Developing an industry-specific approach to a safety management system

This paper explains the rationale and the background to the development of a sectorspecific health and safety management system for the UK quarrying industry, and provides an indication of its content. The paper begins with a brief overview of the quarrying sector in the UK. This is followed by reviews of the history of management system specifications and related concepts, and published academic material about health and safety management systems. The paper goes on to note the global growth in accreditation to the OHSAS 18001 specification, including its widespread use in the mineral extraction and construction sectors that relate to quarrying. Compatibility with the principles captured in this specification is an input to the quarry health and safety management system. Other inputs include UK law and guidance, work on 'leading indicators' of health and safety performance, and industry's need for practical, user-friendly guidance for use in the sector. The paper also reports on field research undertaken with an industrial partner, and work currently under way with a trade association that represents small and medium-sized enterprises in the quarrying sector. The paper concludes that the quarry health and safety management system has the potential to provide a useful contribution to health and safety management in the industry, bringing together organisational management concepts with practical field checks, and stimulating a healthy debate. The approach might also be usefully emulated in other industries, although there are limiting factors such as sector politics and a tendency among some to seek basic legal compliance rather than a commitment to ongoing improvement.