Many safety professionals refer to their activities as a safety "program." I submit that these activities are not a program but a "system." More precisely, they are-or should be-a systematic amalgamation of programs. What's the difference between a program and a system? And what's the big deal about how we label things? Allow me to answer.

Safety Program Or Safety System?

What's in a name? Plenty, especially when you look at all the jargon that safety people have been fond of using over the years to demonstrate to others how much we (safety practitioners) know about safety and how much they (rank and file/management) don't.

All cynicism aside, the language that we use in our day-to-day dealings to describe what we do has a major impact on the success of our efforts. What we say and how we say it when speaking and writing very often mean the difference between understanding and confusion.

With this in mind, I'd like to point out that many still refer to their safety system as a "safety program." The safety program is actually a component piece of the larger system.

Defining the OHS System

What exactly is an OHS system? Let's first look at the general characteristics of any kind of system.

As noted, in the context of safety, the system is made up of health and safety programs. OHS systems and their component programs can be expanded, contracted and altered as priorities change. So to define your own OHS system, you need to identify its component elements. Of course, systems vary depending on industry, related risks and regulatory environment. But many of the component program elements are common ones. Common programs include risk management, safety meetings and accident/incident investigation and reporting.

Once you identify the component programs of your system, you need to assign them appropriate system headings. For example, under the corporate heading of the XYZ Company's OH&S Management System, you can identify a Leadership and Administration section, an Investigation and Analysis section, a Compliance section, an Emergency Response section, etc.

An extremely useful practical exercise is to draw a plot or graph of the various program elements of your own OHS system. In addition to forcing you to grasp the big picture - literally - making a visual depiction of your OHS system will produce a great tool that you can use to explain to management exactly how the pieces of your system fit together.

Conclusion

I'll continue this series next week by introducing to the discussion an explanation of the management system and how it applies to the OHS system.

EARTHQUAKES, CYCLONES, TORNADOES
What You Can Do to Help

By Glenn Demby

Earthquakes in China; cyclones in Myanmar; killer tornadoes in the Midwest and Southeast U.S.

The world has been rocked by a series of devastating natural disasters in the past week. If you want to help, here are just some of the organizations you can contact:

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