General principles of prevention and protection

• Pages: 30-58

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4. General principles of prevention

and protection

General principles of prevention and protection

4.1. Enterprise safety and health policy

and management system

4.1.1. General

4.1.1.1. The promotion and advancement of occupa-

tional safety and health systems are a shared goal of the em-

ployers and workers. Compliance with occupational safety

and health requirements is the duty of the employer pursu-

ant to national laws and regulations. The employer should

show strong visible leadership and commitment to occupa-

tional safety and health (OSH) activities in the enterprise

and make appropriate arrangements for the establishment

of an occupational safety and health management system

(OSH-MS). The OSH-MS should contain the main ele-

ments of policy, organizing, planning and implementation,

evaluation and action for improvement, as shown in

figure 4.1 and as elaborated in the ILO Guidelines on oc-

cupational safety and health management systems, ILO-

OSH 2001 (Geneva, 2001). The following summary of the

five main elements is based on the guidelines.

4.1.2. Policy

4.1.2.1. OSH policy should be specific and appropriate

to the enterprise. The key objectives should be to: protect

the safety and health of all members; comply with OSH re-

quirements; continually improve performance of the OSH-

MS; and have OSH-MS integrated in other systems.

Workers’ participation is necessary for: effective planning

General principles of prevention and protection

31

Figure 4.1. Occupational safety and health management

system (OSH-MS)

Source: ILO: Guidelines on occupational safety and health management systems,

ILO-OHS 2001 (Geneva, 2001).

Policy

Organizing

Action for

improvement

Planning and

implementation

Evaluation

A

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A

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A

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