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OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
CHARLES F. REDINGER PH.D. MPA CIH FAIHA, ALAN J. LEIBOWITZ MS CIH CSP FAIHA, AND VICTOR M. TOY MPH CIH CSP FAIHA
INTRODUCTION
“If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don't bother to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking” (1).
Buckminster Fuller, Systems Theorist
This chapter provides an overview of system‐related concepts, ideas, and applications in organizations, with an emphasis on occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS). While historical nuances of both organizational management systems (MS) and OHSMS are provided, the focus here is on practices and frameworks that provide value to industrial hygienists and other occupational health and safety (OH&S) professionals.
OH&S management is multifaceted and over time has gotten more complex due to a host of factors, some of which include: advances in technology; globalization; evolving/new workplace risk factors; shorter production cycles; and, pressure for transparency. Increasingly, OH&S professionals are challenged to understand and keep pace not only with national regulations but with international and nongovernmental organization (NGO) standards. Many professionals have found that MS approaches provide a means to organize, understand, and integrate this increasing complex mix of technical, management, and organizational culture issues.
Inputs, process(es), outputs, and feedback mechanisms are the basic components of a system. Most, if not all, facets of life can be viewed from a system perspective. Ecology, biology, psychology, engineering, and computer science are examples of disciplines that have defined system aspects. In organizational science, systems thinking is a relatively new distinction and area of practice. Organizations themselves can be viewed a system; there are materials, resources, etc. that are inputs to an organization's processes that align with its mission and objectives. There are outputs such as products and services. Management of an organization involves a multitude of systems that are linked, and, in theory, coordinate to support the fulfillment of the organization's objectives. The importance to industrial hygienists and safety professionals is that OH&S should be considered part of the organization's system and not as a stand‐alone program, department, or silo.
1.1 Certification and MS Drivers
A parallel topic to MS is certification. That is, formal approaches associated with determining the level of conformance an implemented MS has to the standard upon which is it based. This distinction is addressed in more detail later in the chapter but is introduced here given the central nature that certification has historically had in the MS/OHSMS space. It has been common to associate certification as the primary, if not only reason to develop an organizational MS or OHSMS.
Overtime, an equally prominent, if not more dominant driver to develop an OHSMS is its function as an effective risk management and organizational learning tool (rather than as just a means for certification), as they provide a structured approach that supports continual improvement, improved decision‐making, increased participation, and accelerated integration of IH/OH&S activities within an organization. Most importantly, such systems provide a solid foundation for the consistent execution of strategies to reduce and eliminate OH&S injuries, illness, and fatalities – that is, strategies that orient beyond historical compliance and technical focus.
1.2 The “Systems Marketplace” and Nomenclature
Historical background and details on a range of MS follows later in the chapter. A quick overview of the “systems marketplace” and several nomenclature issues are provided here to help orient what follows.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has been a significant driver in the development of a wide range of organizational MSs. Their quality assurance MS (ISO 9001) was first published in 1987 and has subsequently been revised four times (1994, 2000, 2008, 2015). Their environmental MS (ISO 14001) was first published in 1996 and has been subsequently revised two times (2004, 2015). In addition to quality and environment, ISO has developed and published MSs related to energy (50001), business continuity (22301), and security (27001 and 28001), to name just a few. As well, ISO published a generic risk management guideline (ISO 31000) in 2009, with a revision in 2017.
On the OHSMS front, ISO published its first OHSMS (ISO 45001) in 2018. Prior to this, the International Labour Organization (ILO) published an OHSMS in 2001. As well, the British Standards Institute (BSI) published its first OHSMS (BS 8800) in 1996, and subsequently published OHSAS 18001 in 1999; with a revision in 2007. As the OHSMS approach matured, and prior to ISO 45001's publication, OHSAS 18001 was the dominant approach followed, and to which certification was typically sought, by companies globally. In addition to the ILO's OHSMS and OHSAS 18001, numerous country‐specific approaches have been developed by standards development entities within them. In the United States for instance, American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z10 was first published in 2005, and revised in 2012 and 2019.
As specific MS/OHSMS standards and approached are revised, it is important to indicate which version is being referred to in a given context. It is common to include a version's year, such as ISO 45001:2018, ISO 9001:2015, ANSI Z10:2012, etc.
2 SYSTEMS THINKING
Compliance with governmental regulations is a predominant driver in industrial hygiene and OH&S. Industrial hygienist's and OH&S professional's orientation and ways of thinking are (have been) influenced by this, and can generally be characterized as linear thinkers. The application of system‐based approaches (e.g. OHSMS) has opened up a new cognitive arena as it nudges, if not requires thinking from a different perspective – a systems perspective.
Systems thinking is a central distinction – a critical skill to develop – in creating a learning organization. It is the “fifth discipline” referred to in the landmark book The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge. While he identifies an ensemble of five disciplines – systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, building shared values, and team leaning – where each provide a vital dimension in learning organizations, it is systems thinking that “fuses them into a coherent body of theory and practice” (2). Systems thinking can be defined as:
“… a way of seeing and talking about reality that helps us better understand and work with systems to influence the quality of our lives. In this sense, systems thinking can be seen as a perspective. It also involves a unique vocabulary for describing systemic behavior, and so can be thought of as a language as well. And, because it offers a range of techniques and devices for visually capturing and communicating about systems, it is a set of tools” (3).
Key systems thinking concepts include the following: causal loops, understanding system behavior over time, and deconstructing complex systems within common system archetypes