What Makes a Safety Management System Fly

Had quite a bit of interest recently in this article – one of the most popular articles written by the late, great George Robotham – download his free E-Books HERE

Original published by the American Society of Safety Engineers, International Safety Best-Practice Specialty Newsletter, Spring 2002,Vol.1, No.3, incorporated in a subject of a OHS course at the University of New Brunswick, Canada – republished here by popular demand

Download the paper here: WHAT MAKES A SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FLY

Basic Principles from the paper:

Use real world approaches – not theory
All paperwork must be succinct
Whatever is done in OHS must be based on a needs analysis
Need to get some runs on the board quickly
Concentrate on the things that give you the best bang for your buck
Aim for simplicity not complexity
Minimise the bureaucracy and bull-shit
Face to face communications should be used wherever possible
Be guided in what you do by taxonomies of Class 1 damage in your industry
As the facilitator of the process I will use the skills of appropriate self-disclosure and reflective listening

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George Robotham

George was a Legend in the Safety World who passed away in Sept 2013 but left us with a great legacy

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I have worked in OHS for most of my working life, many years in the mining industry including over 10 years in a corporate OHS role with BHP. Since leaving the mining industry I have worked in a variety of safety roles with a variety of employers, large & small, in a variety of industries. I was associated with my first workplace fatality at age 21, the girl involved was young, intelligent, vivacious and friendly. Such a waste! I was the first on the scene and tried to comfort her and tend to her injuries. She said to me “George, please do not let me die” We put her on the aerial ambulance to Rockhampton base hospital where she died the next day. I do not mind telling you that knocked me around for awhile. Since then I have helped my employers cope with the aftermath of 12 fatalities and 2 other life-altering events. The section "Why do Occupational Health & Safety" provides further detail but in summary, poor safety is simply very expensive and also has a massive humanitarian cost. My qualifications include a certificate I.V. in Workplace Training and Assessment, a Diploma in Frontline Management, a Diploma in Training & Assessment Systems, a Bachelor of Education (Adult & Workplace Education) , a Grad. Cert. in Management of Organisational Change and a Graduate Diploma in Occupational Hazard Management. I am currently studying towards a Masters in Business Leadership. Up until recently I had been a Chartered Fellow of the Safety Institute of Australia for 10 years and a member for about 30 years. My interest is in non-traditional methods of driving organisational change in OHS and I have what I believe is a healthy dis-respect for many common approaches to OHS Management and OHS Training. I hold what I believe is a well-founded perception that many of the things safety people and management do in safety are “displacement activities” (Displacement activities are things we do, things we put a lot of energy into, but which when we examine them closely there is no valid reason for doing them). My managerial and leadership roles in OHS have exposed me to a range of management techniques that are relevant to Business Improvement. In particular I am a strong supporter of continuous improvement and quality management approaches to business. I believe leadership is the often forgotten key to excellence in most aspects of life. I hold the Australian Defence Medal and am a J.P.(Qualified). I have many fond memories of my time playing Rugby Union when I was a young bloke.