What is a safety managment system?

The term ‘safety management system’ gets used a lot, but do you know what one is and what it can do for you and your business? Let’s break it down.

A safety management system (SMS) is a process for managing risk. It is generally composed of policy, risk management, hazard management and training. A good system focuses on prevention and allows for decision making, knowledge sharing and promotion of safety through a culture of safety. Smart businesses have a plan for managing risk that is documented, implemented and operated daily that everyone has access to and allows for improvements. This is a safety management system.

As a business evolves, processes change. Therefore, a good safety management system should be able to evolve with the company; otherwise, it risks becoming obsolete. If a safety management system is simply a document or manual that exists on a shelf, it is not an active part of the organisation and is unlikely to be used by employees. Ideally, a safety management system should be relevant to the organisation and document who is accountable, tasks to be completed and the timeline for completion. The ultimate goal is that the safety management system will have workers thinking about safety behaviour in the workplace as part of an overall culture of safety.

Can a safety management system be electronic?

Yes! In fact, most are. The two most important components of a safety management system are accountability and transparency. Accountability ensures people are assigned to tasks so they are actioned and completed on time. Transparency ensures information is shared openly and results in responsibility. It can eliminate fear of reporting when data is shared openly without recourse. These elements can be difficult to achieve through a paper-based system. An online system will enable your safety management system to become a dynamic component of the business, not just a document repository, assisting in the capture of knowledge to assist new workers and manage process safety. The best systems are easy to use and simple to implement, with the ability to clearly document actions, responsibilities and due dates. A good system can promote a strong culture of safety throughout the business.

Am I required to have one?

It depends. Many businesses doing contract work are required to have a safety system. Regardless of size, contractors are required to document safety procedures outlining risk management processes for their business. Recently aviation, rail and marine industries have incorporated SMS requirements into their regulations as part of doing business in Australia, in accordance with best practice guidelines for the transportation industry.

What can having a safety management system do for me?

Safety management systems are about good decision making. A lack of injuries does not necessarily indicate good safety management. It could indicate good fortune and businesses cannot operate on luck for long. It's not as easy as implementing a system and becoming safe overnight; there is a human factor to consider. Incidents generally occur because lessons are forgotten and workers become complacent over time, especially if near misses are not tracked. Employees leave; processes and equipment change over time. Without a good safety management system in place, these changes could become problematic to document and update. Having an SMS also reduces accident frequency and severity while building an overall culture of safety and health.

An SMS captures knowledge from the business and delivers that information to the designated person at the designated time through workflow. Workflow also sets clear employee expectations; there is never any question of who is assigned which tasks. The knowledge gathered from across the business is stored for compliance and reporting purposes. Management decision making becomes easier with centralised data available for reporting. Traditionally, safety management has focused on analysing historical data trends to prevent future accidents. Dashboard reports enable the monitoring of leading indicators for vulnerabilities that could lead to incidents while still doing historical trend analysis.

Having good data in a safety management system allows a company to take action on risks and operate safely and efficiently. The key is to get ahead of incidents through risk monitoring and analysis by relying on operational systems data. It allows for a shift from reactive to proactive in regards to safety, and ideally to a predictive stance in the future. This requires a shift in being able to move from quarterly, numbers-based thinking to long-term, investment-based thinking. It also relies on trusting the data in the system and acting upon it. This kind of safety management will allow a business to blend the goals of production and safety in order to avoid the next safety incident.

Does the data support that?

Companies tend to become complacent with the passage of time between incidents. Having access to safety data is crucial, as studies show that the majority of safety accidents results from non-routine activities, forgotten lessons, ignored history or failure to utilise near-miss data.

While limited studies exist regarding safety management systems, a literature review conducted on available studies and their outcomes found conclusive evidence that safety management systems improve overall safety and reduce incidents in high-risk industries. The studies found a correlation between safety performance, employee behaviour and reduced incident rate among the companies with a certified safety management system. In particular, when management commits to safety and communicates safety at an organisational level, attitudes shift throughout the company, affecting overall incident rates. An organisation that invests and commits to its safety management system can expect a positive return on safety.

Having a safety management system helps a business to comply with legislative requirements, reduce the frequency of incidents, improve management of training requirements and build an overall culture of safety and health. Workers benefit because they know their obligations, have documented safety processes, have clear channels of reporting safety incidents and have an overall safer place to work