Effective Safety Planning
The foundation for better safety performance is good planning. In this article we explain how to establish an effective safety business plan.
Everyone has seen and heard a variety of safety vision statements that are so fashionable these days. For example, we are a Zero Harm company, or our vision is to the best XYZ business in Australia, or We Care!
Unfortunately, these vision statements are not always, or rarely, supported by a more caring business or more effective safety programs. However, we will explore how to establish credible vision statements at another time.
The high level steps for establishing a safety plan include:
Safety Vision eg an inspirational and aspirational statement of the desired future, typically 10 years out, for the organisation,
Strategic Plan eg a high-level plan typically forecasting out to 5 years, with lead and enabling strategies and incremental stretch performance targets,
Safety Business Plan eg annual plan of specific safety activities which has been budgeted and approved.
The preliminary steps in establishing strategic plans include gaining agreement on; who we are, what we value, what we want to be known for, and what we are promising. Then turning to the future, agreeing how we are going to measure success of implementation of our strategic plan eg key performance targets by year.
A strategic plan will typically be split into:
a) Lead Strategies (key drivers), and
b) Enabling Strategies (that are necessary to support the lead strategies).
So, let’s now turn to what a safety business plan is. It is called a “business plan” to emphasise it is not aspirational but an executive approved and monitored plan that is to be implemented in the current or forward financial year with one or more people held accountable for delivery of the plan.
This is different to many safety plans which are often aspirational and rarely get fully implemented, or realise their intended purpose. Often because things happen in the business during the year which distract the limited resources of the safety manager/team.
The safety team may also feel the safety plan is optional and is often not closely monitored by the executive team, like other business plans.
The typical structure for safety business plan is shown below.
The typical elements of a safety business plan are outlined below.
Part A – Foundation Elements
1. Annual Performance Goals
2. Worker Inductions & Training Plan
3. Safety Meetings, Consultation and H&S Promotion incl. Psychosocial
4. Work Environment incl. layout & housekeeping standards
5. Ergonomics & Manual Handling
6. Risk Assessments, Inspections & Audits incl. workplace & health monitoring
7. Work Instructions & Practices eg SOPs, PPE, Policies, Procedures & Permits
8. Emergency Preparedness eg fire & evacuation, first aid
9. Incident Reporting & Investigations incl. Work Injury Mgt & Return to Work
10. Safety Responsibilities & Leadership
Part B – Special Emphasis as Relevant for Business
11. Machinery Safety
12. Electrical Safety
13. Chemical Safety
14. Mobile Plant & Equipment incl. Licences, Traffic Management Plans
15. Workshop Equipment & Power Tools
16. Work at Height
17. Hot Work Safety
18. Noise & Hearing Protection
19. Pressure Vessels & Confined Spaces
20. Construction Safety
Many businesses also maintain a timetable of annual refresher activities, like the safety timetable below, so every site undertakes the same refresher each month.
To book in for our succinct half-day workshop on Strategic Planning and Effective Business Plans on Tuesday 10th December 2024 Call us on 03 8544 4300 or email .