NEBOSH

International General Certificate

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NEBOSH International General

Certificate in Occupational Safety
and Health
Unit IGC1

Element 2: Health
and Safety
Management Systems
1 - Policy
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Learning Outcomes
On completion of this element, you should be
able to demonstrate understanding of the
content through the application of knowledge to
familiar and unfamiliar situations. In particular
you should be able to:
Outline the key elements of a health and
safety management system
Explain the purpose and importance of setting
policy for health and safety
Describe the key features and appropriate
content of an effective health and safety policy
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Unit IGC1
Element 2.1
Key Elements of a Health and Safety
Management System

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ILO-OSH 2001 Safety &

Health Management System

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Safety Management System

The ILO-OSH 2001 Safety Management System

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2001
Safety & Health Management
System
The key elements are:
1. Policy
2. Organising
3. Planning and Implementing
4. Evaluation
5. Action for Improvement
6. Audit
7. Continual Improvement

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Key Elements of ILO-OSH

2001
Policy
It is a clear statement of commitment to
H&S by management at all levels
particularly at the top
Organising
Roles and responsibilities for H&S must be
created within the organisation from senior
management down to the workers
including appointment of specialist staff
Planning and Implementing
Detailed arrangements to manage H&S
must be made.
(Risk assessments,
identification and implementation of safe
system of work and protective measures)
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Key Elements of ILO-OSH

2001
Evaluation
Methods should be made to monitor and
review the effectiveness of the arrangements
put into place.
Action for Improvement
Steps to correct identified shortcomings
found in the review process in the policy,
organisation
and
arrangements
for
implementation
Audit
Arrangement must be made for independent,
critical and systematic examination of the
safety management system to ensure all
parts are working systematically

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Key Elements of ILO-OSH

2001
Continual Improvement
Safety management system needs to
be developed/ modified over period of
time so that it is useful for the
organisation

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End of Section Quiz

1. Outline the key elements of the ILOOSH Health & Safety Management
System?

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Unit IGC1
Element 2.2
Purpose and Importance of Setting Policy
for Health and Safety

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Health and Safety Policy

It is an important document of an
organisation
It
sets
out
the
organisations
commitment to achieving it aims and
objectives with regards to H&S
It identifies who is responsible for
achieving these aims by setting
responsibilities for staff
It states how the aims are to be
achieved

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Health and Safety Policy

A policy should allow decision making
within the organisation.
Senior management have to decide what
kind of H&S standards they are
committing the organisation to and will
have to allocate resources accordingly.
Managers have to ensure that the
decisions they make are in line with the
policy and does not work against the
organisations aims and objectives.

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Group Discussion Point

Why might the Health & Safety Policy
of two organisations be different?
or
Why isnt there a prescribed, one size
fits all approach to developing a
Policy?

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Health and Safety Policy

No two organisations would have similar
H&S Policy because the H&S Policy of an
organisation should be based on:
1.the size of the organisation
2.the complexity of the organisation.
3.the hazards & risks involved in the work
activities

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Unit IGC1
Element 2.3
Key Features and Content of a Health and
Safety Policy

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Key Elements of a H&S Policy

Health and Safety Policy usually has three
parts:
1.General Statement of Intent: outlines the
importance that the organization places on
H&S and its commitment to following H&S
standards. It sets the aims and objectives that
the organisations sets to achieve. It is signed
by the owner/controller of the organisation
2.Organization section: shows the roles and
responsibilities that exist at each level in the
organization.
3.Arrangements section: gives the details
on how the organization manages H&S.

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General Statement of Intent

It demonstrates the managements
commitment to Health & Safety
specially that of the top level
management.
Key features:
1.The organizations aims/objectives
and targets are clearly defined.
2.The commitment of the organization
to legal compliance is shown.
3.The roles and responsibilities of the
managers and workers are stated.
4.It is signed by the top most person
of the organization eg CEO / MD to
indicate that commitment come from
the highest level.
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General Statement of Intent

5. It should be dated to indicate when the
current statement was prepared and
provide a reference point for review.
6. The factors, if a review is to be done.

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Objectives of an
Organisation
Some of the objectives that an
organization needs to achieve are:
1.Meeting legal obligations
2.Providing
safe
workplace,
safe
equipment and safe system of work,
training and supervision.
3.Doing risk assessments to all workplace
activities
4.Performance monitoring
5.Effective
communication
and
consultation with workers
6.Providing adequate resources such as
expert H&S advice
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Targets of an Organisation
Setting quantifiable targets for an
organisation to achieve will allow performance
to be measured and provide goal for staff to
aim for. Targets also helps to drive continual
improvement. Targets may be related to:
Accident rates: to achieve a reduction in
accidents or ill-health rate.
Active monitoring: to complete
successfully a number of active monitoring
activities such as: providing training to all
workers,
carrying out risk assessment for all tasks,
carrying out safety inspections of all tasks
over a year.
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Targets of an Organisation
Targets are usually set in relation to past
performance or performance of similar
organisations. This process of comparing
performance is called as benchmarking.

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Organisation Section
Key features of the Organisation section:
1.The Organisation section deals with people
and their operational duties in relation to
H&S
2.It outlines the chain of command for H&S
management.
3.It outlines the roles and responsibilities of
staff for H&S within the organisation from the
senior management down to the workers.
4.It includes an organization chart that shows
the lines of communication and the feedback
routes that exist within the organization for
clear reporting.
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Organisation Section

Health and Safety Organisation Chart

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Organisation Section
Organisation section defines responsibilities for:
1.The CEO or MD who is ultimately responsible
and accountable for the entire organisation
2.Management
at
all
levels
who
are
responsible for ensuring that all appropriate
safety measures are in place and being carried
out effectively within their area of control
3.All employees who are responsible for acting
safely at all times while performing their duties
at work
4.Competent persons such as first aiders, fire
marshals, etc to carry out specialist H&S duties.
5.Specialist H&S practitioners who are
responsible for providing advice to support
management and employees in achieving safety
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Arrangements Section
It
sets
out
in
detail,
the
arrangements that exist to manage
H&S and the specific arrangements
that are necessary to deal with
particular risks relevant to the
organisation and its activities.

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Arrangements Section
Examples of topics:
Carrying out risk assessments
Identifying and supplying H&S
information, instruction and
training
Accident and near miss
reporting, recording and
investigation
Consultation with workers on
matters of health & safety
Developing safe systems of
work and Permit-To-Work
systems to control hazards
Control of contractors and
visitors
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Arrangements Section
Examples of topics: (contd)
Provision of safety-related
training
Emergency procedures
Welfare & first aid provision
Health surveillance
Communication of H&S
matters including hazards
and control measures
Compliance monitoring
including auditing of
systems
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Arrangements Section
Examples of specific risks and problems
within an organisation that may need
detailed arrangements include:
Lone working
Housekeeping
Noise exposure control
Vibration exposure control
Control of exposure to hazardous
substances
Fire safety & prevention
Control of contractors
Control of transport risks

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Reviewing the H&S Policy

Reasons why a review may be required are:
1.Organizational changes:
a.Changes in key personnel eg CEO, MD
b.Changes in the management structure
2.Changes to the type of work done by the
organisation
3.Changes in legal laws applicable to the
organization
4.Changes in technology eg when new
machinery is introduced or new processes
5.Following an enforcement action
6.If audit, investigation or risk assessment
suggest policy is no longer effective
7.After passage of time e.g. annual review
8.After consultation with workers
9.When requested by third party eg insurance
company or client

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International Standards for

Policy
Article 14 of ILO Recommendation
R164 1981 states:
Employers should
where the nature of the operations
warrants it,
to set down in writing,
their policy and arrangements for
occupational health and safety
management and
give this information to all workers
in a language or medium the worker
readily understands

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End of Section Quiz

1.Outline the three key elements of a H&S
Policy?
2.Identify the Objectives/Targets that
might be included in the Statement of
Intent section of an H&S Policy?
3.Identify the responsibilities of the
various staff members in an
organisation?
4.Identify the circumstances that would
require an H&S Policy to be reviewed?

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