Managing hazards in the workplace using organisational safety management systems: a safe place, safe person, safe systems approach

Not all hazards in the workplace manifest in the same way. Some are obvious because their impacts are direct and easily felt, such as physical workplace hazards; others are indirect because the effects are long term or further downstream from the original work process; and some are hazards because their absence, for example the lack of safe systems of work, makes the workplace less safe. A framework to manage workplace hazards in small to medium enterprises was derived from a review of the literature and the application of the Deming ‘Plan, Do, Check, Act' cycle. A collection of 57 elements separated into three main areas – safe place, safe person and safe systems, were used to analyse 10 international and Australian occupational health and safety management system (OHS MS) structures with a view to understand emergent trends, appreciate which elements were the most popular and highlight particular strengths of individual structures or assessment tools analysed. Further application of this framework to assist small to medium enterprises is suggested as is the potential to develop a hierarchy of controls specifically dealing with managerial hazards.