Over the last few months, I have spoken to several clients who have purchased off the shelf Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems, from both large & small Consultancies.

These systems are not cheap, & have been sold as fully operational.

However, when I look at them, I find that the structure is there, but not the detail. If the system contains any Risk Assessments, they are generic or for a completely different operation/sector. The main documents such as Policies and Procedures are at best very generic, at worst, non-existent.  

One client who believed he had Procedures in place for a wide range of topics eg Risk Management, Accident Investigation & Occupational Health, had in fact got a long list of action points, the first of which said “Appoint a manager to develop a Procedure”.

If my client had completed all the actions listed for each of the Procedures, he would indeed have ended up with a complete Occupational Health &Safety Management System.

He did not however, have the necessary expertise within his organisation to do this.

The alarming thing is that often companies do not understand what huge gaps there are in the Management System they have bought, or the amount of work needed, to get the System operational & effective.

If a company buys a Management System that is not complete, they could find themselves in the situation of not having sufficient documents or systems in place to defend themselves in the event of a prosecution or personal injury claim.

Furthermore, it is obvious that the company who sold them the System did not do any training or familiarisation. If they had the gaps would have been immediately apparent.

If you are looking to buy a Health and Safety Management System, make sure you understand what you are getting. For a Management System to work, it must be designed for your company & it must reflect what the company or organisation actually does, & the risks associated. To achieve this, the consultant must spend time with the company, working with its management team, jointly developing the required documents & at the same time, training people how to use & maintain them.

If you have recently purchased an off the shelf Management System, I strongly advise you to look in depth at the system & identify any gaps.

When you buy an Occupational Health & Safety Management System that has not been designed for your operation, you are effectively buying a book case without books in it or second-hand books that nobody understands.

If you need any assistance with assessing your current Health and Safety Management System, or if you are looking to implement a system…