1. CONCEPT

To manage risk, an integrated approach is needed for the assessment of hazards, evaluation of consequences of realisation of hazards, implementing safety measures and determining their effectiveness and finally, the acceptability of the residual level of risk. The measures taken to reduce risk can be categorised as -

• Locational, where the separation of hazards from each other and from sensitive land use is used;
• Technical, where design and construction alternatives are considered;
• Operational, where processes, work methods, skills of operators, training, supervision, maintenance, emergency procedures etc are used.

Although already used, these measures may have been implemented in a fragmented way, without a management structure to ensure that there is ongoing maintenance of the design intent and to ensure that there are no gaps between areas of responsibility through which key safety measures fall and fail.

The SMS starts with a well considered Policy backed up by clearly expressed Safety Principles and an organisational structure in which the assignments of responsibilities are clear and widely known.

The Safety Management System (SMS) or Safety and Environment Management System ("SEMS" to identify more clearly, environmental protection as part of safety), also embraces operating procedures and emergency procedures as well as their documentation.

The SMS provides for the management of change, an area of particular importance in safety management. The SMS needs to be able to handle a facility from "cradle-to-grave", that is, from planning to design to construction to operation to decommissioning / disinvestment.

In designing a satisfactory Safety Management System (SMS), or a Safety and Environment Management System (SEMS), it is important to have a "champion" at board level and a network which clearly assigns safety responsibilities, authorities and rewards, to given individual employees in a fashion which does not allow important issues or functions to fall through the cracks. That is, a "seamless" SMS is needed to avoid fire-fighting exercises both in the colloquial and literal sense.

Finally, the SMS provides methods of unit performance measurement and auditing. Performance appraisal of individuals with specific safety responsibilities should be a significant part of annual reviews.

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THE OTHER CHAPTER HEADINGS ARE:

2. PURPOSE OF THE SMS

3. RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESS

4. BENEFITS

5. HOW COMPREHENSIVE SHOULD A SMS BE?

6. STRUCTURE OF THE SMS

7. ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF THE SMS

7.1 SAFETY POLICY

7.2 OBJECTIVES

8. THE CORE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

9. PROCEDURE DEVELOPMENT AND DOCUMENTATION

10. CORPORATE CULTURE

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