ABSTRACT
Since 1999 there has been an international standard that describes a recognised methodology to follow that helps people put in place sound management systems. It is known as the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 standard. To manage health and safety effectively robust systems are required. This chapter explores how to avoid some of the common pitfalls when designing both health and safety management systems (HSMS) and safe systems of work (SSW) and the process to come up with them is exactly the same. A management system defines the process of control, such as product quality, environmental, general business process as well as health and safety. A criticism often levelled by front-line workers about SSWs is that they are unworkable in the real world, often for similar reasons as HSMS are not as good as they could be. Despite common practice, HSMS should not be written by the safety professional in isolation then directly issued.
