Safety
A
management system entails a proven structure of organized course and measures
aimed at ensuring that a specific organization will ultimately realize its
objectives and aims. The system must ensure that the tasks allocated to every
process are fulfilled for the objectives to be realized. For example, an environmental management
system enables organizations to improve their performance on the environmental
issues. Health and safety management system ensures that risks that are likely
to cause harm to employees are minimized. This is for instance, achieved
through continuous improvement (Dejoy,1985).The job of the management system is
to ensure that the services or the products have met the targets required by
the system. For example, complying with regulations, environmental objectives, customers demand satisfaction with regard to the
expected quality.
Management
systems are quite vital especially in any given organization in the 21st
century more so in a technologically dominated society. This is normally
because mangers can experience failure in the process of running an
organization. There are a lot of risks associated with the complex systems
likely to be found in most of the organizations. This usually leads to big
losses being incurred. Some of the significant challenges that most of the
organizations face include problem of adaptability, growth, technology,
competitiveness, speed of change, among others. Therefore, balancing these drawbacks and other requirements
is quite difficult. The management systems affiliated to any institution play
an important role in ensuring that the potential possessed by any organization
is achieved while at the same time taking care of other factors that can hinder
its smooth growth (Dejoy, 1985). In a nutshell therefore, a good management
system will ensure that environmental, social and financial risks are catered
in the most effective manner.
ISO
14000 was formed in 1996 after the first Earth Summit was held in Rio-de-Janeiro
in 1992 (Gallagher, 2001). Its attempt was to
help and deal with the effects posed by the organizations to ensure friendly
organizational practices. That was the meeting that provided the guide for the
development of the ISO 14000 in 1996. ISO 14000 is a systematic organization whose
interest is geared towards ensuring that environmental management is attained.
For instance, working to minimize harmful effects on the environment, to strive
and improve its performance on the environment among others. The ISO 14000
addresses diverse facets of environmental management. For instance, ISO
14001:2004 and ISO 14004:2004 exclusively deal with environmental management
systems (EMS). In this case, the ISO 14001:2004 deals with providing the
requirements for Environmental management system and ISO 14004:2004 on the
other hand deals with providing the general Environmental management
guidelines. The other standards and guidelines under the wider banner of ISO
14000 deal with specific aspects of the environment such as the evaluation of
the performance, analysis of life cycle, labeling, auditing, communication and
others ( ISO, 2009).
Therefore,
ISO 14000 consists of a family of standards related to environmental
management. They work to ensure that organizations minimize their adverse
effect on the environment. For example, they attempt to minimize how the
operations (processes) of an organization cause adverse changes to air, water
or land. The special family of standards represented by the ISO 14000 also aims
to ensure that its rules and laws concerning environmental regulations and
other requirements that are environmentally oriented are adhered to by the
concerned organizations. One of the major differences between the ISO 14000 and
other preceding environmental management systems is that while the earlier ones
place a lot of emphasis on commands and control approaches, ISO 14000 places a
lot of emphasis on voluntary approaches to environmental management. It serves
as internal tool of management.
It also serves as a demonstration to organizations commitment to the
environment especially to clients and customers. The series of ISO 14000 operates on a general
objective to ensure that there are efficient and effective management methods in organizations, and to provide
flexible and cost effective tools, which will ensure interpreting, communicating and gathering
information connected with the environment
( ISO, 2009).
Before
the ISO 14000 was developed, there was voluntary responsibility by all
companies/organizations. They constructed their own environmental management
systems. This however made it difficult to compare the environmental effects of
different organizations.
The
universal ISO 14000 series was ultimately established. According to the
definition of ISO, an environmental management system includes practices,
responsibilities, implementation, planning activities as well as developing resources aimed at maintaining a
friendly environment (ISO, 2009).
The
benefits accrued by companies and organizations implementing ISO 14000
standards include prevention of pollution to the environment, therefore
minimizing the negative repercussions that the environment is likely to pose to
the survival of the business. A company might also be fined by governmental
authorities for infringing the legislation concerning the environment. Escaping
troubles with authority -
according to the standards -
is a weak approach especially in the modern business environment (ISO, 2009). Good management is always
conscious of the environment in which it is operating. In addition, ISO
14000 highly opposes such kind of reactive measures. The best policies that are
advocated by ISO 14000 are the proactive measures.
On
the other hand, ANSI Z-10 HSMS is an American National Standard that aims at
providing universal standards on the guidelines and the requirements for
improving occupational health and safety.
Experts from diverse aspects of the society such as the government,
labor, and professional organizations, after
an extensive analysis of the current international standards, practices as well
as the guidelines, came together and designed the required valuable standards.
(ANSI, 2010). It therefore provides a blueprint
for a variety of benefits in safety and health.
There are
also a lot of benefits that are accrued in such areas as performance, quality, financу among other
organizational and business objectives.
Proactive
health and safety solutions came up with the health and safety management
system. This was largely to assist organizations to effectively and efficiently
manage their safety, health and environmental needs. The unique and
comprehensive management approach of integrating the three key areas
determinant of a good thriving business- safety, health and environment-
provides a business with a distinctive advantage in its operation. The
organizations or businesses that aim to maximize their goals and objectives
must ensure that all the key areas that touch on their welfare are properly
managed. With regards to this fact, the
management system consequently provides a framework to incorporate and support
the management of safety, health and the environment in an organization or a
business set up.
ANSI
Z-10 is a voluntary based management system whereby all the co operations
affiliated with the organization are encouraged to protect the environment on voluntary
bases. However, the standards are flexible enough to allow for integration with
other individual standards. This is
normally achieved through comparing the designed standards of each cooperation
with the standards of ANSI Z-10 (ANSI, 2010). Then
there will be a high possibility of coming up with a comprehensive standards
that will ultimately lead to safety at the workplace as well as environmental
management. Most of emphasis for both
standards is determining risks, hazards, deficiencies, prioritizing corrective
measures as well as maximizing on opportunities available for improvement (Dejoy, 1985). The main aim is ultimately decreasing
risks and challenges that can hitherto hinder the development of organizations.
The
ANSI Z-10 is a consensus standard. It
acts to bridge the gap between what is required and what is suggested as the
best practice that can maximize the attainment of the required objectives or
goals. It helps in the aim of
ameliorating problems affecting any organization to ensure that losses that
could have been incurred are reduced. In addition, it will also prevent loss of
time and resources due to ill-falling workers. The management is required to
ensure that plans and policies are put in place to facilitate the reduction of health
related risks. This should be communicated to the individual employees.
According to the ANSI Z-10 standards, the sole responsibility of making sure
that occupational health and safety is upheld lies with the management. They
must direct, influence as well as ensure that safety and health of any given
organization is upheld. The top management is the one held responsible for
providing leadership. There is also the emphasis that there should be active
participation at all the levels in order to ensure that the goals are met. The
combined efforts of all the structures of the organization are the one that are
responsible for ensuring that all the set goals are achieved.
There
are some commonalities especially in the mode of operation of the two
standards. For instance, both being systems, they are high advocates of
proactive processes as compared to programs which support reactive processes.
In this case, the processes that are upheld by both systems ensure an effective
as well as a continued smooth process void of any inconveniences that might
arise in the process of attaining the goals and objectives of the
cooperation. This will continuously
assure the cooperation or company that they will also be ready to deal with any
kind of inconvenience arising. For example, ISO 14000 places special emphasizes
on proactive management. In this case, management should not take care of the
environment because they attempt to escape governmental authorities.
The
concern that should be held by the management is that there are a lot of
benefits that the contemporary business can get as a result of taking care of
the environment in which it is operating (ISO, 2009).
On the other hand, ANSI Z-10 HSMS holds the view that quality management is a
precursor to good results for any given company. Therefore, they should not
wait until problems arise to learn from them. Rather, they should plan in
advance to ensure that all the processes designed to achieve the specific
objectives are put in place. The health and safety of the employees should be
guaranteed to ensure their safety in the working place (ANSI, 2010). However,
there are a lot of losses that are likely to be witnessed such as mass loss
from ill-falling employees.
Another
similarity that can be seen in both standards is that both quality management
systems, ANSI Z-10 and ISO 14000, place a lot of emphasis on the processes
involved in the production of services or goods rather than the product itself.
For example, a lot of emphasis is given to the processes involved during the
operation of the organization. Both standards hold that the quality of the
process leads to quality production, ensuring that proper plans, follow up
procedures, and making the necessary corrective actions are some of the methods
that can be used to maximize the attainment of quality production in any given
organization (Boyle, 2003).
Both
ANSI Z-10 HSMS and ISO 14000 contain management system standards for health and
environment simultaneously. They offer models that are designed to be followed
in setting up and/or operating any organization affiliated with their areas of
interests. The major operating principle of the ISO 14000 is plan-do-check-act.
Both have legislative requirements which entail a guideline supposed to be
followed by all the affiliated organizations in order to maximize the
attainment of their goals and objectives.
The guidelines are however geared towards the best practices for the
industries or organizations. Following the laid out guidelines will also assist
the organization to attain a high level of diligence.
The
classic and quality principle of Peter Drucker (PLAN, DO, CHECK, ACT) is one of the guiding principles of both
standards as well as the philosophy of continuous improvement. Plan- entails an
analysis of the organization's needs or situation, establishing the overall
objectives and targets to achieve, and developing strategies that aid in the
attainment of the objectives. Do- involves taking measures to implement what
has already been planned. Check- in this case, there are regular follow up
measures that are made by the organization to monitor how far the laid out
objectives have been achieved. The results accrued are measured against the
expected outcomes. Act- corrections are made to improve the performance. The
plans that were laid earlier may fail to achieve the expected goals. If this
happens, corrections of the plans are made;
arising drawbacks are corrected in order to ensure that better results
will be accrued next time (Suarez-Garcia, 2001).
Both
standards aim at the safety in any organization in areas such as occupational
accidents, illnesses, among other losses that can be prevented in any
organization. The losses include areas related to the equipments, people,
materials, production and customer services.
Both of them believe that there is a lot of benefit accrued from
managing this most important part of the business. The key aspects of the
standards is that the managers of any organization must be committed to manage
these key elements of the organization (health, environment and safety)
and lead towards a culture of safety
within the organization (Boyle, 2003).
ANSI
Z-10 and ISO 14000 use established objectives and policies that will ensure
that the goals are achieved. In addition, organizational structures, with roles
and responsibilities are also set up. Documented and systematic processes and
resources are followed to ensure that the objectives are easily attained. For
instance, the objectives of the ANSI Z-10 can be generalized as ensuring that
safety and health of employees are maintained. The general objective of ISO
14000 is ascertaining quality productivity in an organization while ensuring
that environmental concerns are considered.
Regular evaluation and assessment are carried
out by both standards. This is set up to make sure that problems arising from
organizations are dealt with in accordance with the set principles.
Furthermore, it also ensures that the present opportunities are recognized and
utilized maximally for the achievement of the goals and objectives of the
organization. In the assessment of risks, a careful scrutiny is given to the
working place. Whatever is likely to cause harm or loss in the organization,
cooperation or company is noted. Enough precautions are taken to ensure complete
prevention of losses or harm to the employees. ANSI Z-10 subscribes to the
concept that Workers have a right to be protected from harm caused by failure
to take reasonable control measures. On the other hand, ISO 14000 holds that it
is the responsibility of the organizations to take care of the working
environment to ensure that maximum benefits are got from the processes in the
organization (Dejoy,1985).
Both
management system standards normally deal with root causes of deficiencies
rather than dealing with the problems as they arise. They aim at eliminating
the problems or the underlying deficiencies. Their
main goals being the identification and reduction of risks associated with any
working environment using set standards that are consistent with the set
standards of the organization. In this
case, there are different and continues processes that must be involved in
ensuring that the set targets are attained. For example, there is the initial
review of the progress and an ongoing review.
Both
standards emphasize a lot on planning which forms a significant component of
success of any given organization. There are formal systems that have been
designed to implement the company’s safety, health and environmental objectives
as defined in health, safety and environmental policy statement. The standards
to be used, the level of responsibility and procedures to be followed to ensure
environmentally acceptable and safe operations are accentuated.
ANSI
Z-10 HSMS and ISO 14000 have different structures designed to deal with
specific areas of the organizational management. On the one hand, ANSI Z-10
HSMS has seven sections that deal with different issues such as planning,
evaluation and corrective actions, management leadership and employee
participation, management review, operation and implementation among others
(ANSI, 2010). On the other hand, ISO 14000 has
different branches designed to deal with different aspects of environmental
management. For example, the ISO
14001:2004 deals with providing the requirements for Environmental management
system and ISO 14004:2004 on the other hand deals with providing the general
Environmental management guidelines(ISO, 2009).
Environmental
conservation is highly emphasized. For instance, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) attempts to empower the
affiliated members to help improve the position of the United States’ market at
the global level. At the same time it highly notes that all the members
concerned are supposed to ensure that the safety and the health of consumers
are put into consideration. In addition, the environmental protection is
paramount in the process of carrying out organizational activities. On the
other hand, ISO 14000 also puts
a lot of emphasis to the conservation of the environment. If attention is given
to the welfare of the environment, there will be a possibility of achieving the
optimum goals set by any of the organizations (ISO, 2009).
The
two standards have strong regards to the role played by the management in
ensuring that safety, health and environmental management is upheld
(Suarez-Garcia, 2001). ISO 14000 recognizes the role that the management plays
in ensuring that processes and activities that have an impact on the
environment are eliminated. This is done by making sure that the management is
in full control of all the activities or the processes involved in any
organization. This also to a greater extent works to assure the employees that
they are working for an organization that is responsible for its environment.
This increases the confidence of the employees as they realize that their
welfare is catered for. On the other hand also, ANSI Z-10 places special
emphasizes on the leadership of any organization (ANSI, 2010). According to them, the management
of the organization is the one that is exclusively responsible for making sure
that occupational safety and health is maintained. They have a great influence
on the other junior employees. A combination of all the structures if they work
in harmony will ultimately ensure that the set goals and objectives are
achieved.
In
a nutshell, both standards subscribe to a system comprised of structures that
entail organization, implementation, compliance
and reviews. The organization structure is concerned with describing the
policies of the organization. It is normally important to ensure implementation
and compliance of the policies set. The implementation defines the
responsibilities of the individuals at the managerial levels. For example, the
responsibility of line managers and supervisors with regards to the health,
safety and environmental concerns. This will ensure that risks in all aspects
of the company’s operations are minimized (Reason, 1997).
The compliance structure describes the legislative and other statutory
requirements which are highly applicable to the operations and requirements
with reference to data gathering and reporting. The reviews are meant to
re-assess the degree of attainment of the set goals and objectives. This will
ensure that compliance with both the internal and external targets of any
cooperation is attained (Heinrich, 1959).
Health
& safety and environmental management may not necessarily mean stopping
accidents from happening. They entail a process geared towards protecting
people and the environment in which they are working against potential risks.
The risks are likely to cause a lot of losses in any organization, for
instance, loss of labor from workers who are exposed to poor working
conditions. Sensible standards are supposed to be put in place to ensure that
safety of the working place is maintained at all times. In incorporating a
system approach to the management of organizations, there are a lot benefits
that can be accrued. The most vital premise of the system approach is that
human beings are fallible and prone to errors even in the organizations
considered to be the best (Perrow, 1984).
Errors in most cases are seen as a consequence not causes. The management
system for instance ANSI Z-10 and ISO 14000’s approaches are directed towards
healing the process not the results. If
counter measures are devised in advance, regulating the chances of errors is
possible. The human condition might not be possible or is critical to change.
On the other hand, it is possible to enhance the productivity of any given
organization if conditions under which human beings work are changed.
References
Boyle, T. (2003). Health and safety: Risk management. IOSH Services Ltd.
Reason, J. T.(1997). Managing the risks
of organizational accidents. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Gallagher, C. U. (2001). Occupational Health and Safety Management. Sydney: Occupational Health and Safety.
Heinrich, H. (1959). Industrial accident prevention:
A scientific approach. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Dejoy, D. (1985). Attributional process and hazard control management in
industry. Journal of Safety Research, 61-71.
Perrow, C. (1984). Normal accidents: Living with high-risk technologies. New York:
Basic Books.
Suarez-Garcia, H. (2001). Quality, safety and
environmental system integration. Occupational
Health & Safety, 56.
