Development of a safety management system for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

This paper presents a generic guideline for development of a simple Safety Management System (SMS) to be implemented by Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs). The outlined guideline possesses the strengths of existing commercial standards but without their inherent limitations, being specifically designed for non-health and safety professionals, working with limited resources. The Guidance aims at keeping financial and manpower costs low, delivering ownership and interest in continuous improvement into the organization, towards the development of a safety culture. Since, health and safety legislation has placed the emphasis on risk assessment and risk management; the guideline proposes the development of a SMS based on a simple risk assessment, rather than on excessive documentation. A questionnaire and a provisional Guidance document were drafted and circulated limitedly, respondents feedback rated each of the elements of the proposed Guidance and rated its content as a platform by which to implement a SMS.