By means of a safety plan, companies identify the physical and health risks that may affect their employees. These documents must be in writing and their purpose is to provide a record of the hazards and action plans to avoid those hazards.
Safety plans are a federal requirement to prove a company’s commitment to occupational health and safety. When employers want to obtain a COR or SECOR, they should require their employees or internal auditors to create such a document.
The purpose of having this document in writing as a requirement for COR and SECOR is to motivate employees to create a strategy to avoid hazards, injuries and illnesses and, at the same time, to encourage employers to improve working conditions, especially when the industry requires the handling of chemicals, gases or flammable elements.
How are safety plans implemented in companies?
Contents
The employer can appoint one or more internal auditors to evaluate and draft a document of the overall management within the company. This plan will seek to prevent injuries and illnesses, promoting a more pleasant working environment.
Depending on the type of company, other types of documents may be required. For example, some companies need specific safety plans.
Safety plan for an activity:
There are positions where employees may be exposed to risks. Therefore, a safety strategy that is followed to the letter and a plan of action in the event of an accident must be created.
The aim of the written document is to reduce the risk by having all employees aware of the danger, notifying safety methods and enforcing compliance.
Safety plan on equipment and machinery:
The handling, maintenance and calibration of some equipment is important because it poses an exponential risk to workers and company infrastructure.
Creating a document that specifies the action plan is critical to avoid mishaps, injuries and/or accidents.
Safety plan on specific risks:
The general management of a company is sometimes different from the management of a specific operation or risk. In these cases, a specific action plan to reduce the risk must be detailed.
Why should the safety plan be in writing?
Federal OSHA specifies the need to create written safety plans in order to have a record and to facilitate the communication of the strategies with the rest of the employees. Furthermore, it specifies the safety procedures and requirements that each document must meet in order to be considered valid for business use in Canada.
What are the basic elements of a security plan?
A number of clear specifications that need to be taken into account when drafting a company’s security strategy document are as follows:
Hazard identification:
Knowing and detailing each of the hazards within the company, from the infrastructure to the daily routines of activities.
Application of safety policy and goals:
Once the details to be improved are known, it must be established how the current situation is planned to be changed through a new policy. Goals must be realistic and have deadlines to meet them.
List of people responsible:
Organizing the reporting lines within the company is key to effective implementation of occupational health and safety strategies. Listing and communicating who is responsible for meeting goals will help to achieve them.
Safe practices and risk control:
Strategies that change the current management within the company. Definition of these strategies seeks to improve the situation by reducing risks.
Emergency response
In addition to planning strategies to avoid injuries and accidents, a plan of action must also be in place in the event of a force majeure situation or even an accident within the company. For this application to be effective, employees must be trained and drills must be conducted.
Training and education plans
This resource allows employees to keep abreast of new changes and resolve any doubts they may have regarding the application of safety practices. Fostering good communication is important to improve the work environment and achieve an appropriate strategy implementation.
Records
The internal auditor’s duty is to keep a record of each application of safe practices, training, accident or risk of accident to know the level of reaction and make future evaluations for further improvement.
