We will share with you where you should look for information to ensure your environmental, health, and safety management system is updated, and according to the regulations, and also to ensure continuous improvement in the organization.
Health and safety is surprisingly complex. Even if doesn’t seem like.
As a safety professional you need to gather a series of information in order to keep your department always in compliance with the last legislation, standards, and regulations.
It is extremely important to ensure that this information is reviewed, and updated regularly.
For this, it is necessary to use a set of sources that can guarantee legal compliance at all times.
It is also very important that as a safety professional you keep records of the legislation, regulations, standards, as well client requirements, applicable to the industry in which you work for.
In the link below you can download a free word template for a Legal Compliance Register, that you can use in your organization to keep the lasted requirements.
We recommend that every 3 months this record should be review and updated, as well every time there’s a change in the national or local law or regulations.
There is a wealth of information available that needs to be consulted.
There are two chief sources of data – outside the organization (External) and inside the organization (Internal).
So let’s start by addressing the different sources of information that we can use.
Internal.
Internal data sources include:
• Information from accident and near miss records.
This information will allow you, to identify possible gaps in the health and safety management system, which will require to introduce improvements in order to reduce the occurrence of the identified accidents or near miss.
• Information from medical records and the medical department (if you have one).
The medical department will be able to identify situations that could lead to possible occupational diseases, based on the symptoms reported by the workers, this information should be periodically analyzed, department by department, to identify possible improvement measures.
• Risk assessments.
Risk assessment is one of the most important elements for gathering information, related with the control measures for the activities to be performed.
• Maintenance reports.
An important source of information on all the machinery, equipment, and vehicles that helped us to maintain compliance with current legislation and improve the organization’s performance in terms of health and safety at work.
• Information from joint inspections with safety representative.
Another important source of information, collected during inspections carried out at the organization.
• Information from audits, surveys, sampling and tours.
Similar to inspections, however with a more formal are internal audits that provide us with, a lot of information on how we can improve the environment, health, and safety performance in the organization.
• Information from safety committee minutes.
This is one of the opportunities we have to collect very important information from our co-workers.
External.
External data sources include:
• National legislation (example regulations).
• Government Enforcing Authority publications such as Codes of Practice and Guidance Notes.
• National/International standards.
These three sources are very important, and your organization should develop a system that ensures that any legal and regulatory changes are identified before coming into force, as failure to comply with legal requirements could lead to fines and also court criminal cases.
• Safety data sheets from manufacturers and suppliers.
• Manufacturers’/suppliers’ maintenance manuals.
Safety data sheet, and maintenance manuals, will give you and your organization all information about the product, equipment, or vehicle but you need to ensure everything is in compliance within your organization.
• Information from local safety groups.
• Information from trade associations.
• Information from journals and magazines.
These sources of information in addition to updating relatively new technologies, also help us to obtain the latest changes in the legislation, which is very important as we have already discussed.
The link of these external organizations.
The International Labour Organisation (UN)
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (USA)
The European Agency for Safety & Health at Work (EU)
The Health & Safety Executive (UK)
