Improving the health, safety and wellbeing in your organisation is easier said than done. Right? How can it be kept simple and straightforward? How can you develop a culture that is proactive in occupational safety and health?

The International Social Security Organisation (ISSA) is campaigning for Vision Zero for safety, health and wellbeing at work says there is a practical answer.

So, let’s take a look at the 7 Golden Rules.

1. Take Leadership – demonstrate commitment by having visible competent leadership

2. Identify Hazards – control risks. Evaluate risk management and learning from unplanned events.

3. Define Targets – develop programmes. Do you have workplace and job induction? If you have targeted programmes are you evaluating them?

4. Ensure a safe & healthy system – be well organised. Pre-work briefings. Planning and organisation of work.

5. Ensure safety & health in machines, equipment & workplaces. Innovation and change. Procurement.

6. Improve qualifications – develop competence. Initial training. Refresher training.

7. Invest in people – motivate by participation. Listen to suggestions for improvement and recognise the good ones by rewarding them.

For each of these rules, two proactive leading indicators(PLIs) were developed. A guide explaining the use of the PLIs can be found here. All of the 14 indicators will help you identify opportunities for improvement for safety, health and wellbeing.

Proactive leading indicator/key activity checklist

	Health		Safety		Wellbeing		Total
	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES	NO	YES
1.1 Do leaders visibly demonstrate their commitment to HSW in their work processes and behaviour?
1.2 Are new leaders selected based on their intrinsic motivation for or proven record in HSW?
2.1 Are HSW risk-reduction measures evaluated?
2.2 Are reported unplanned HSW events followed up by leaders for investigation, HSW learning/improvement, and feedback to those directly involved?
3.1 Are H, S and W an integrated part of induction processes?
3.2 Are targeted programmes and their HSW improvement goals evaluated?
4.1 Are H, S and W an integrated part of discussions in pre-work meetings?
4.2 Is the organisation systematically considering H, S and W when planning and organising work?
5.1 Are technological or organisational innovations used to reduce HSW hazards and risks in the design stage?
5.2 Is the promotion of HSW included in procurement processes?
6.1. Are H, S and W covered in initial training?
6.2 Are H, S and W covered in refresher training?
7.1 Are worker suggestions for improving HSW followed-up adequately?
7.2 Are workers given recognition for excellent HSW performance?
YES total

In short, there are 3 options for using PLIs. For example, option one, the Yes/No Checklist, provides you with an easy way to get insight into the proactive activities it performs (or not). This is useful for small and medium-sized companies. It can also be used in larger organisations too within different departments. Why not try it now to explore possibilities for improvement?

It may be helpful to have people in different areas and positions (managers, supervisors, line staff) of the company use the checklist. When people come up with different answers, then meaningful conversations can be held. For every ‘No’ on the checklist, this will give you an opening to make an improvement.

Let’s say the ‘Yes’ score is higher for health and wellbeing is higher than safety. Well, the organisation experience with improving health and wellbeing can be used to improve safety in a similar way.

A scientific paper that focuses on current thinking for ISSA was published in Safety Science.

Invest in the training and skills of your employees, and make sure that they have the required knowledge for their workplace. The workplace is constantly changing. In light of this, the skills and knowledge of your workers must be refreshed regularly.

Now, more than ever, providing training and continuing education is a must, while leadership and management need to be learned too!!!!

So, how do things look in your enterprise?

Email us: info@bridgetrainingservices.ie