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PLANNING

Planning is the key to ensuring that health and safety measures really work. This involves the setting of measurable objectives to be achieved, the identification of hazards, the assessment of risk, the implementation of standards of performance and the development of a positive safety culture. These things will not happen by themselves, they need to be carefully planned, co-ordinated and implemented.

Often the results of planning need to be recorded in writing. For example:

• The identification of hazards and the assessment of risks and the means for their elimination or control
• The means of complying with relevant legislation
• The agreement of health and safety targets with managers, supervisors and employees
• The establishment of a purchasing and supply policy which takes health and safety into account
• The design of tasks, processes, equipment, products and services with regard to health and safety
• The establishment of safe systems of work
• The establishment of procedures to deal with serious and imminent danger
• The means of ensuring co-operation with other employers, contractors and neighbours etc
• The setting of standards against which health and safety performance can be measured

According to the Health and Safety Executive, standards help to build a positive culture and to control risks. They should identify who does what, when and with what results.

Standards should be set for:

• Premises, places of work and for environmental control
• Plant and substances, purchase, supply, transport, storage and use
• Procedures, design of jobs and the way work is carried out
• People, training and supervision
• Products and services, design, delivery, transport and storage

The Health and Safety Executive suggest asking the following questions:

• Do you have a health and safety plan?
• Is health and safety always considered before any new work is started?
• Have you identified hazards and assessed risks to your own staff and the public, and set standards for premises, plant, substances, procedures, people and products?
• Do you have a plan to deal with serious or/and imminent danger, eg fires, process deviations etc?
• Are the standards implemented and risks effectively controlled?

Measurable objectives and performance standards, with regard to physical resources, human resources and information, need to be set in relation to the input to the organisation, the process carried on within the organisation and the output from the organisation. Active and reactive monitoring arrangements need to ensure that the objectives and performance standards are being met in practice. Auditing should ensure that the whole system for setting, implementing and measuring standards is effective.

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