Safety and Health Management Systems are an integral part of any successful safety plan for a company. It is a central place to house all policies pertaining to safety, allowing quick access to these policies for review by management, safety personnel, or anyone else interested in a company’s safety practices. A Safety and Health Management System also allows easy updates to company policies when OSHA or other regulatory bodies update their regulations.

And while it is easy to create the structure of the Safety and Health Management System, actually implementing it and ensuring that all of the parts are accurate and up to date is not so easy. it is generally advised that you consult an expert when putting your Safety and Health Management System together, just to ensure you are starting off in compliance, and optimally organized.

But it is also important to properly update a Safety and Health Management System over time, and this is where many companies run into problems. Over time they expand their business or miss a regulatory change, and suddenly their Safety and Health Management System is out of compliance. And when your procedures are out of compliance, your company will be out of compliance.

It is for this reason we recommend at least annual audits of your Safety and Health Management System. These audits can be as superficial or in depth as you would like, but a second set of eyes from someone removed from the company can be an amazing resource for ensuring that your company remains up to code.

If you have any questions about implementing or maintaining a Safety and Health Management System, please contact us. And if you have anything to add about Safety and Health Management Systems, please leave a comment.