BS 45002-2:2019 pdf download – Occupational health and safety management systems – General guidelines for the application of ISO 45001 Part 2: Risks and opportunities
The organization should always consider what its interested parties need and expect, as well as any associated risks and opportunities. For example:
a) Regulators: there are risks to the organization’s workers if it doesn’t comply with health and safety law and there are also risks to the organization itself if law‑breaking leads to prosecution or closing the business.
b) Supply chain: the organization’s OH&S management system is at risk if contracted workers are unaware and fail to follow health and safety rules. A contractor expects its workers to be protected, but the contractor might also bring additional risks to the workplace because of the activities being carried out, lack of health and safety training or lack of understanding of how they are affecting other workers. On the other hand, there is also opportunity to share good practice and knowledge.
c) Shareholders: there are risks if shareholders or the organization’s owners do not support the management system by investing enough money or leading by example. Alternatively, if shareholders or the owners invest time and effort, there are opportunities to improve both health and safety and the management system.
5 Leadership and worker participation Managing risks and opportunities starts with top management. Those at the top of the organization are vital to the success of the management system and to improving health and safety in the workplace.
If top management takes a view that the OH&S management system is the health and safety manager’s problem, there is a risk to the workforce, and the management system is unlikely to be effective.
If for example, the board of a company is driven purely by profit and takes no interest in health and safety there is a risk that not only will OH&S performance be misreported but workers are being put at on‑going risk. A management system cannot be effective in this environment. Alternatively, if top management embeds OH&S into its overall business management and sees it as a core part of being successful, there is an opportunity to create a positive OH&S culture with an engaged workforce, and continuously improve workers’ health and safety.
The same is true for a small company owned by a single person. If the owner takes an interest and encourages the workers to talk about health and safety and help improve it, the management system is going to work better and the risk of injury or ill health is lowered. A positive OH&S culture comes from leaders encouraging workers to get involved in shaping and running the management system and being seen to take ideas and improvements on board. The workers closest to the risks have the most to lose, and gain, from the OH&S management system, and also have the best knowledge of the hazards faced every day.
Making sure workers at all levels can raise issues, suggest improvements and manage health and safety avoids the risk of a worker making decisions about OH&S risks that they don’t understand and which don’t personally affect them. This would undermine the whole management system.
6 Planning
6.1 Actions to address risks and opportunities
It is important to think widely about the types of risks and opportunities that can affect the organization’s OH&S management system and take the time to understand them.
These include:
a) hazards to workers (anything with the potential to cause injury or ill health) and the related OH&S risks (likelihood of being affected by the hazard and the potential severity of the impact);
b) OH&S opportunities (things that can lead to improving OH&S performance); and
c) risks to the OH&S management system itself and opportunities to improve it.
Not all risks and opportunities are equally important: prioritize and focus efforts on those that have the greatest impact.
The starting point should be to think about what can harm people. This means both safety and health.
There can be many things in a workplace that have the potential to harm people – these are thehazards. The hazard becomes a big risk if it is:
1) likely to happen; and
2) the harm to a person (or people) could be serious.
These are the hazards and risks that need the most attention.