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Risk & Safety Management System Activity Areas

Topves

5.0. Management System Content - MAA's (Management Activity Areas)

All Good Management Practices needed to reach safety objectives combine in what I would call the "SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM".

This section discusses what should be in a safety management system. The content consists of management areas that are considered vital to the control of risk. They require activity and a further description of what should be done. Just to give them a name I call them MAA's. So the management system contains a number of MAA's.

The management system is no more and no less than a number of MAA's described in a certain detail to be meaningful (to those who need to implement the system) and contained in a certain structure to make sure that the activities are implemented and improved. Purpose of the management system is to reach certain objectives (on an ongoing basis) such as to arrive at and maintain a specified level of performance or to prevent and control unwanted incidents at a (pre-determined) level.

I could see the management system description at least at two levels:

	the corporate office level - this then forms the context for the
	subsidiary level where the actual activities will be carried out within the guidelines provided

The TopChem example that I provide under 5.2. will be on the first level.

Please note that when I say “management”, I do not necessarily mean those people that we normally see as “managers”. The “management” in “management system” relates more to the function of management than to the hierarchical levels. That function takes place throughout the organization, line and staff, top and bottom. Of course, I recognize the special position that “managers” have – their actions and examples are vital to the success or failure of the organization. It is also the "managers" that involve relevant other people at all levels in the organization to truly establish a “business excellence” culture.

The management system needs to have certain content – a number of well-defined MAA's to reach the objectives - to really become a management system. Now, we don't have to re-invent many wheels here, we can just look around to see what others think about what should be in a management system. Whether that suits your organization is something that you need to decide together with your colleagues. The only advice I can give here is that you should be looking for MAA's that:

	are required (by law or otherwise)
	will be most effective to control risk
	generate the most (visible) results to motivate people throughout the organization

For making your action plan - which is really what the management system is - it is important that you will be able to get results on a period no longer than 18 months. If it will be much longer it will turn people off.

One more advice: don’t start too big. Start with a lean system and a limited number of MAA's and build it up based on experience and results. That way you end up with a system that addresses the needs and specific risk situation of your organization. But also don’t make it too small, because then you may not have the results you are looking for.

Now let’s look below at some external sources that will give us information about what MAA's should be in a management system. Just click on the relevant place to get the MAA's that the source concerned identifies. I will not go into any detail – if you want to know more about these individual sources, you will have to go to the relevant website.

Some source for management system content:

Major legislation:

	OSHA 29 CFR 1910.119 – US legislation for the control of major hazards in the process industry
	Seveso II – The European legislation with the same objectives
	OSHA VPP – US legislation covering safety and health in the workplace
	EPA 40 CFR 68 - US environmental legislation
	MES - Belgian interpretation of Seveso II

Some international standards:

	ISO 14001 – the ISO standard concerning the control of environmental incidents
	ILO-OSH 2001 - International Labour Office Guidelines on OSH Management Systems
	OHSAS 18001 – a similar standard (but not ISO) concerning the occupational health and safety risk
	API 750 – an American Petroleum Institute recommended practice to manage process hazards
	API 581 - an American Petroleum Institute recommended practice for Risk Based Inspection
	Responsible Care Codes – guidelines for conduct for the chemical industry
	CCPS - Center for Chemical Process Safety
	SCC - Safety Certification of Contractors

Some industry examples are provided below, either management system guidelines or audit systems. This company belong to the international leaders in safety, health and environment.

	Company 1
	Company 2
	Company 3
	Company 4
	Company 5
	Company 6
	Company 7
	Company 8

Some commercial audit systems

	Audit system 1
	Audit system 2
	Audit system 3

Audit system 3 is made available by IRCA - just click on . This audit system has been built using international experience that covers a period of over 30 years.

As I said, there is no particular preference and you will have to make up your own mind as to what should be in your management system. A certain number of MAA's should be included to make the system effective to reach your goals.

Besides the content of the management system, the structure in which the MAA's will be organized is also very important as well as the process to make the system. Both process and structure help to develop, implement, obtain results and improve.

Based on my own experience and my own ideas, I made MY CHOICE of what should be in a management system.

THE principle of MANAGEMENT RESULTS

"A manager tends to secure most effective results - through and with others - by performing the management work of planning, organizing, leading and controlling."