MANAGEMENT SYSTEM- SAFETY..ANSI ANS ISO

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 [В1] 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.

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 [В1]ISO 14000 is a family of standards related to environmental management that exists to help organizations (a) minimize how their operations (processes etc.) negatively affect the environment (i.e. cause adverse changes to air, water, or land); (b) comply with applicable laws, regulations, and other environmentally oriented requirements, and (c) continually improve in the above.