Take Notes-Safety and Health Management Systems (Essay Sample)

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Safety and Health Management systems
Safety and Health Management Systems (SHMS) constitute an organized procedure applied in the management of workplace health and safety. Such systems are mandatory for most workplaces. An effective SMHS comprises of several essential elements that include, management commitment, worksite analysis, training, hazard prevention and control, and employee involvement. These components work together to prevent accidents in work areas. The components interrelate and are interconnected in a manner that the failure of one leads to a failure of the whole system. Illness and injury prevention programs are important as each day, more than twelve workers die while working. Additionally, over 4.1 million employees suffer from serious employment-related illnesses or injuries. This revelation necessitates the need for focusing on prevention measures to avoid such high numbers.
Management System Approaches are graded based on their prominence of achieving continual improvement and their systematic elimination of underlying causes of deficiencies. An effective SHMS should be capable of being integrated and adaptable to organizational changes, culture, and operations meeting the company’s needs. SHMS should be developed in a manner that they are operational, have managerial aspects and that they are cultural. Rather than being reactive as old SHMS approaches, modern SHMS’s should be proactive in that they should be system focused, fix the cause, and extend beyond the regulated hazards.
SHMS’s are beneficial in that they result in fewer injuries, results in lowered absenteeism and turnover, improves working practices, and oversees a good faith reduction of fines imposed by OSHA besides earning the employer a competitive edge. Comprehensive SHMS’s should be geared to attain elements such as employee involvement, worksite analysis, safety, and health training, the commitment of the management, and the control and prevention o...