The building blocks of occupational health and safety management: profiles of preconditions and their links to practices among Swedish welfare organizations

An International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001:1994-harmonized occupational health and safety (OHS) management system has been written at the University of Michigan, and reviewed, revised, and accepted under the direction of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS) Task Force and the Board of Directors. This system is easily adaptable to the ISO 14001 format and to both OHS and environmental management system applications. As was the case with ISO 9001:1994, this system is expected to be compatible with current production quality and OHS quality systems and standards, have forward compatibility for new applications, and forward flexibility, with new features added as needed. Since ISO 9001:1987 and 9001:1994 have been applied worldwide, the incorporation of harmonized OHS and environmental management system components should be acceptable to business units already performing first-party (self-) auditing, and second-party (contract qualification) auditing. This article explains the basis of this OHS management system, its relationship to ISO 9001 and 14001 standards, the philosophy and methodology of an ISO-harmonized system audit, the relationship of these systems to traditional OHS audit systems, and the authors' vision of the future for application of such systems.

An International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001: 1994-harmonized occupational health and safety (OHS) management system has been written at the University of Michigan, and reviewed, revised, and accepted under the direction of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS) Task Force and the Board of Directors. This system is easily adaptable to the ISO 14001 format and to both OHS and environmental management system applications. As was the case with ISO 9001: 1994, this system is expected to be compatible with current production quality and OHS quality systems and standards, have forward compatibility for new applications, and forward flexibility, with new features added as needed. Since ISO 9001: 1987 and 9001: 1994 have been applied worldwide, the incorporation of harmonized OHS and environmental management system components should be acceptable to business units already performing first-party (self-) auditing, and second-party (contract qualification) auditing. This article explains the basis of this OHS management system, its relationship to ISO 9001 and 14001 standards, the philosophy and methodology of an ISO-harmonized system audit, the relationship of these systems to traditional OHS audit systems, and the authors' vision of the future for application of such systems.

Purpose. Whilst occupational safety and health (OSH) management is recognized as an important mechanism for addressing poor OSH performance, limited empirical insight is available on OSH management by construction companies in sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigated OSH management by construction companies (i.e., contractors) in Malawi in order to unpick implementation issues that need attention. Materials and methods. 46 OSH management practices were probed through a survey of contractors. Results. Implementation of OSH practices amongst contractors is low, particularly for practices related to the policy, organizing, measuring and reviewing, and auditing elements of OSH management. Company size is associated with implementation of nearly half of the 46 OSH practices. Certification of the company to Standard No. OHSAS 1800:2007 is associated with the implementation of fewer practices. Conclusions. OSH management improvement efforts would need to focus on the elements with particularly low implementation of practices as well as include initiatives that focus on helping microenterprises to improve their OSH management. The association between business characteristics and OSH management may be more evident with certain elements, such as the organizing element. Furthermore, certification to Standard No. OHSAS 1800:2007 may not necessarily translate into greater implementation of OSH management practices, especially in developing countries.

The concept of Occupational Health and Safety Management (OHSM) involves the identification of hazards and risks in the workplace and the definition of the rights, roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in the implementation of control and or preventive measures. The study identifies 5 different classes of hazards to include – chemical, biological, physical, ergonomic and psychosocial hazards. The study also identified effective safety and Health committees and Health and safety promotion, Education and training as key ingredients to effective implementation of OHSM. A survey method was adopted while a structured questionnaire was deployed in the collection of data. The population of the study is 221. Chi-square and descriptive statistics were used in analyzing the data. The results of the study show that the level of awareness of occupational health and safety management among employees in the plastic industry is high. Also, that the level of implementation of occupational health and safety management in the plastics industry is high.

Background: Effective occupational health and safety management (OHSM) is important to employee health, enterprise sustainability, and social stability. However, scientific research into OHSM lags behind practice, and contextualizing OHSM research from the perspective of its historical evolution is urgently required.Methods: The mapping of knowledge domains, based on bibliometric analysis, was adopted to classify 4,852 journal articles related to OHSM listed in the core database of Web of Science and published between 1900 and 2018.Results and Conclusions: Risk assessment/management at the organizational level were found to have always been research hotspots, and the relationship between safety culture/atmosphere, sickness absence, and safety performance, among other factors, have become core research topics in the field in recent years. Research at the individual level has gradually evolved from an early focus on physiological problems such as work-related musculoskeletal disorders and low back pain, further toward issues such as occupational stress, mental health, and quality of life. In addition, the results of clustering analysis based on high-frequency keywords indicated six aspects of OHSM: OHSM mode and method; OHSM systems and standards; OHS risk assessment and management; OHSM and safety culture; mental health and quality of life; and specific disease management. Future development trends in OHSM research are described providing theoretical and practical reference for further study.

Background: Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is critical in ensuring the protection and well-being of healthcare workers, especially in primary health centres (PHCs) where resource limitations often compromise safety standards. In Indonesia, limited data exists on the overall Performance of OHS management across multiple PHCs. This study aimed to assess the current status of OHS management implementation across 30 PHCs in Tulungagung Regency, Indonesia, focusing on the availability of OHS facilities, staff competency, and their association with OHS management outcomes Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional design was employed involving 30 PHCs selected through simple random sampling. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and checklists assessing facility availability, staff training, and OHS management practices. The OHS implementation instrument consisted of 35 items validated through Pearson correlation (p < 0.05; r > 0.6) and demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.762). Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and ordinal logistic regression were used for data analysis. Results: Most PHCs (76.7%) had complete OHS infrastructure, yet 76.7% lacked trained personnel. OHS management Performance was rated as poor in 63.3% of PHCs, moderate in 6.7%, and good in only 30%. A significant relationship was observed between staff OHS competency and OHS management quality (χ² = 7.182; p = 0.028). However, regression analysis indicated that facility availability and staff training accounted for only 8.6% of the variance in OHS management outcomes (Nagelkerke R² = 0.086). Conclusion: Despite sufficient infrastructure in most PHCs, the lack of trained personnel remains a major barrier to effective OHS implementation. These findings highlight the need for targeted capacity-building and systemic approaches that integrate leadership, policy enforcement, and organizational support to improve occupational health outcomes in primary healthcare settings.

About 67% of workers employed in the industrial and service sectors in the European Union are currently contracted by Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), which represent the economic heart of the European economy. However, this strength is counterbalanced by a considerably higher overall accident rate compared to Large Enterprises (LEs), and this trend seems to be confirmed worldwide. Moreover, most available tools for risk assessment and occupational health and safety (OHS) management are originally designed to fit the needs of LEs, resulting in a gap for SMEs. Therefore, the effective management of OHS in SMEs has become a crucial issue for researchers, practitioners and policymakers, aiming to improve the social and economic sustainability of small companies. The main purpose of this study is to provide guidelines to implement effective risk assessment processes and integrate them with OHS management systems in SMEs. A literature analysis of risk assessment and OHS management in SMEs highlights the main findings and gaps. Then, the three-phases methodology adopted is presented, outlining the main steps and outputs of the project. Finally, the web-based software tool for OHS risk analysis and management, designed to answer the specific needs of SMEs, is presented.

PurposeKnowledge regarding the importance of the psychosocial work environment for health and well-being in the workplace is extensive. However, more knowledge is needed about how the managers’ organizational conditions are related to what occupational health and safety management (OHSM) is actually conducted and how this relates to the work-related health of employees. The aim of this study is therefore to investigate if managers’ organizational conditions are associated with the conducted OHSM, and if the conducted OHSM is associated with the psychosocial work environment and well-being of the employees.Design/methodology/approachAn electronic questionnaire was sent to managers and their employees working in 10 different organizations in Sweden, resulting in 1,097 valid responses. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the results.FindingsThe SEM analysis showed that managers’ conditions were related to employee well-being via OHSM and psychosocial work environment (job demands and job resources).Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing literature in the field of OHSM by placing explicit focus on the role of organizational conditions for conducting OHSM. By studying not only the link between work environment and health, but also focus on the underlying organizational structures for OHSM, provides additional possibilities for prevention of the increasing work-related illness. As such, this paper contributes to a more holistic perspective in the field of OHSM.

This article focuses on employee direct participation in occupational health and safety (OHS) management. The article explains what determines employee opportunities to participate in OHS management. The explanatory framework focuses on safety culture and safety management at workplaces. The framework is empirically tested using Estonian cross-sectional, multilevel data of organizations and their employees. The analysis indicates that differences in employee participation in OHS management in the Estonian case could be explained by differences in OHS management practices rather than differences in safety culture. This indicates that throughout the institutional change and shift to the European model of employment relations system, change in management practices has preceded changes in safety culture which according to theoretical argument is supposed to follow culture change.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to analyse human resource supply chains and the responsibility of occupational health and safety (OHS) management using Australian evidence from two unrelated research studies in the resources sector.Design/methodology/approach– The analysis is based on additional findings from the research projects using qualitative case study methodologies. The paper draws on interviews with the underground mining manager in study 1 and the OHS manager in study 2, together with current literature on supply chains and OHS responsibility in Australia.Findings– The paper uses examples drawn from two research studies conducted in the resources sector in 2011 to present the notion that there has been a shift in responsibility and management of OHS from the top of the supply chain to the bottom.Research limitations/implications– The paper draws on two unrelated studies that investigated different issues in OHS management. There is a need to undertake specific research to confirm the argument that suggests that the OHS management systems are improving for the bottom of the human resources supply chain in the resources sector.Practical implications– Findings suggest that in the middle tier resources sector the bottom of the human resources supply chains have robust OHS management systems and induction training, contrary to the weakening of OHS management in typical supply chains in other sectors.Originality/value– Unlike manufacturing, healthcare, the public sector and transport, there is little research conducted in the resources sector researching supply chains and OHS management. This paper provides limited evidence of a differing picture in the resources sector than other industries; however, it argues that further studies should be conducted.

Occupational health and safety management in municipal waste companies: A note on the Italian sector

Objective: The measurement properties of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) management audits might be important in some applications, especially when audit scores are treated as performance measures. The review, therefore, sought to identify and summarize the research evidence on the measurement properties (e.g., reliability, validity) of methods of OHS management audit. Methods: Bibliographic databases in business, medicine and OHS were systematically searched. Evidence from relevant publications was synthesized using traditional narrative review methods. Synthesis: The literature on the measurement properties of OHS management audit methods is sparse. Seventeen relevant audit methods were identified. Content validity was demonstrated for only five audit methods. Inter-rater reliability was formally tested for only three audit methods and construct validity for only one. There were no studies of test-retest reliability or responsiveness. The investigations of inter-rater reliability (i.e., consistency among auditors) showed that it is often unacceptably low. Conclusion: There is a research gap concerning the measurement properties of OHS management audit methods. The available research raises questions about the properties of audit methods in current use. Key words: Accident prevention; management audit; occupational health; reproducibility of results; safety management; validation studies

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) management has been one of the first areas of implementation of Risk Managementprocess. However, due to the extended application of OHS management in all organization and the requirements for compliancewith relevant legislation, focus for standardization was set mostly on the technical aspects (risk identification and riskevaluation), whereas other aspects (risk treatment, risk communication, monitoring and reporting) were left to be treated adhoc, intuitively or following regulated requirements. According to the Risk Management process, as described by the standardISO 31000:2018, these aspects are equally important for effective management of risks. This paper aims to present thewhole Risk Management process for OHS risks, emphasizing on these neglected aspects and presenting documented tools toeffectively incorporate them in the structured application of OHS management. The importance of defining the scope, contextand criteria of OHS management, as well as the selection of certain risk treatment strategy for each risk is emphasized. Useof ESAW (European Statistics for Accidents at Work) taxonomy for risk identification is proposed, an evaluation scheme formeasures is presented, the C-HIP model is proposed to be integrated for communication, recording registry information is discussed and ISO 45001:2018 PDCA structure is proposed for continuous monitoring and review.

Purpose: Develop a system of automated occupational health and safety management to improve the procedure for minimizing occupational risks and ensure comprehensive protection of employees from the impacts of negative factors of the systems "man - machine - environment". Design/methodology/approach: The following set of scientific methods was used in the study: analysis of normative-legal documents and scientific-technical literature in the field of building and functioning of occupational safety and health management systems, methods of system analysis, simulation methods, namely discrete-event simulation (DES) of random and dynamic processes, methods of decision theory and data mining. Findings: Based on the results of the research, a system of automated occupational health and safety management, which due to the connection the functionally independent elements (according to a certain scheme) allows to provide comprehensive protection of employees from the impacts of negative factors of the system "man - machine - environment" and reduce occupational injuries and diseases, was developed. This is done by constant monitoring and promt correcting of parameters of impact on the employee of the specified factors. The developed system was implemented in the occupational health and safety management system of the industrial enterprise "Stalkanat-Silur" (Odessa, Ukraine), resulting in reducing the number of accidents, in particular, in dangerous areas of production by 33.3%, increasing the economic efficiency of the enterprise through increasing the level of productivity by 5% and reducing in the number of social insurance payments by 11%. Research limitations/implications: The developed system can be implemented both within separate industrial premises and in the enterprise as a whole, but the number of its elements could be changed (increase / decrease) depending on the number of jobs and dangerous areas that need control. Practical implications: The implementation of the proposed system allows to increase the level of economic efficiency of the enterprise by increasing the level of labor productivity due to reducing the negative impact on the employee of harmful factors and compliance with rational mode of work and rest in each workplace, as well as by reducing the number of social insurance payments due to reducing the occupational injuries and diseases. Originality/value: For the first time the system of automated occupational health and safety, which, in contrast to existing automated occupational risk minimization systems and traditional occupational health and safety management systems, provides comprehensive protection of employees from the the impacts negative factors of the system "man - machine-environment", by constant monitoring the parameters of such impact and their prompt correction in case of deviation of the specified parameters from the set criteria, was developed and proposed for use at enterprises, institutions and organizations.

Occupational safety and health (OSH) management has been known as a crucial way to maintain human resources and thus achieve sustainable management. In an era of change, technology has made many jobs more simple and efficient, yet it has also brought new challenges to OSH management. In this paper, the author uses OSH management in China as an example to show how technology affected OSH management, using data from 1950-2010. The purpose of this article is to examine how technology has affected China's OSH management and also to suggest several alternative approaches to maintaining a safe workplace. A study of China's data shows that there is a link between OSH management and some other factors. Technology, government regulation and enterprise responsibility are all relative factors. The article presents China's example of OSH management using industrial injury data that illustrate mistakes to avoid and the affirmative method to take when developing a sustainable enterprise in this changing era.