The main benefits associated with health and safety management systems certification in Portuguese small and medium enterprises post quality management system certification

The purpose of this study is to characterize how Portuguese Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) view the Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMSs) certification process, after receiving the Quality Management System (QMS) certification. References were based on the ISO 9001 standard for a QMS and OHSAS 18001 for OHSMS. The method used to evaluate the implemented systems, was by form of questionnaire. Those questioned had to have a certified quality management system, an implemented OHSMS and be a SME. The questionnaire was sent to 300 SMEs; 46 responses were received and validated. Of them, only 12 SMEs had the OHSMS certificate according to OHSAS 18001. Within those 12 companies that participated: 7 SMEs are from the industrial sector; 3 belong to the electricity/telecommunications sector and 2 SMEs are from the trade/services activity sector. The size of the sample was small, but corresponds to Portuguese reality. Moreover, 34 SMEs did not have the OHSMS certificate. The questionnaire requested the main reasons for SMEs to opt for non-certification and it was related with high costs, while the main reasons to certificate were, among others, needed to eliminate or minimize risks to workers. The main benefits that Portuguese SMEs have gained from the referred certifications have been, improved working conditions, ensuring compliance with legislation and better internal communication about risks and hazards. Also presented are the main difficulties in achieving an OHSMS certification including high certification costs, difficulties motivating personnel, difficulties in changing the company’s culture and increased bureaucracy.

Certification and integration of environment with quality and safety – a path to sustained success

According to Wright [1] certification of products and processes began during the 1960’s in the manufacturing industry, as a tool to control and assure the quality/conformity of products and services provided by suppliers to customers/consumers. Thus, the series of ISO 9000 was published first time, in 1987 and it was been created with a flexible character, to be reviewed periodically. Later, were published others normative references, which highlight the ISO 14001 in 1996 and OHSAS 18001 in 1999. This was also, the natural sequence of the certification processes in the organizations, i.e., began with the certification of quality management systems (QMS) followed by the environmental management systems (EMS) and after for the Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS). Hence, a high percentage of organizations with an EMS, in accordance with the ISO 14001, had also implemented, a certified QMS, in accordance with ISO 9001. At first the implementation of a QMS was particularly relevant in high demanding activity sectors, like the automotive and aeronautical industries, but it has rapidly extended to every activity sector, becoming a common requisite of any company worldwide and a factor of competitiveness and survival. Due to the increasingly demanding environmental legislation in developed countries, companies nowadays are required to seriously take into consideration not only environmental aspects associated to the production chain itself, but also to the life cycle of their products.

A generic model for integration of Quality, Environment and Safety Management Systems

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a generic model of Integrated Management System of Quality, Environment and Safety (IMS-QES) that can be adapted and progressively to assimilate various Management Systems, of which highlights: ISO 9001 for Quality; ISO 14001 for Environment; OHSAS 18001 for Occupational Health and Safety. Design/methodology/approach – The model was designed in the real environment of a Portuguese Organization and 160 employees were surveyed. The rate response was equal to 86 percent. The conceived model was implemented in a first phase for the integration of Quality, Environment and Safety Management Systems. Findings – Among the main findings of the survey the paper highlights: the elimination of conflicts between individual systems with resources optimization; creation of added value to the business by eliminating several types of wastes; the integrated management of sustainability components in a global market; the improvement of partnerships with suppliers of goods and services; reducing the number of internal and external audits. Originality/value – This case study is one of the first Portuguese empirical researches about IMS-QES and the paper believes that it can be useful in the creation of a Portuguese guideline for integration, namely the Quality Management Systems; Environmental Management Systems and Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems among others.

Developments regarding the integration of the occupational safety and health with quality and environment management systems

Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter on na almost atomic scale to produce new structures, materials, and devices. As potential occupational exposure to nanomaterials (NMs) becomes more prevalente, it is importante that the principles of medical surveillance and risk management be considered for workers in the nanotechnology industry.However, much information about health risk is beyond our current knowledge. Thus, NMs presente new challenges to understanding, predicting, andmanageing potential health risks. First, we briefly describe some general features of NMs and list the most importante types of NMs. This review discusses the toxicological potential of NMs by comparing possible injury mechanism and know, or potentially adverse, health effects. We review the limited research to date for occupational exposure to these particles and how a worker might be exposed to NMs. The principles of medical surveillance are reviewed to further the discussion of occupational health surveillance are reviewed to further the discussion of occupational health surveillance for workers exposed to NMs. We outlinehow occupational health professionals could contribute to a better knowledge of health effects by the utilization of a health surveillance program and by minimizing exposure. Finally, we discuss the early steps towards regulation and the difficulties facing regulators in controlling potentially harmful exposures in the absence of suficiente scientific evidence.

Integration of risk management in occupational health and safety systems

Risk management can be considered as part of the Occupational Health and Safety System (OHS) of an organization and can be used to develop and implement the OHS policy and manage the associated risks. The success of the integration of risk management in OHS depends on both technical and human aspects. Thus, this paper presents and discusses the case of a company working in the area of solid waste treatment. This company was certified in 2009 with an Integrated Management Systems for Quality, Environment, Occupational Health and Safety. The evolution of accidents before and after the implementation of the integrated system was analysed and a questionnaire was used to capture the perceptions of the technicians on the risk management system. The analysis of the findings showed that the frequency of accidents increased since 2009 but the severity has been reduced. Several interrelated causes and consequences were analysed and discussed. Furthermore, the analysis of the opinions of the company’s technicians permitted to highlight some important aspects on the integration of risk management in the OHS system of the company. In line with this discussion some hypothesis have been formulated.

Economic evaluation of occupational safety preventive measures in a hospital

BACKGROUND: When an organization performs an integrated analysis of risks through its Occupational Health and Safety Management System, several steps are suggested to address the implications of the identified risks. Namely, the organization should make a detailed analysis of the monetary impact for the organization of each of the preventive measures considered. However, it is also important to perform an analysis of the impact of each measure on society (externalities). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper is to present a case study related to the application of the proposed economic evaluation methodology. METHODS: An analysis of the work accidents in a hospital has been made. Three of the major types of accidents have been selected: needle stings, falls and excessive strain. Following the risk assessment, some preventive measures have been designed. Subsequently, the Benefit/Cost ratio (B/C) of these measures has been calculated, both in financial terms (from the organization’s perspective) and in economic terms (including the benefits for the worker and for the Society). RESULTS: While the financial ratio is only advantageous in some cases, when the externalities are taken into account, the B/C ratio increases significantly. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to consider external benefits to make decisions concerning the implementation of preventive measures in Occupational Health and Safety projects

A-scan ultrasound system for real-time puncture safety assessment during percutaneous nephrolithotomy

Background: Kidney stone is a major universal health problem, affecting 10% of the population worldwide. Percutaneous nephrolithotomy is a first-line and established procedure for disintegration and removal of renal stones. Its surgical success depends on the precise needle puncture of renal calyces, which remains the most challenging task for surgeons. This work describes and tests a new ultrasound based system to alert the surgeon when undesirable anatomical structures are in between the puncture path defined through a tracked needle. Methods: Two circular ultrasound transducers were built with a single 3.3-MHz piezoelectric ceramic PZT SN8, 25.4 mm of radius and resin-epoxy matching and backing layers. One matching layer was designed with a concave curvature to work as an acoustic lens with long focusing. The A-scan signals were filtered and processed to automatically detect reflected echoes. Results: The transducers were mapped in water tank and tested in a study involving 45 phantoms. Each phantom mimics different needle insertion trajectories with a percutaneous path length between 80 and 150 mm. Results showed that the beam cross-sectional area oscillates around the ceramics radius and it was possible to automatically detect echo signals in phantoms with length higher than 80 mm. Conclusions: This new solution may alert the surgeon about anatomical tissues changes during needle insertion, which may decrease the need of X-Ray radiation exposure and ultrasound image evaluation during percutaneous puncture.

The verification of temporal KBS: SPARSE - a case study in power systems

In this paper we present VERITAS, a tool that focus time maintenance, that is one of the most important processes in the engineering of the time during the development of KBS. The verification and validation (V&V) process is part of a wider process denominated knowledge maintenance, in which an enterprise systematically gathers, organizes, shares, and analyzes knowledge to accomplish its goals and mission. The V&V process states if the software requirements specifications have been correctly and completely fulfilled. The methodologies proposed in software engineering have showed to be inadequate for Knowledge Based Systems (KBS) validation and verification, since KBS present some particular characteristics. VERITAS is an automatic tool developed for KBS verification which is able to detect a large number of knowledge anomalies. It addresses many relevant aspects considered in real applications, like the usage of rule triggering selection mechanisms and temporal reasoning.

Linking better shiftwork arrangements with safety and health management systems

OBJECTIVE: Various support measures useful for promoting joint change approaches to the improvement of both shiftworking arrangements and safety and health management systems were reviewed. A particular focus was placed on enterprise-level risk reduction measures linking working hours and management systems. METHODS: Voluntary industry-based guidelines on night and shift work for department stores and the chemical, automobile and electrical equipment industries were examined. Survey results that had led to the compilation of practicable measures to be included in these guidelines were also examined. The common support measures were then compared with ergonomic checkpoints for plant maintenance work involving irregular nightshifts. On the basis of this analysis, a new night and shift work checklist was designed. RESULTS: Both the guidelines and the plant maintenance work checkpoints were found to commonly cover multiple issues including work schedules and various job-related risks. This close link between shiftwork arrangements and risk management was important as shiftworkers in these industries considered teamwork and welfare services to be essential for managing risks associated with night and shift work. Four areas found suitable for participatory improvement by managers and workers were work schedules, ergonomic work tasks, work environment and training. The checklist designed to facilitate participatory change processes covered all these areas. CONCLUSIONS: The checklist developed to describe feasible workplace actions was suitable for integration with comprehensive safety and health management systems and offered valuable opportunities for improving working time arrangements and job content together.

Relatórios de sustentabilidade: que futuro? O papel dos auditores e da auditoria nesse futuro.

A presente investigação desenvolve o tema da sustentabilidade, ou dito de outra forma, desenvolvimento sustentável. Isto interessa aos países, às organizações e aos cidadãos em geral. Neste pressuposto, este trabalho centra-se nos relatório de sustentabilidade, designação que, actualmente, vem substituir outros que se sucederam ao longo dos tempos, por exemplo: relatórios de responsabilidade social; relatórios ambientais; relatórios de ambiente, saúde e segurança. Porém, os relatórios de sustentabilidade, para serem totalmente compreendidos, devem ser inseridos nos sistemas de informação e comunicação das organizações, onde é verificável que cada vez mais se quer prestar contas, sobre as acções desenvolvidas na esfera da sustentabilidade, de forma credível. No processo de verificação e validação, a auditoria e os auditores têm um papel crucial, contudo, verifica-se que teóricos e práticos, nomeadamente, as empresas de referência mostram que a "sustentabilidade" não deve ser tratada "à parte" mas estar presente em tudo o que é realizado, e neste sentido, as três dimensões que a revelam: ecónomica, social e ambiental. Neste quadro, o objectivo desta dissertação anda em torno de se perceber qual será o futuro dos relatórios de sustentabilidade. O trabalho desenvolvido confirma a problemática que guiou o estudo. Tende-se e é recomendável que as organizações venham a elaborar relatórios únicos integrados, não obstante da possibilidade da existência de relatórios específicos e subsistemas de informação e comunicação, centrados no "verde".