Safety managers arrive on the job thinking they now have a chance to make a real difference in their organizations safety program. When reality sets in, safety managers come to grips with the overwhelming administrative requirements of the job. Safety managers find themselves spending all of their time in the office doing paperwork and not in the workplace where the mission takes place. Safety managers will neglect administrative duties to get time in the workplace and vice versa. Safety managers soon realize, to be affective and to truly make a difference, they have to find a way to complete the administrative requirements and get out in to the workplace on a regular basis. Safety managers need help in completing administrative tasks. The realities of today’s budget constraints mean that most safety managers have little chance of getting additional clerical assistance. The fix then must come from tools, primarily computerized, that reduce the administrative burden on safety managers, assists them in finding and managing information resources, and assists them in analyzing safety related data. These tools should reduce the administrative workload significantly enough to afford safety managers the opportunity to spend time in the workplace without sacrificing responsibilities in other areas.
This led to an overall review of safety management techniques and requirements. Review of safety offices within complex organizations such as the US Army and other military services, reveals a multi-tiered safety management structure. At the lowest level is the organizational safety office. These offices are found where the mission takes place and, therefore, where most accidents take place. In the US Army, these offices are located in companies and battalions. Next are intermediate level safety offices. These offices perform oversight and direction to subordinate safety offices. They are also a central collection point for local accident reports. In the US Army, Brigade and Facility / Command Safety offices provide this function. At the top is the proponent safety office. From the proponent safety office comes directives and guidance that dictates the safety management process. The proponency is usually the central repository for all accident reports within the entire organization. The US Army Safety Center is the proponent for the Army.This same review also showed that these organizations used a top down approach to implementing their multi-tiered safety management structure. Directives, tools, and procedures tended to serve the needs of the proponent safety office and usually increased the administrative burden on subordinate safety offices. This self-serving approach is not unique to the Army nor to any of the DoD services. It is just as common in commercial industries. An example of this approach may be found in typical accident reports. Information gathered, particularly coded information, serves the overall needs of the proponent program without meeting direct needs of the operational safety offices. In some cases there are different safety forms, abbreviated / long / air / ground, that all ask for the same information with only slight formatting differences. In most cases, the only reason for these various reports is because the offices within the proponent can’t agree on a standardized system. The final item the review identified was a lack of safety management tools. Also identified was a lack of implementation and guidance for the tools that do exist. One note should be made that distinguishes safety management tools from other tools such as the Risk Management Process. The Risk Management Process is not a safety management tool nor is it even a safety tool. It is a leadership decision making tool, that if employed correctly, can significantly reduce accidents in the workplace. Though this is a tremendous benefit to safety in general, there still remains the need for safety management tools. This systematic review led to the development of the Safety Management System. The Safety Management System is not a single tool but, is as its name applies, a complete system for managing safety. To understand the types of tools that are needed by safety managers, it is important to define the mission and purpose of the safety manager.
The function of the Safety Manager is to reduce and ultimately eliminate accidents in the workplace. To eliminate accidents in the workplace, a clear definition on the cause of accidents must be established. Accidents are caused by uncontrolled hazards. If all hazards are properly controlled, then an accident will not occur. If all hazards are not properly controlled then the conditions exist that allow for an accident to occur. There are three reasons why hazards may not be controlled:
- No controls are in place. The hazard may not have been previously identified and no controls were implemented. In some cases controls are intentionally not put into place. If a control places to many restrictions on a mission and the success of a mission is compromised then leaders employ the Risk Management Process to balance risk / hazards and controls.
- There may be an attempt to control hazards but these controls were incorrect or inadequate. It is also possible that conditions have changed surrounding the hazard rendering previous controls ineffective
- Controls may be established but fail because they are not followed or enforced. For some reason controls were ignored this may be intentional or unintentional.
A hazard cannot be controlled unless it is first identified. To often, the lack of hazard control is attributed to unidentified hazards. Hazards are identified through one of three methods. The first method used to identify hazards is accident investigations. Data gathered during an accident investigation is used to identify the primary cause of an accident, contributing factors to an accident, factors not contributing but increasing the severity of damage or injuries, and factors not contributing but if left uncorrected could cause an accident in the future. The second method for identifying hazards are safety inspections and surveys. Safety surveys consist of walk through inspections, checklists, and resource management surveys. Safety surveys, when done correctly, should not only identify hazards but should also identify reasons controls fail. Finally, hazards may be identified through a job safety analysis. A Job Safety Analysis (JSA) is an analysis of the hazards associated with a particular job. It focuses on eliminating hazards or providing personal protective equipment.
For controls to be effective, there must be a mechanism in place that consistently implements controls. The control approach must be consistently applied throughout the organization to ensure all aspects of a hazard is controlled. Through control mechanisms, we control hazards. Standards, material / engineering, training, leadership, and individuals are used as mechanisms to control hazards.The process of identifying hazards and implementing controls is the basis for the Safety Management Model. All functions of the safety manager should conform to the Safety Management Model. By conforming to the model, the safety program maintains consistency and reliability. The Safety Management Model also provides a road-map for the development of safety management tools.
The goal of the Safety Management System is to provide safety managers with tools that expedite the administrative process of safety management and give these safety managers more time in the workplace observing operations. Like the Safety Management Model, the Safety Management System focuses on identifying hazards and implementing controls. The Safety Management System is designed from its concept to be extendible and customizable. It also is designed to grow as needs of the organization grows. The Safety Management System assists safety managers in identifying hazards and implementing controls. The Safety Management System is a multi-faceted approach to safety. The first component is the Safety Managers Guide. The second component is the Safety Management System Software. The final component of the Safety Management System is Support.
This web page is part of a breifing given to the Commanding General of the US Army Safety Center on the Safety Management System. Download the complete breifing for a detailed overview of this comprehensive system.
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