and Safety Focus
Worker health and well-being is an important organizational resource to be protected through the prevention of injury and ill health.
2. Leadership Commitment
Top management needs to provide the leadership and resources necessary for effective management of OH&S issues
3. Worker Engagement
Workers need to have the information, opportunities and accountability necessary for them to actively participate in ensuring their own safety
4. Factual Approach to Decision Making
Decisions and actions related to evaluating and controlling OH&S risks should, to the extent feasible, be based on the analysis of factual information
5. Prioritization of Controls
Hazards should be controlled using process, equipment and facility controls before administrative controls and personal protective equipment are utilized
6. Prevention Instead of Reaction
Establishing systematic processes to identify and address OH&S risks is more effective than waiting until after an incident has occurred to react
7. Supply Chain Accountability
Organizations need to act ethically when transferring OH&S risks to others in their supply chain
What do you think? Let me know by posting a comment to this blog post – or sending me an e-mail at tdunmire@enlar.com.
© ENLAR Compliance Services, Inc. (2012)
ANSI Z10, OHSAS 18001 & Sustainability
This week, in addition to attending the AIHCE in Portland, I will be participating in a meeting of the ANSI Z10 Committee. We will be discussing the revision of Z10 that was undertaken last year and is scheduled to be completed later this year (Fall 2011).
ANSI Z10:2005 is the American National Standard for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. As such, it is part of a large family of standards addressing this topic. The dominate sibling in this family is, of course, OHSAS 18001:2007. According to the 2009 Standards and Certificates Survey conducted by the OSHAS Project Group, over 50,000 organizations have obtained certification to OHSAS 18001.
The goal of this revision of Z10 is to continue to provide guidance helpful to organizations in the United States that want to implement an OH&S management system. Another use of Z10 is as a reference document for OSHA’s initiative for development of a standard requiring that employers establish an Injury and Illness Prevention Program (I2P2 Initiative). Finally, there is a desire to ensure that Z10 continues to have relevance to OH&S in the future.
One of the interesting inputs impacting this revision of Z10 is the increasing focus on sustainability initiatives and corporate sustainability reporting. Many OH&S professionals have expressed concern about the lack of attention given to worker safety within the sustainability movement. One of the initiatives ASSE and AIHA are working on together is the development of appropriate metrics for measuring OH&S performance for the next revision of the GRI sustainability reporting guidelines.
© ENLAR® Compliance Services, Inc. (2011)
A Contrast in Views
I was struck by the contrast between two news stories that came out in the last week reporting on occupational injuries and illnesses – one in the United States and one in India.
The first was a press release from the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) in which the President of ASSE applauded the apparent drop in workplace injuries and illnesses recently reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to the preliminary BLS report, the overall rate of both fatal and non-fatal work injuries in the United States dropped in 2006. Acccording to the BLS press release, there were 153 fatalities from expsoure to harmful substances or environments for all US workplaces in 2006.
The second was a news report from the Indian Express entitled “Ticket to Hell” that reported that 227 sanitary workers employed by the Pune Municipal Corporation died in just the last 30 months. This news report goes on to ask: ”[I]sn’t it incredible that an occupation as horrifying as cleaning the sewers of the city in the most primitive fashion possible should need a newspaper report to ensure something as basic as protective gear and health insurance for those who risk limb and lung every minute of their working life?”
© ENLAR® Compliance Services, Inc. (2007)
The Future of OH&S Auditing
Last week, I attended a meeting of The Auditing Roundtable in Philadelphia. The keynote speaker was Glen Hiemstra – a Futurist. In his presentation he focused on the 9 future trends and forces that he believes will impact environmental, health and safety audit programs.
