The Methods to Improve the Efficiency of Occupational Safety Management Systems

The high level of occupational injuries has been registered globally. Daily, 5,000 deaths are caused by industrial accidents and occupational illnesses. It is an issue that requires an urgent solution. The International Organization of Standardization has developed the ISO 45001:2018 Standard; implementing its recommendations in the working practices of an enterprise should increase the efficiency of activities aiming to ensure occupational safety. The basic recommendation of the standard is the development of an occupational safety management system at the enterprise. It is a documented system; within its setup, it is required to develop a significant volume of documentation and determine information links between the departments. The enterprise, however, must not focus only on documentation. The main functioning efficiency factor of the occupational safety management system is training for staff. Conditions to boost staff activities and their involvement in the development of favorable working conditions, detection and elimination of hazards at the workplace must be provided. An essential factor of the successful functioning of the occupational safety management system is the conducting of recurrent audits (1–2 times a year) at each department of the enterprise. Nevertheless, hazards and incidents at the workplace can emerge daily; therefore, the staff should act as auditors as the efficiency of detection of emerging hazards and risks and their timely elimination will depend on the staff’s qualification, attention, and active approach. In order to boost staff involvement, constant improvement of competencies and the use of an incentive system developed considering the efficiency of proposals on occupational safety improvements can be recommended. The involvement of staff in occupational safety activities, their understanding of the importance of such activities aiming at the safety of life and health, and the support of initiatives of the staff are possible on the condition of interest of the enterprise's top management in the efficient measures to ensure occupational safety. Involvement of all employees of the enterprise in solving occupational safety problems will enable significant improvement of working conditions, reduce the level of occupational injuries, and resolve social issues within the framework of achievement the goals of the sustainable development program.