Safety Appraisal is a system, practice or procedure to measure the safety performance and mostly predictive in identification of accident causal factors.
Safety Appraisal constitutes a knowledgeable judgment of the quality of safety systems, performance and accordingly identifies both system strengths and system weaknesses. It is based upon a systematic, critical analysis of monitoring, gathering information and data and processing it in accordance with applicable standards.
System weaknesses and defects revealed through use of the Safety Assurance System must be evaluated by the appraiser in terms of potential Health, safety and Environmental (HSE) impact.
Performance-based safety management to manage risk in high-hazard industries has been adopted by many industries as it focuses on desired, measurable safety outcome.
The simple, nine-element Safety Assurance System (SAS) describes the entire spectrum of necessary safety system elements for a well functioning safety or loss control program. SAS is useful in appraisal because observations of specific system strengths and weaknesses can be effectively assembled to assist in determining the effectiveness of an organisation’s safety assurance systems.
The nine Safety Assurance System appraisal elements are
1. Management Implementation
Management has the responsibility for risk assessment and reduction, and for effective implementation of EHS policies and controls throughout the organization.
The managerial structure of an organization is clearly applicable to the achievement of its mission. Normally, HSE goals and policies must be executed and implemented with existing managerial system, whatever its structure, and whether good or bad. Defective systems should be identified and repaired, as required, within the time frame.
It needs to be evaluated as what is the structure of the organization and how effective is it in achieving its mission? Has the HSE program been adequately described? Is EHS policy properly implemented which indicate methods, functions, practices, as well as rules for control of specific hazards? Are regulations clear, understandable, and implementable? How effective is the organisational structure in achieving HSE goals and implementation of policies and if management system deficiencies exist as a result of the organisational structure and can these deficiencies be fixed without any unreasonable impact on ongoing operations? To what degree does management take interest, initiation, and participation in development, implementation, and enforcement of HSE policy? To what extent management is controlling the risks and active in making risks decisions?
2. Hazard Analysis
Hazard analysis is the process for identification and evaluation of system hazards and critical step in risk management and ensuring the risk is within acceptable limits. The earlier in the life cycle it is applied, the greater the assurance of adequate hazards control.
Is a hazard analysis process properly defined, and executed? Is the hazard analysis updated and revised on a regular basis. To what extent and how adequate are the measures taken to ensure that applicable requirements are correctly interpreted?
3. Operability
Operability refers to the efficiency of operating a system, facility, or process through an effective management and coordination of personnel, plant, environment and hardware, procedures and management controls. Operational readiness should ensure the operability procedures are smooth, efficient along with safe startup and shut down operations and to minimize hazardous conditions.
There are eight basic control systems that has to be reviewed in operational readiness. They are:
1) Testing
2) Supervision
3) Procedure criteria
4) Selection of personnel
5) Training and Competency
6) Personnel motivation
7) Measurement
8) Emergency plans
4. Operations
Management objectives must ensure safe and efficient operations by
a. Maintaining an acceptable state of operational readiness,
b. Maintaining reasonable control over operational changes, and
c. Assisting supervisors in carrying out their operational safety responsibilities.
5. Human Factor
Human factors considerations in building high performance strengthen operability and maintainability of planned and operating systems throughout the life cycle of design, operation and decommissioning. By considering the human element in safety management system, the plant environment, equipment, materials, displays, controls and procedures can be better planned, developed and integrated to minimize errors, incidents and accidents and to enhance high performance, safety assurance and loss control.
6. Measurement
Measurements tell the organization how effective his safety/loss control program is functioning. To be effective, measurement should seek to answer such questions as:
- Where are we now comparative to our overall health and safety aims and objectives? ·
- Where are we now in managing and controlling hazards and risks?
- Are we getting better or worse over time?
Measurements must be meaningful based upon well defined standards or criteria. When the measurement system reveals inconsistency between actual performance and the standard, management must decide whether the performance is deficient or the standard is deficient.
7. Analysis and Communication
Essential safety information must be open to all the users and it should provide warnings that are predictive of increased risk, an effective hazard communication program making it informative to all the levels of organization. It should be evaluated like
- Does management have sufficient performance indications to know what has happened?
- What’s likely to happen in the organizations?
- How comprehensive and perceptive is the information presented to management?
- How is the information compiled and communicated?
- Are the performance indicators expressed in an understandable and meaningful form to management?
- Does management use the performance indicators to make decisions on implementing changes and improvements?
8. Safety Services
Effective safety services should assist managers and supervisors in safety management, loss control, accident prevention, performance improvement, hazards control, emergency response and accident investigation and control.
- How are safety services funded and staffed?
- Have the services been appraised or audited?
- How recently they are audited?
- What were the findings?
- What improvements have resulted from safety services?
9. Documentation
The ninth factor, Documentation is considered for each program element and the basic question that needs to be answered is:
Is there adequate documentation to confirm the adequacy and effectiveness of this program element? The main goal of documentation (and records) is to guarantee access, accuracy, reliability, security and quick availability of all useful information. ‘Safety records’ is the documented output of the safety management system such as:
- Accident investigation reports
- Safety recommendations and follow-up
- Safety assessment reports
- Safety surveys reports
- Statistical data related to safety
- Safety training records
- Minutes of safety meetings;
- Management decisions on improving safety performance
- Any documented measure taken to control risk and to ensure that adequate levels of safety are maintained.
The possible benefits of a performance-based safety management system are:
- Better focus on achieving the desired safety outcome
- Improved understanding of risks and better identification of the required mitigations
- Improved focus on the individuals and their role in safety.
No comments:
Post a Comment