Managing safety without a safety department: 5 tips to share the responsibility effectively

-0001-11-30T00:00:00

Jessica Bowes

Safety meeting in a boardroom with a group of coworkers.

“Safety is never just one person’s responsibility,” says Amanda Gorman, Health and Safety Consultant with WSPS. She finds herself making this point when working with smaller organizations that do not have a safety department. In these situations, health and safety planning often falls on the owner. “When a small business owner is also managing finance, customer service, operations, human resources, and IT, we know how challenging it can be to carve out time for health and safety,” notes Amanda.

“Sometimes I see workplaces turn to the person who is considered to have the most safety training, which in some cases may simply be Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) or forklift training. Instead, the workplace can tap into the combined knowledge of the team and get the most competent people to lead by monitoring hazards and controls,” explains Amanda. “Even workplaces that have a health and safety manager or someone responsible for safety, that person is often without a team of safety coordinators or a staff that reports directly to them. It can make them feel as though they have to do it all on their own,” she says. “But that is not the case. You cannot manage safety effectively in a silo. Ideally, the responsibility is a shared one.”

Leverage the Internal Responsibility System

“Even if you have safety in your job title, it is impossible for you to watch everything that happens at every moment. You need to be able to hand over some of that responsibility to other managers and supervisors,” advises Amanda. In fact, it is a legislated requirement. Sections 25 and 27 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act outline the duties of employers and supervisors, which include identifying and controlling hazards to protect employees from injury and illness. “You need a high-functioning IRS,” reminds Amanda.

The internal responsibility system (IRS) is a mechanism that emphasizes shared responsibility for health and safety and forms the basis of our Occupational Health and Safety Act. It is a collaborative approach where each workplace party has a defined role in maintaining a safe and healthy workplace. The key is ensuring that everyone in the workplace understands their role and what is expected.

For example, employers establish safety programs and procedures, provide training, and ensure tools and equipment are in good working condition. Supervisors organize and oversee the work, ensure that safety procedures are followed, and that hazards are controlled. Workers are expected to follow safety procedures, use the personal protective equipment (PPE) that is provided, and report any new hazards they encounter.

“It really comes down to the safety culture that has been cultivated within the workplace,” says Amanda. “It’s not about checking boxes and getting paperwork done. It’s about fostering behaviours that create a healthy and safe workplace.” When you have a high-functioning IRS, where everyone has the necessary knowledge and training to perform their role, it becomes much easier to delegate health and safety tasks, and ultimately ensure everyone goes home safe and healthy at the end of the workday.

Strengthen your IRS with these 5 tips

Amanda offers this advice to help build a strong health and safety culture, which creates the foundation necessary for sharing health and safety responsibilities across the business.

Empower employees with training.
Since workplace health and safety is a shared responsibility, everyone needs to be trained. When employees have the knowledge to recognize, assess, control, and evaluate hazards, they are empowered to effectively participate in the IRS and proactively manage health and safety concerns within their workspace, department, or business unit.
Hire or promote people with the right competencies. When someone is hired or promoted to a supervisory position, they must have the knowledge, training, and experience to safely organize and oversee the work. “But it has to be the right knowledge, training, or experience for the work and workers they will supervise,” emphasizes Amanda. “They need to be able to recognize the specific hazards associated with the tasks they will oversee and have the experience to effectively control those hazards.” The job of the safety person becomes much more manageable when they can delegate and rely on the skills of others.
Make it achievable. People are more likely to complete a request if it seems reasonable to do so. If it seems overwhelming, it's unlikely to get uptake from staff. “This goes back to training. If employees at all levels have completed health and safety training, they will have a better understanding of what they are being asked to do and why,” explains Amanda. Organize documents and other information so that it is easy for managers and supervisors to comply.
Create a hazard inventory. “I always start with an inventory of the hazards associated with each task,” says Amanda. “But I never develop it on my own.” When developing a hazard inventory, it is imperative to get input from the people who perform each task. They are the ones who know the hazards, and they can help determine the best way to control them. “For example, if several workers are experiencing cuts while packing boxes, one solution may be to provide gloves. But if the particular gloves provided make it too difficult to quickly grab and hold items, workers will not use them. It will not be an effective solution,” says Amanda.
Foster open communication. A strong health and safety culture requires open communication at all levels. It cannot always be top-down. “If you need to create opportunities for people to discuss health and safety, do so,” advises Amanda. Discuss as a team, embed it into regular operations meetings, or set up one-on-one sessions. The goal is to ensure everyone has a voice and to encourage them to be involved with health and safety issues and initiatives. “Don’t forget to thank your staff for speaking up. Never let anyone leave your office, or a safety call, regretful that they spoke up. Listen, support, and action their concerns. That is how you build your IRS, through trust.”