Bottom line – an effective occupational health and safety management system costs money. There are those that argue that safety – like quality – is free (in line with the classic book by Philip Crosby – Quality is Free). The premise being that, in the long run, effective safety programs save money and add business value. [...]
Posted in OHSMS Implementation, Uncategorized 
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I have been following with interest the nomination hearings of Sonia Sotomayor. I find the focus on substance (i.e. what she believes) as opposed to process (i.e. how decisions are reached) fascinating. When we were at Disney earlier this month, we visited the re-opening of the Hall of Presidents featuring Obama as the newest President [...]
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The effectiveness of occupational health and safety programs is in the news. On June 18, 2009, OSHA issued a press release announcing that it will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of its Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) and Alliance programs to determine their effectiveness. This is OSHA’s response to a new GAO report that identified problems with [...]
Posted in OHS Metrics & Measurements, OHSMS Implementation 0 Comments »
I recently had the following question e-mailed to me – “What is the “Hierarchy of Controls” [referenced in section 4.3.1 of OHSAS 18001:2007] and how do I address it in the hazard control & risk assessment procedure?” The “hierarchy of controls” is a protocol that you use when deciding what kind of control measures you [...]
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Many OHS management systems and programs have a major problem – they are bloated with paperwork, inefficient in their operation and filled with busywork. These programs are often focused on the achievement of arbitrary metrics rather than improved OH&S performance. As a result, the managers of these programs are often fed-up, burned out and overwhelmed. [...]
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What does the current meltdown of the global financial markets teach us? To paraphrase a line from the last presidential election – “It’s the System, Stupid.” Right now, there is a lot of finger-pointing and plenty of blame to spread around. This mess is not, however, the fault of a single individual, a single institution [...]
Posted in OHSAS 18001:2007 Revisions, OHSMS Implementation 0 Comments »
An article in the 6/30/2008 issue of CRN Magazine reported on the problem of “sprawl proliferation” associated with the use of virtualization in IT datacenters. Because virtual machines are easy to deploy, they don’t get the same scrutiny as the purchase of physical machines. The result – virtual machines that are not doing any meaningful [...]
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One of the interesting, and challenging, issues in developing an OH&S management system is the tension between developing detailed work instructions versus relying on competent individuals to perform critical OH&S tasks. On one hand, there is the view that all tasks, especially important ones, need to be reduced to written work instructions. After all, the [...]
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June 1 marked the beginning of the 2008 Hurricane Season. Both individuals and organizations in Florida are being urged to review and update their emergency plans to ensure we are ready in case a serious storm comes our way this year. There are articles in the paper on ensuring that our pets are save, putting [...]
Posted in Emergency Preparedness, OHSMS Implementation 0 Comments »
I attended the annual American Industrial Hygiene Association conference (AIHce) last week in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There were many excellent sessions covering a wide range of topics important to the practice of industrial hygiene. In particular, the Tuesday morning general session focused on demonstrating the value of the industrial hygiene profession and included a presentation by Jeffrey [...]
Posted in OHSAS 18001:2007 Revisions, OHSMS Implementation, Risk Management 0 Comments »
