Evaluation of Safety Management System Effectiveness in a Liquefied Natural Gas Company

Abstract

This study was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of safety management system (SMS) in a liquefied natural gas company. A 5-point Likert questionnaire ranging from “strongly disagree to strongly agree” questions was used to evaluate workers’ perception of the implication of safety management system in the organisation. The OHSAS 18001 internal audit checklist was also used to measure the level of compliance with the requirements of the SMS. Secondary data was obtained from document and safety report of the case study. The data was collated and subjected to descriptive statistics, t-test and row and column contingency (R & C) table to evaluate the relationship between safety performance and compliance. For compliance to SMS: General requirements, 91%; Health and Safety Policy, 95%; Planning, 93%, Implementation and Operation, 98%; Audit, 98%; and Management Review, 93%. The overall average level of compliance was 95%. 100 respondents participated in the questionnaire, 64 males and 36 females; 68 technical personnel and 32 nontechnical respondents. Descriptive analysis of employees’ perception resulted in: Safety satisfaction and feedback, 4.113; Training and competence, 4.182; Safety reporting and investigation, 4.212; Work Duties/Pressure, 3.989; Management commitment, 4.098; Safety communication, 4.171; and Emergency response and planning, 4.126. t-test indicated that there was no significant difference in perception between males and females, and the perception of technical and non-technical employees with p > 0.05. R & C contingency table was used to evaluate the relationship between safety performance and safety compliance. The result showed that there was a significant difference between safety compliance and safety performance since . Therefore, safety management system will continuously improve safety performance. Hence, the effectiveness of safety management system cannot be overemphasized. The practice of health and safety has evolved over time, as a matter of common sense in several industries. However, this study opines that the implementation of safety management system requirements is instrumental to a sustainable continuous improvement in safety performance. The study, therefore, encourages organisation to consider the safety management system certification.