Integration of safety and health with ISO 9000 and 14000

By Michael Taubitz

Contents:
4.0 Occupational Safety and Health System and Requirements
4.1 Management Responsibility
4.2 Safety and Health Management System
4.3 Contract Review
4.4 Design Control
4.5 Document and Data Control
4.6 Purchasing
4.7 Customer-supplied Products
4.8 Product Identification and Traceability
4.9 Process Control
4.10/11 Inspection and Testing
4.12 Inspection and Test Status
4.13 Control of Nonconforming Goods
4.14 Corrective and Preventive Actions
4.15 Handling, Storage, Packaging, Preservation and Delivery
4.16 Control of Safety and Health Records
4.17 Internal Safety and Health Audits
4.18 Training
4.19 Servicing
4.20 Statistical techniques

Safety and health is well-suited for integration within existing quality and environmental systems. ISO 9000, in particular, provides the complete framework necessary for controlling injury and illness to employees.

There are several advantages to using existing, common management processes for structuring safety and health management systems. Socially responsible companies have long had processes and procedures that address hazards and risks in the work environment. Effective safety and health management is built around company values and culture, recognizing that safety and health is a leadership issue just like quality, environment, production and finance.

Separate systems for any one management function are less effective because the function tends to be relegated to staff level and becomes an "add-on" to core functions. Thus, the opportunity to merge occupational safety and health within existing management systems makes the most sense for employees and the business community.

For the past two decades, quality systems in particular have been a major focus in business circles. Customers continually demand better products at lower cost. As a result, top management was forced to rethink how business operates from top to bottom.

The ISO 9000 system deals with reducing nonconformance from early stages of setting policy to latter stages like audits and training. For years, health and safety professionals have said that safety and health systems are virtually identical with quality systems. Injury, illness, and uncontrolled hazards are easily thought of as nonconformance to the expected output of any ethical management system.

Merging health and safety programs within the context of quality systems allows management to use existing and familiar systems/terminology to control hazards in the workplace. The synergy of such a merger will improve the health and well being of employees faster and more effectively than a separate safety and health system.

This article is intended as a guideline for operating units that desire to structure their existing safety and health system using the ISO 9000 framework.

Fig. 1 shows a matrix that aligns ISO 14000 requirements with ISO 9000 for reference. The last column suggests the major headings for safety and health requirements. ISO 9000 is the oldest and most pervasive of the two standards, and the 20 elements are also well suited for structuring overall safety and health processes.

Organizations involved with design requirements and the procurement of tooling/equipment will find ISO 9000 requirements dealing with these business activities to be particularly useful. For these reasons, the numbering system of ISO 9000 is recommended.

Fig. 1: Integration of Safety and Health with ISO 9000 and 14000 Management Systems

	ISO 900		ISO 14000	Safety and Health
4	Quality System Requirements	4	Environmental Mgt. System	Occupational Safety and Health Mgt. System
4.1	Management Responsibility	4.0 - 4.5	Policy, Objectives and Responsibility	Policy , Objectives and Responsibility
4.2	Quality System	4.2.4	Environmental Programs	S&H Processes and Programs
4.3	Contract Review	4.3.6	Operational Control	Contract Review and Controls
4.4	Design Control	4.2.1/4.3.6	Environmental Aspects & Operational Control	Design Control for safety and health
4.5	Document Control	4.3.5/4.4.3	Document Control and Records	Document Control
4.6	Purchasing	4.3.6	Operational Control	Purchasing
4.7	Control of Customer Supplied Product	4.3.6	Operational Control	Control of Customer Supplied Products
4.8	Product Verification and Traceability	4.3.6	Operational Control	Product Verification
4.9	Process Control	4.3/4.3.6	Implementation and Operational Control	Process Control
4.10	Inspection and Testing	4.4.1	Monitoring and Measurement	Inspection and Testing
4.11	Control of Inspection, Measuring and Test Equipment	4.3.6/4.4.1	Operational Control and Monitoring and Measurement	Control of Inspection, Measuring and Test Equipment
4.12	Inspection and Test Status	4.4.1	Monitoring and Measurement	Inspection and Test Status
4.13	Control of Non-conforming Product	4.4.2	Non-conformance and Corrective and Preventive Action	Control of Safety and health Non-conformance
4.14	Corrective and Preventive Action	4.4	Checking and Corrective Action	Corrective and Preventive Action
4.15	Handling, Storage, Packaging, Preservation and Delivery	4.3.6	Operational Control	Handling, Storage, Packaging, Preservation and Delivery
4.16	Control of Quality Records	4.3.6	Operational Control	Control of Safety and Health Records and audits
4.17	Internal Quality Audits	4.4.4	EMS Audit	Safety and Health Audits
4.18	Training	4.3.2/4.3.3	Training, Competence and Communication	Training
4.19	Servicing	4.3.6	Operational Control	Servicing
4.20	Statistical Techniques	4.4.1	Monitoring and Measurement	Statistical Techniques and Quality Methods

Here is a review of which safety and health requirements should be included in each section.

4.0 Occupational Safety and Health System and Requirements
Section 4 of ISO 9000 defines the overall quality system. This section would also describe the safety and health management system.

• Description of system to reduce hazards and risks in the work environment.
  
• Requirements of the system.

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4.1 Management Responsibility
This section establishes top management responsibility and resources throughout the organization responsible for safety and health functions.

• Safety and Health Policy.
  
• Top management responsibility.
  
• Line and staff responsibilities.
  
• Management reviews of injury/illness data, goals and objectives.
  
• Accountability.

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4.2 Safety and Health Management System
Section 4.2 organizes the overall system for managing safety and health at a given business site within a given company. It must be suited to the products, processes, services and culture unique to that location.

• Define safety and health management system beginning with concept and planning.
  
• Organization of resources, roles and responsibilities.
  
• Requirements for all phases of the company's business, including product, process and service.

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4.3 Contract Review
The purpose of this section is to examine contracts for health and safety issues. This review should assure that feasible measures are used to address foreseeable hazards and risks.

• Safety and health issues are considered.
  
• Define qualification criteria for potential contractors.
  
• Review all legal and contractual issues for conformance.
  
• Documented system.

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4.4 Design Control
Addressing hazards in the earliest stages of design is akin to building a foundation for a home. Usability of designed safeguards will have a significant impact on employee safety and productivity of the manufacturing process.

• Safety and health issues are part of concept, cost estimation and project reviews.
  
• Safety and health controls are included.
  
• Risk assessment complements FMEA to identify hazards and risks.
  
• Cross functional teams perform preliminary hazard assessments.
  
• Safety becomes part of the overall manufacturing process, like planned maintenance and reliability.

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4.5 Document and Data Control
Section 4.5 requires written procedures for authorizing new documents; updating existing materials and assuring that the right document is used in the proper situation.

• System to control safety and health manuals, specifications and documents.
  
• Master list for coordinating and controlling.
  
• Instructions for retention.

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4.6 Purchasing
Purchasing functions play a critical role in an overall safety and health management system. Technical staffs and those who administer contracts with outside suppliers must be responsible for assuring that safety requirements are part of the contract.

• Material Safety Data Sheets, contract work, leased or purchased equipment are considered.
  
• Ergonomics, safety standards, regulations and other requirements are reviewed for conformance.

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4.7 Customer-supplied Products
This section deals with products provided by the customer and used to create or ship products sold back to the customer.

• Materials, fixtures, shipping/dunnage, and measurement systems might be part of such customer-supplied products.
  
• A system to identify potential hazards is necessary.
  
• Those responsible for the contract with the customer must be accountable.

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4.8 Product Identification and Traceability
A labeling system for products and materials is required so that a specific job can be quickly identified at any stage of the manufacturing process.

• Safety, fire, shipping and hazard labels are part of this section.
  
• Routing systems, sign-off sheets, and instructions are part of the documentation for this section.

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4.9 Process Control
A documented system must be maintained to assure the successful processing of materials into end products.

• Process design must include safety, ergonomics, and health issues along with quality and manufacturability.
  
• Hazard analysis and risk assessment is critical at this stage.
  
• Planned/preventive maintenance to improve uptime will reduce risk to workers.
  
• Noise, vibration, air contaminants and other hazards must have adequate controls integrated within the process.

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4.10/11 Inspection and Testing
These sections establish procedures and schedules where measurement and test equipment is used.

• Devices for noise, air contaminants, fire protection, lasers, and radiation must be inspected and tested to measure safety and health characteristics of the process.
  
• A written plan is required for situations when a device is out of tolerance or calibration.
  
• Correction and prevention of recurring problems should be addressed.

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4.12 Inspection and Test Status
Test status is recorded to allow verification and for analysis of past history.

• Critical safety characteristics should be treated like quality characteristics.
  
• Verification of test and measurements should be noted with the signature of the inspector.

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4.13 Control of Nonconforming Goods
Products/materials that could adversely impact safety and health are the focus of this section.

• Methods must be developed in advance to identify root causes of nonconforming goods and safety devices or goods.
  
• Defective engineering controls, defective ladders and nonconforming materials impacting employee safety and health should be analyzed and corrected.
  
• Root cause problems should be corrected like quality problems to prevent recurrence.

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4.14 Corrective and Preventive Actions
This section stipulates that top management is ultimately responsible for ensuring that corrective and preventive actions are taken.

• Like quality, safety and health are leadership issues.
  
• Injury reports, audits, near-miss investigations are all used to analyze issues and take actions to prevent future recurrence.
  
• Monitoring and follow-up are necessary to assure proper implementation of the preventive action.

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4.15 Handling, Storage, Packaging, Preservation and Delivery Procedures and methods to address potential hazards related to these areas are required by this ISO 9000 section. These same five areas must be reviewed for potential hazards and risk reduction.

• Stacking heights, shipping containers, dock and rail safety procedures, and engineering controls are included.
  
• Safe handling instructions for employees, contractors and delivery personnel must be considered.

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4.16 Control of Safety and Health Records
Injury and illness reports, Πmarking, safety device inspection and audits are examples of safety and health records that must be controlled.

• List all such records used at your facility.
  
• Detail who and how the records are maintained.
  
• Specify storage conditions and retention times.

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4.17 Internal Safety and Health Audits
This section requires audits to check for conformance to the defined safety and health system and requirements.

• Housekeeping, sound surveys and machine safety checks are included.
  
• Audits of procedures and safety methods are also part of this section.
  
• Internal safety audits should be performed at least annually and may be done concurrently with ISO 9000 and 14000 audits.

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4.18 Training
Safety and health training must be given to all personnel for hazard identification and control.

• Employees, management and affected staffs must be considered when developing a training plan.
  
• Right-to-know, energy control, safe transportation and hazardous material control are examples of necessary training.
  
• Skill, knowledge and job responsibility must be considered in the training plan.

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4.19 Servicing
Servicing plans for a product are addressed in this section.

• Servicing machinery and equipment is to be included.
  
• Contractor safety, personal protective equipment, road travel, emergency evacuation and confined space entry are examples of service related tasks.
  
• Commissioning and decommissioning of equipment must be considered.

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4.20 Statistical techniques
Statistical methods described in this section can be used to monitor the specific targets and objectives of the safety policy and/or plan.

• Statistical process control techniques include trend analysis, control charts, bar charts, correlation analysis and designed experiments.
  
• Root cause analysis should only be performed using proper statistical techniques with safety and health data.
  
• Such analysis can result in reduced risk with accompanying cost savings and productivity improvements.

As we go to press, be advised that ISO 9000-2000 is in the final stages of revision for release later this year. The existing 1994 version was originally designed for manufacturing, whereas the 2000 version offers a new process model that can be more easily integrated within any kind of organization. The original 20 elements are retained with the addition of new requirements: customer-related process, continuous improvement, and increased requirements for top management to play a larger role. In addition, ISO 9000-2000 will have a new numbering scheme.

In summary, there are several reasons why organizations should act now:

• CEOs and other executives often have few management "tools" to manage their safety process.
  
• Structuring your safety program around ISO 9000 (with linkage to ISO 14000) will provide a solid process for reducing risk in your workplace.
  
• Business and industry often complain when new standards and regulation are added to an already huge workload. Here's your chance to be proactive.

Develop your own safety management system today and realize improved performance tomorrow.

About the Author: Michael Taubitz graduated from General Motors Institute with a Mechanical Engineering degree in 1970 and from Central Michigan University with a Masters degree in 1980. He started his career at the Chevrolet Flint Engine Plant in 1965, and following a number of plant and divisional assignments in Personnel and Engineering, he was appointed manager of Occupational Safety and Health for the Chevrolet - Pontiac - Canada Group in 1984. In 1986, he became the corporate director of Safety and Ergonomics for General Motors worldwide. Taubitz assumed the position of co-director of the UAW-GM Center for Health and Safety in 1993, and later moved to engineering to establish a new Design-In Safety Center in 1995. In 1997, he became a manager of Industrial Engineering for GM North American Operations, overseeing a number of engineering functions. In 1999, he established GM's new activity to provide technical liaison for emerging global health and safety issues.
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