Friday 2 September 2016

Top Management Commitment towards Occupational Health and Safety

Top Management commitment and involvement in establishing an Occupational Health and Safety Management System is of paramount importance. It is the senior management who can provide a safe and healthy working environment and enforce safety practices in their organization. It is their job to allocate resources and time to ensure planning and implementation of safety methods.
Failure on the part of the Top Management to prevent injuries, accidents or ill health could mean legal trouble and emotional problems.
Hence, the Top Management must do the following:
  • Establish occupational health and safety committee or team
  • Allocate safety resources and equipment
  • Allocate manpower resources and finance for the Health and safety initiative
  • Establish Occupational Health and Safety policy and objectives
  • Ensure that the policy and objectives are communicated and understood within the organization
  • Ensure that these OHS objectives are measurable
  • Define and assign safety and health responsibilities across the organization structure
  • Direct the middle management to monitor safety and health status of employees in their organization
  • Demand accountability from the lower management levels with regard to safety and health
  • Enforce safety practices as required by the applicable legislation as well as those deemed necessary for the organization
  • Buy equipment with in-built safety features
  • Institute employee wellness programs
  • Review the effectiveness of the health and safety measures

For more details on Occupational Health and Safety, follow the links below: