Organisational Context: The Foundation of Effective Safety Management
How Context Shapes Safety Strategies and System Performance
From business strategists to operational planners, a central tenet of good design is a solid grasp of the intended endpoint. Even in cases where the endpoint consists of a range of possible options, a clear understanding of its essence is crucial for the success of the operation.
The primary goal of any Safety Management System (SMS) is to foster safe operations in perpetuity. This means effective risk management of current risks while anticipating emerging and yet unknown risks. This is the cornerstone for ISO 45001-compliant management systems and central to strengthening safety culture in organisations.
Achieving this in any sustained way requires a thorough understanding of both the end goal and the operating environment. It demands an understanding of what good looks like and how to attain it, as well as what poor results look like and how to avoid them.
That is a tall order in a landscape devoid of uniform safety metrics across industries. Annual reports today are riddled with buzzwords, random statistics, and generally unsubstantiated claims.
As claims of effective safety cultures and accident reduction measures have become bolder, the overall accident trend has remained stagnant—contradicting these assertions. So, what is the best way to set up an effective safety management system?
Understanding the Core Offering in Safety Management
A crucial first step in designing an effective safety management system is identifying the heart of what the business provides. The safety management system should directly support and safeguard the processes involved in delivering these core products and services.
Adopting an off-the-shelf system or one that is not rooted in a clear understanding of the core offering risks creating a bloated system that either diverts resources from where they are needed or fails to address existing gaps.
A system lacking this contextual understanding also risks becoming merely an adjunct to actual operations. In such cases, staff may perceive safety as just another burdensome checklist item, dooming its integration into the workflow.
For example, the core business of design and programme management firms revolves around providing services through design deliverables and the ongoing supervision and management of construction programmes. The design of their safety management system should therefore align with these functions.
Unlike a construction contractor who operates or owns plant and equipment, design and management consultants do not need to incorporate arrangements for managing such equipment. However, they must assess when and where their staff and designs are likely to interface with plant and equipment and implement appropriate contextual controls.
Thus, a risk assessment for working around plant and equipment differs significantly between the two. Consultants will generally have brief encounters with such equipment and may even be able to avoid direct interaction altogether. A risk assessment designed for a contractor cannot, therefore, be effective for a consulting team. Copying over such assessments is not uncommon and is part of the broader malaise affecting the industry.
For a design and project management firm, the safety management system should focus heavily on designing out risks and complying with the legal duties set out by various regulations and best practices for designers.
How Materials and Production Processes Influence Safety Systems
Understanding the transformation of raw materials into value-added products or services is pivotal for every business operation. This requires a deep dive into the raw materials used, the processes they undergo, and the final products delivered to clients and customers. Such insights are foundational for creating an effective and integrated safety management system.
For a design and project management firm, the primary "materials" are ideas, which are shaped by the expertise of its staff into designs and services for clients. This is a predominantly people-centred operation, with minimal need for handling heavy equipment or materials.
In contrast to construction contractors, who must manage hazardous materials and potentially contaminated waste, design consultants face minimal material handling risks. Their exposure might extend only to handling samples and mock-ups.
Therefore, the focus of safety risk assessments and controls should align with this specific exposure, prioritising the management of risks their designs pose to contractors, end users, and those involved in refitting or demolishing structures.
A common industry practice is for safety management systems to take a catch-all approach, attempting to account for every conceivable risk. While this may suffice in a legal environment that emphasises liability and protection, it often results in a bloated and impractical system.
Market Dynamics and Resource Constraints in SMS Design
Understanding the market in which an organisation operates is crucial for tailoring a safety management system that judiciously utilises resources without compromising safety.
Given the economic principle of scarcity, safety initiatives must compete for resources alongside other organisational priorities. Even where safety is truly a priority, it must still operate within the constraints of a finite budget.
Recognising the nuances of the market helps refine the safety management system for optimal resource use. There are invariably more ways to compromise an operation than to conduct it safely, and safer practices can be more costly than taking shortcuts.
By understanding the dynamics of the operating environment, the safety management system can incorporate safeguards that activate when cost pressures mount, thereby deterring risky shortcuts and the increased risks they bring.
For instance, when a firm accepts a contract under tighter-than-usual deadlines, the pressure to expedite work can compromise thoroughness and safety. Similarly, contractors falling behind schedule may rush tasks, increasing the likelihood of unsafe practices.
Traditional safety management systems often respond reactively to these increases in risk—if they detect the trend at all. Many rely on fostering a culture of trust and care, hoping it will override concerns about speed and cost.
A culture of trust and care, like Safety Culture itself, is not willed into existence simply because a team desires it. It requires dedication, skill, and time to become embedded, and its benefits remain inaccessible until then.
Workforce Management for Effective Safety Compliance
With a clear understanding of the goals, what good and poor look like, and mastery of the operating environment, the next area of focus is understanding how human resources within the system will be managed.
Understanding the composition and skill set of the workforce is crucial for shaping a safety management system that resonates with its users. Tailoring the system to fit the unique characteristics of the staff ensures higher efficacy and engagement.
Conducting a detailed analysis of the tasks performed by staff, along with the manner in which these tasks are executed, forms the backbone of developing a safety management system that truly supports the operational reality.
In the context of a design and project management firm, the workforce typically comprises individuals with advanced degrees and professional certifications. This uniformity should be leveraged in the design of training and instructional materials. A construction contractor, on the other hand, must manage personnel with more varied levels of education, requiring a training approach that accommodates this diversity.
Furthermore, the prevalence of remote work among designers diminishes the effectiveness of traditional notice boards, necessitating alternative communication strategies better suited to their work environment.
Adapting Safety Management to Dynamic Work Environments
The physical and operational setting in which work is conducted significantly influences the development of an effective safety management system.
Production environments that are fully within the organisation's control offer greater flexibility to adapt physical spaces and routines in alignment with safety objectives.
Conversely, environments outside the organisation's direct control present unique challenges, requiring the safety management system to be versatile and adaptive.
A comprehensive understanding of these environments is essential—from recognising limitations on modifications to assessing implications for emergency preparedness.
For instance, the proximity of medical facilities significantly impacts emergency response plans, with remote sites requiring different strategies compared to urban settings where healthcare and emergency services are readily accessible.
The broader impact of understanding the production environment extends beyond emergency response to include communication strategies for remote workers and addressing psychosocial risks inherent to specific working conditions.
Process Flexibility in Organisational Risk Management
One of the critical pitfalls of traditional safety management systems is their inability to adapt to the dynamic nature of operational environments.
Operations in fields such as construction, manufacturing, and service delivery oscillate between planned and unplanned, normal and abnormal, and routine and emergency states. These transitions, often subtle, significantly influence risk-taking behaviours and the potential for accidents.
For example, a design team tasked with devising rescue plans for a flailing operation faces unique challenges. They must navigate pre-existing design decisions, some of which are irreversible. Such teams operate in conditions outside their regular routine of managing their own designs, and their safety management systems should be able to accommodate this.
For an operational example, it is common for site operations to move outside their schedules, and experienced project managers are trained to take advantage of any efficiency gains while anticipating inevitable delays elsewhere. If materials arrive on-site earlier than planned, they will not be sent back. Instead, they will be stored ahead of schedule, and a well-designed safety management system should be able to anticipate and handle such situations.
Emergency Response Strategies in Safety Systems
Emergency response planning is a critical component of any safety management system due to the escalated risks to life and property during emergencies, where standard operating procedures often become irrelevant.
The industry norm, driven by international standards and regulatory mandates that stipulate the need for emergency plans, is to develop response plans that are as generic as their standard operating counterparts—tailored to common scenarios but sometimes lacking specificity.
For example, a design team working within an office building that already participates in regular building-wide fire drills does not necessarily benefit from additional, separate drills.
Similarly, an unplanned evacuation due to a suspected fire can pragmatically fulfill the criteria for a scheduled drill, enhancing real-world preparedness without adding unnecessary disruption.
Effective safety systems should flexibly accommodate these realities, moving beyond rigid adherence to standards for mere compliance.
Overall, a thorough understanding of the organisational context is a prerequisite for designing effective safety management systems.
This crucial knowledge is dispersed across various departments and subcultures within an organisation, and accessing it requires not only tact but also a clear understanding of what to look for.
Gathering and harnessing this information is an ongoing process, and safety management systems built on such understanding should, by nature, be dynamic.
At SafetyRatios, we challenge conventional safety norms and redefine safety metrics by bringing real-world site insights into thought leadership. This article is part of our rethinking approach—for our metrics-driven solutions, explore our Solutions Page and take advantage of our free trial programme.