Is your Safety Management System Adding Value? Key Steps to Optimise in 2025

Author: Stef Chapman, Senior WHS Consultant

Organisations are complex but safety management systems needn’t be.  

Since the inception of the safety management systems’ concepts in the 1970s, the world of work has changed considerably. The local factory which once made entire products such as cars is replaced by a global vehicle manufacturing environment where many components are made and imported from different parts of the world. These workplaces had a high level of control over how work was done, with low levels of variability. Globalisation and rapid changes in technology means organisations now have complex systems and environments, heavily impacted by external forces and variables.

Consider these key elements to enable your systems to add value rather than complexity to your business:

Focus on Risk

Prioritise risk management so far as is reasonably practicable. This is arguably the most important requirement of WHS legislation and the focus on conformance to systems components can detract from a risk focus (Karanikas and Pryor 2021). Aligning WHS risk management systems to any enterprise risk systems is key and should inform the context of any safety management system. 

Understanding how work is actually performed is key to identifying risks. Incidents result from an uncontrolled risk and as such, effective investigation of incidents really informs  risks and the effectiveness of their controls and prevention systems. Toft et. al. (2024) cite lack of skills of the OHS Professional in this space, and now with the growing need for psychosocial incident investigation the skilful conduct of investigations needs focus and attention.

Human-Centric Approaches

Humans are the driver of so many functions of an organisation; good work design, fostering psychological safety and working to prevent harmful behaviour makes good business sense and contributes to psychosocial risk management. The safety management system needs to adapt to support, capture and include psychosocial risk to start to piece together a systems approach. Tools and guidance is available through state regulators such as SafeWork NSW, initiatives such as Centre for Transformative Work Design and ISO45003:2001 Occupational Health and Safety Management – Psychological Health and Safety at Work.

System Integration

All elements of a system should communicate effectively. Often we see disconnect between components of an SMS such as:

• Hazard and incident reporting isolated from risk management strategies and practices

• Lack of connection with the strategic direction of the organisation and the ability of the SMS to adapt

• Duplication of ‘similar’ tasks from different departments e.g. environmental, quality and safety inspections as separate inspection tasks which could be combined into streamlined inspections

• Lack of WHS integration with HR systems and data

• Multiple software applications which can duplicate, complicate or fail to communicate with other applications

  Accessibility, Adaptability & Innovative Thinking

  We should view systems as dynamic and changeable whilst integrating with technology, and automation wherever possible. Safety systems should evolve with a business, its people, and the changing world; though also take into consideration how work is actually performed.

  Connectivity is crucial for most businesses, however access to relevant data and information can be a challenge for many systems’ information loops. This can be due to geography, mismatched systems and lack of understanding of systems. Communication and sharing of relevant system information with contingent workers and others can also be tricky based on security requirements, access or internet connectivity issues. Accessibility may significantly hinder sharing of information and the efforts made by workers to conform to a system.

  Accessibility must also take into consideration end users’ language, literacy and technological skills. Technology can remove some barriers such as easier translation and use of video instruction.

  Consultation and useability by end-users is imperative to support workers to connect to and use systems as well as the impacts of change.

  Beyond Standards

   Audit and assurance activities should assess performance multidimensionally, ensuring there is a focus on risk and change management in the context of  how work is actually done. Reviewing not only whether a system is designed effectively but if end users engage and implement a system is essential.

  Get In Touch

  We love delving into safety management systems to ensure they are fit for purpose, practical and add value. If you want your safety management system to add more value to your organisation, please get in touch with me at stef@sharedsafetyandrisk.com.au.