Health and safety management systems 1 – policy

The latest International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No. 187 (2003) and its accompanying Recommendation (No. 197) in 2006 applies a similar approach to the management of national occupational health and safety systems to ensure they are improved through a continuous cycle of policy review, evaluation and action for improvement. The essential elements of a national occupational health and safety management system are shown in Table 2.1. The principles are based on two fundamental concepts:

■ to develop a preventative safety and health culture; and

■ to apply a systems approach to managing occupational health and safety nationally.