ABSTRACT
This chapter lays down a practical approach to setting up health and safety management systems in the workplace and suggests general principles that all successful management systems should incorporate. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 lay down specific management tasks that must be undertaken. This chapter sets out the requirements of the legislation and gives practical advice and guidance on how best to comply. It is most likely that organisations will have some management systems in place already, but in order to know what improvements can be made, it is necessary to ascertain the current position on the “safety management ladder”. To assist in this task, a number of “Model Management Standards” have been produced, suggesting key objectives that any organisation should seek to attain. It also sets out how to set priorities for action and how to ensure that they are achieved in practice. Examples of some key “management models” are explained and how these can help provide the practitioner with some essential tools to help implementation. A detailed explanation of an internationally accepted occupational health and safety management system is provided along with how best to measure an organisation's health and safety performance.
